UFC 111 Kampmann vs. Saunders: True Welterweight Contender of 2010

Now that welterweights Martin Kampmann and Ben Saunders have all but signed a contract to fight each other on March 27 at UFC 111, a card saturated with some of the best the division has to offer, we will find out which fighter is ready to inject some fresh blood in the rather stagnant welterweight contender pool.

The 170 lbs realm may not be suffering from the same pandemic as the lightweight division, having to choose between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard as your reigning champion’s next foe, but it is on the cusp of running out of new faces for current welterweight champ, Georges St-Pierre, to compete against.

The days of having a copious amount of legitimate and viable contenders, at the dismay of hardcore fans, are numbered, at least based on current trends.  It’s not only happening in the welterweight division but also the middleweight and lightweight divisions too—each one close to being cleaned out by their respective champions.

Of course on the night of March 27th everyone will be fixated with St-Pierre’s title defense against Dan Hardy and to a lesser extent, the rematch between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves.

In essence, this is a rematch that will more than likely lead to another rematch involving the winner and GSP, who is the heavy favorite against Hardy.  The general appeal of rematches is to witness two fighters settle a score from a previous engagement that didn’t end decisively, i.e. “getting caught,” or any decision involving say, Cecil Peoples.

GSP dominated both Fitch and Alves so convincingly that fans shouldn’t be too eager to relive the same fight.  Go buy the DVD.  It’s not that both fighters don’t deserve a rematch at some point, just not straight after this bout. 

Once a fighter has completed “the man dance” in a title bout, they either win if they want to keep scrapping for the belt or they take the deserved dive down to the bottom of the ladder.  The vacancy creates an opportunity for others to fill the contender-ship void.  It’s a healthy cycle for all divisions and it keeps all the overly dominant champions content with fresh competition.

Half of the allure and prestige of a champion is the variety of contenders at his disposal not the repetition of old foes.  Yes, experience gained from being on the losing end of a title bout can motivate and be a lesson for a fighter looking for a rematch, but for every advantage Fitch or Alves acquired by losing to the current champ, there was a parallel lesson learned by GSP piled onto the confidence earned by winning.

Unfortunately when considering challengers, the balance between merit and marketability becomes skewed towards ratings.  It pains a Hardy fan, like myself, to say it but “The Outlaw” is getting fed to the wolves early and will get defeated by Georges St-Pierre.

Who will the Canadian athlete of ’09 have in his sights after soundly stopping the winner of Fitch vs. Alves for the second time?  Playing Nostradamus in a sport as unpredictable as MMA is as difficult a task as it is intriguing.

Welterweight work-horse, Josh Koscheck, has been inching his way back into contention after overcoming Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in what was probably one of the dirtiest fights of ’09.  Depending on the outcomes and injuries, Koscheck is likely to compete in 3-4 bouts before GSP is ready to defend his title for a second time in 2010.

A rematch between Koscheck and GSP is unlikely to attract fan support if Koscheck’s next three fights are anything like his last three—getting cold-cocked by Paulo Thiago, flat-lining a washed-up Frank Trigg and out eye gouging an inexperienced Anthony Johnson—is far from convincing. 

You can certainly come up with a similar synopsis for a Matt Hughes/GSP IV.  I’d rather endure a Trigg/Serra rematch once a year.

The landscape is ready to facilitate some changes.  The welterweight contender of 2010 will be determined at UFC 111, the crystal ball deciding the division’s future.  Kampmann vs. Saunders is a diamond in the rough, a sleeper contention match that is on par with Fitch vs. Alves.

Both young fighters go into this bout with a generous amount of confidence and momentum, coming off decisive wins in their last respective fights.

Ben “Killa B” Saunders bounced back from a loss to Mike Swick and overwhelmed veteran Marcus Davis in the first round with strikes for a knockout victory at UFC 106, which improved his record to 8-1-2.

After proving his granite chin in the TKO loss to British slugger Paul Daley, Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann returned Monday night and sunk in a lightening fast guillotine choke on Jacob Volkman in the first round for a victory at UFC 108.  The Dane holds a record of 16-3.

At this point in their careers, both fighters share many similarities that will certainly add to the fight’s dynamic.

Both are young competitors that finish fights; Saunders has finished each of his opponents except for a decision victory over Dan Barrera at Ultimate Finale 6.  Kampmann has only let one of his fights go to a decision and that was against Thales Leites at The Ultimate Figher 4 finale.  Each man was only lost once in the welterweight division.

Despite both have a striking base in Muay Thai, their preferred method, each are more than efficient in Brazilian Jui Jitsu, causing fireworks regardless of where the fight goes. 

A win for Saunders will be judged as more impressive only because he lacks the name recognition that Kampmann possesses. Obviously a loss for Kampmann would initiate undesirable consequences for the same reasons. 

But all good things come to an end, nothing can stay the same, everything is in a constant state of evolution.

When the battle is over, each man will be force to break paths from one another and accept whose arm is being raised.  Gone are the pre-fight similarities.  After March 27th either Kampmann or Saunders will splash onto the welterweight contender scene with a new mission and a renewed sense of purpose—Georges St-Pierre.