Levi Nile | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Martin Kampmann Ready for 3 Round War Against Thiago Alves, but Would Prefer KO

No one ever said being a fan-pleasing fighter was easy. The fans want drama and action. They want blood and guts. They want highlight reel finishes for highlight reel fights. In short, they want it all, and that is never going to change. In a recent in…

No one ever said being a fan-pleasing fighter was easy.

The fans want drama and action. They want blood and guts. They want highlight reel finishes for highlight reel fights.

In short, they want it all, and that is never going to change.

In a recent interview with David Herbert of Buddhasport.com, Kampmann admitted that he’d much rather get the “Knockout of the Night” or “Submission of the Night” and return home minus the bumps, bruises and blood that accompany the coveted “Fight Of The Night” award.

In the interview, Kampmann made it clear that while he prizes epic brawls, the end goal is to remain as injury free as possible.

“The thing about FOTN is that you also take damage as well as your opponent. It means you get punched in the face and I’d rather just get “Knockout of the Night” or “Submission of the Night” and call it a night.” Kampmann said.

“That’s the best feeling to leave the cage with a win and not have any damage and injury free. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ready to go to war for three rounds, but I’d rather wake up the next day without any pain.”

This should not be surprising, really. The career of a fighter is a campaign ongoing, both in the gym and the cage, while the clock ticks on.

But it does pose a question: where is the line drawn between caution and calculated risk?

Many fans have turned against Georges St-Pierre over the past years due to his tendency to employ a strategy that will maximize his chance of victory and minimize his chance of defeat, and by proxy, injury.

He has had tremendous success with this, but at the cost of his reputation as a true monster in the cage.

The fans want their champions to be beasts in the ring, eating their food instead of playing with it.

Carlos Condit recently did the same thing. He followed a strategy that allowed him to take the interim title while staying out of harms way, and consequently staying out of a heated battle as well.

Sooner or later, when a fighter is getting near the top, they begin to look to the future, and in doing so, it seems they begin to make decisions that benefit themselves instead of pleasing the fans.

That is the catch-22 of the fight game. It seems to say: “Wage wars if you want the heart of the fans, but do not lose. If you do, they will remember you ultimately as the man who lost.”

Kampmann is one of those fighters who really is happy to let it all hang out in the cage, but he is 4-3 in his last seven bouts, and he has been in his fair share of firefights. Now, a man he defeated in 2009, Carlos Condit, is the interim champion of the division.

One begins to wonder how much of a motivation holding the title really is, as compared to keeping the fickle fans happy on a night-by-night basis.

At what point will Kampmann, if forced, draw the line between taking those calculated risks needed to finish the fight as opposed to being cautious?

We’ll learn the answers soon enough and we’ll get them from the most honest source available: the cage.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White, Frank Shamrock and the UFC Hall of Fame

When Dana White talked the Fertitta Brothers into buying the UFC, he essentially saved the sport in America. Say what you will about Dana White, but what he has done for mixed martial arts cannot be appreciated enough. He has all the detractors that co…

When Dana White talked the Fertitta Brothers into buying the UFC, he essentially saved the sport in America.

Say what you will about Dana White, but what he has done for mixed martial arts cannot be appreciated enough.

He has all the detractors that come with a man of his position and bearing, and he takes it all in stride, never seeming to forget about the “little guy” who comes up to him, sometimes shyly, heaping praise. In return, he gives his time with an easy smile, and usually some free tickets.

He does this because he loves the sport as much as any one, and he loves the fans, because he is a passionate man. He had to be to contend with all the obstacles put in his way while building the company into the unheralded powerhouse it is today.

But passion has a flip side.

What Dana White loves, he loves, and what he hates, he hates.

In this case, what he hates is a man named Frank Shamrock.

For Shamrock, the feeling is mutual. It is relatively unclear as to why Dana White and Frank Shamrock dislike each other so harshly, but they do, as both have made plainly clear in the media.

Be that as it may, Dana White and the UFC Hall of Fame cannot be taken seriously until fighters like Frank Shamrock receive their induction.

The UFC Hall of Fame would seem to stand for the recognition of those fighters who represent hallmark achievement in the sport and with the company. They are men that espoused all the chief virtues Dana White prizes in fighters.

And Frank Shamrock fulfills all of those prerequisites, with a vengeance.

Here is a breakdown of Frank Shamrock’s time in the UFC, and a clear-cut argument as to why he belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame, no matter if Dana White likes him or not.

Begin Slideshow

After UFC 143, the Future Is Uncertain for Nick Diaz, but His Fans Remain

After the dust settles from any professional prize fight, there is a natural tendency for the fans of the man who lost to try and make sense of it all in any way that they can.This usually takes the form of finger pointing, excuse making and all the no…

After the dust settles from any professional prize fight, there is a natural tendency for the fans of the man who lost to try and make sense of it all in any way that they can.

This usually takes the form of finger pointing, excuse making and all the normal actions associated with disappointment and denial.

I know because I have been there, just like every other fight fan.

After Sugar Ray Leonard pulled off a huge upset over Marvin Hagler, I was in denial, looking for any reason or excuse as to how it happened.

The truth is, Hagler gave the early rounds away to Leonard simply because he thought he could take him out at any time. Then when Hagler finally started fighting, Leonard had already found his groove, and it was simply too late.

Now after UFC 143, the fans of Nick Diaz are taking to the Internet, discussing the way he was “robbed.” That is what we expect of fight fans.

But I find it odd they see Diaz as a man who can suddenly contend with good wrestlers. He has not fought a single good wrestler since he left the company in 2006. Not a single one.

And yet his fans are true believers. They seem to think that fighters like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch would be good comeback fights for Diaz, enabling him to get some wins under his belt and start the climb again.

It seems like religion is not dead after all, because their faith in the unseen is inspiring.

If anything had been clear after UFC 143, I thought it was that Diaz is still the same fighter he was back in 2006. The only difference is that his striking is better and his jiu-jitsu is better. He was on a specific road back then, looking to become a specific kind of fighter, and he has grown into that role just about as well as anyone can.

But he still has fundamental holes in his game: no head movement or any real sense of defense, no takedown ability (at least not of the level needed in the UFC) and it would be contrary to our experience to believe that he has turned himself into a fighter who can deal with good wrestlers, since we haven’t seen proof of it yet.

But his fans, they are keeping the faith. They don’t need proof, they’ve got religion.

And you know what?

That ain’t such a bad thing.

I would be happy to pay money to see Nick Diaz fight just the way he is, against whomever, over paying money to watch many other fighters out there.

For me, Diaz reminds me a great deal of Arturo Gatti when it comes to how he fights. Like Gatti, Diaz is a highlight reel on two feet. Like Gatti, Diaz has consistently been involved with some of the most exciting fights in recent years in MMA. Like Gatti, Diaz is not the best fighter in his division, but no one cares about that if they are watching the Fight of the Year.

Diaz needs to keep fighting. So what if he never wins the UFC title? Chances are he won’t—he simply isn’t that dynamic of a fighter, and there are too many good wrestlers in his division. But that’s OK, because the fans remember the fights more than anything else.

Nick Diaz probably won’t ever be the UFC champion, but the people’s champion?

If he keeps on fighting like he has in the past, then that is one title no one will ever take away from him.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Nick Diaz and the UFC: The Fights That Almost Didn’t Happen

It wasn’t all that long ago that it looked like Nick Diaz was going to test the waters in the sport of professional boxing.Having grown either bored or restless with the sport of MMA, Diaz seemed to be looking for more notoriety, and more money. …

It wasn’t all that long ago that it looked like Nick Diaz was going to test the waters in the sport of professional boxing.

Having grown either bored or restless with the sport of MMA, Diaz seemed to be looking for more notoriety, and more money. Stepping into the boxing ring looked to be a quick fix for both.

Boxing promoters were more than happy to have Diaz step into the squared circle. After Randy Couture made short work of James Toney, the idea of putting Diaz in the ring against boxers like Fernando Vargas or Jeff Lacy was very appealing.

It was thought that Diaz would lose to either of those boxers, and the taint of the Toney loss would be erased, at least to a degree.

Diaz would have been paid well, no doubt. But it probably would have been only the one time, after which boxing promoters would have had no real use for him.

Thankfully, Diaz was thinking of the long run, and decided to go with the UFC.

Had Diaz decided to lace up those 12 oz. gloves, and box it out with Vargas or Lacy, he probably would have been given a beating equal to that one payday, which would be considerable. As good as the boxing of Diaz is in MMA, in the ring against Vargas or Lacy, he would have been seriously outmatched.

Afterwards, the UFC would not have had much use of him either. Taking in Diaz after such a loss would have been akin to taking the “hand-me-downs” of boxing. More than one voice would have been saying: “He couldn’t cut it in the boxing ring, but I guess he’s good enough to make it in MMA.”

After watching Diaz defeat Penn, it reminds us just how much we would have missed out on.

Watching Diaz fight is a treat. His style is so dramatic that he keeps you on the edge of your seat, no matter if you are for him or against him.

Now, tonight, he is set to face another excellent fighter in Carlos Condit, and again, it should be an incredible fight.

Diaz still has quite a few fights left in him, should he continue his winning ways. But like Arturo Gatti, Diaz can only take so much punishment before he starts to lose his edge. Fighters like Diaz are a rare breed, and it is good to know he has a close-knit group of family and friends who will sit him down when the time comes, and give him the straight truth.

But that time is not tonight, and thank God for that.

And thank God for Nick Diaz. In a world full of fighters who work hard at doing anything but fighting, Diaz refuses to do anything but fight.

And that is why we watch.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

On the Eve of UFC 143, We Take a Look Back at UFC 43

The interim title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit is almost here. If we look back into the past, one hundred PPV’s ago, we see another interim title bout between two other fighters with contrasting styles.At UFC 43, Chuck Liddell and Ran…

At UFC 43, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture fought for the interim Light Heavyweight title, while reigning champion Tito Ortiz sat on the sidelines on his own accord.

It was a great night of fights that saw Vitor Belfort stop Marvin Eastman, Vernon White and Ian Freeman battle to a draw, Kimo submit Tank Abbott via arm triangle, and many others.

But it was the fight between Liddell and Couture that changed the division.

Liddell was long perceived to be the true king of the division, and with the interim title on the line, most thought that once Liddell defeated Couture, it would force Ortiz into action.

Things didn’t turn out the way we all expected.

Couture repeatedly beat Liddell to the punch, sticking him with straight punches and disrupting his balance.

They fought a great deal of the fight on their feet, and Couture surprised everyone by getting the better of the exchanges.

But the end came when Couture got a huge takedown in the third round. He mounted Liddell and rained down punches until the fight was called.

Now, one hundred numbered shows later, and another interim title on the line, will history repeat itself?

Will the man with the better wrestling (Condit) overwhelm the man with the better striking (Diaz)? Or will it be like the second and third bouts between Liddell and Couture that saw Liddell knock out “The Natural” both times?

One thing that Liddell had over Diaz is a much better takedown defense. On the other hand, Diaz is far better at submissions and fighting off his back than Liddell was.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if history repeats itself once more.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 143: Bold Predictions for Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit

With Georges St. Pierre on the sidelines following a knee injury in training, the next two best fighters in the division, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, are scheduled to fight for five rounds this Saturday night. The winner will take home the interim UFC…

With two fighters of such a high caliber, it is no surprise that both of their respective camps are confident of a victory. Both men are deserving of this chance, and both love to go to war.

For Carlos Condit, it is the culmination of years of hard work and discipline. He could have done many other things with his life, but he chose fighting, and it is clear he loves what he does.

For Nick Diaz, this seems to be a long overdue affirmation of his skill and determination. He, too, loves to fight, but for him it seems to be less of a choice and more of a need.

So, who has the advantages, and in what areas? Herein lies my somewhat bold predictions.

Begin Slideshow