Martin Kampmann and Paul Daley Size Each Other Up Ahead of UFC 103

Poor Hitman. He turns down a T.J. Grant fight to stay in title contention only to get stuck with a dangerous (albeit flawed) striker who doesn't really do a great deal for title efforts. Still, Kampmann apparently takes the Daley challenge seriously:

Do you plan on watching a lot of tape on Daley leading up to the fight?
Yeah. I'm going to study a little bit of his stuff. They're similar in regards to they're both really good strikers and heavy-handed. So in that regard, they're similar. But of course, one guy is a tall guy, another guy is a short guy, and they do different stuff, different moves. Daley kicks a lot more than Swick does, but on the other hand, he probably has a bit of a weaker ground game than Swick does. So you know, the fight is a little different, so I'm going to switch it up.

In Daley's most famous fight against Jake Shields on CBS last October, Shields showed that he has some work to do on his ground game. Are you hoping to exploit that, as well?
If I get him down, I definitely feel like I got a big advantage. You know, people say that Paul Daley don't have a ground game; I think he has a ground game. You know, when you're fighting against Shields, he's a jiu-jitsu black belt with a great ground game. It's easy to make other guys look stupid because his ground game is really good. So I definitely expect Paul Daley to have a ground game, as well. I just think it's not as developed as his striking game is.

Daley, ever the brash competitor, chimes in with his assessment of matters:

Just because I'm entering the UFC doesn't mean I'm planning on changing my style dramatically or doing things differently. I'll now have longer to train in between events, and that will no doubt bring on my game massively.

However, I'm still planning on being the same old 'Semtex' that MMA fans have seen over the years. I'm entering the UFC with the intention of having stand-up wars with all the best welterweights in the world. I now have a far bigger pool of talent to play with and I'm looking to clean up.

There is not one welterweight in the UFC who can compete with me in a pure striking battle. I feel I have the beating of the lot of them.

...

It is a better fight for me than the Foster fight. I won't be fighting the best Kampmann, because with so much to lose he will be very nervous and unsettled at the start.

...

I've seen enough footage of him I know exactly how I am gonna to spark him out. His flaws are very exploitable for someone with my speed and power. I can KO him with one punch or kick.

My obvious flaw is my submission defence on the ground, I'm working on it but that's my weakness. He's got weaknesses, too, and like I said my strengths will combine with his weaknesses and result in a KO debut for me.

Either the Hitman is going to get bombed on (although I don't think it'll be from hesitation) or he's going to submit Daley. But I think Kampmann's analysis is correct: I'd caution against viewing Daley as some sort of Drew McFedries repeat. He's got stunning KO power, sure, but his sprawl is respectable and he doesn't tend to wilt as if he has a decomposing half-life. The odds are against Daley, but this is by no means a matter of procedure for the Denmark transplant.

The longer the fight goes the more it favors Kampmann, but one wonders if Shields' urgency in getting Daley to the floor was actually the more risk-managed approach. Shields openly showed Daley where he wanted the fight to go. I wonder if Kampmann's belief in his kickboxing skills won't force the same type of urgency until after he gets rocked. And at that point, it could be too late.