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UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin Wagering, Betting Lines and UFC Sports Betting
UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin
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Paulo "The AKA Hunter" Thiago vs. Martin Kampmannby Stan Leung |
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UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin Welterweight bout: Paulo "The AKA Hunter" Thiago vs. Martin Kampmann Martin Kampmann (16-3) is one of the UFC’s most overrated fighters. In all fairness, this is not his doing—the UFC marketing machine has placed a great deal of emphasis on him and has spun him out to be a top contender to go against Georges St-Pierre. Well that is not the case—not by a long shot. Kampmann is a good middle of the road fighter. He has very good skills in all areas of his game however he is missing that certain something that will take him to the next level. His list of credentials is respectable—former Cage Warriors middleweight champion (2005), FB-Submission Wrestling Tournament Champ +77 kg class (2004), Battle of the Vikings Thai Boxing Superfight Champ (2004) and Danish Thai Boxing Champion (2001). Paulo Thiago (13-1) on the other hand, is a very strong fighter. While Kampmann is leaner and more lanky, Thiago is a beast—tough and muscular fighter with a lot of power. Though Thiago has won mainly by submission, he also has a lot of power in his punches which unfortunately has been underestimated by many. Though Kampmann is a better technical striker, he does not possess the relentless power of Thiago. In order for him to keep this fight going, Kampmann will need to keep this fight standing as Thiago is also a very decent grappler. Kampmann, has only one knockout victory since coming to the UFC which was against Alexandre Barros at UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson. Unfortunately Barros is no Paulo Thiago and it is unlikely Kampmann will be able to handle the powerful onslaught from Paulo. Of his four of his UFC fights, Thiago has gone against some very tough top ten fighters. First was Josh Koscheck at UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson where Thiago KO’ed the top welterweight fighter. Second, was the best 170 pound fighter next to Georges St-Pierre, Jon Fitch, at UFC 100, where he lost a very close fight. Last of the mentionables was American Kickboxing Academy fighter, Mike Swick, at UFC 109: Relentless, where he won Submission of the Night Honors. Though known mainly as a grappler, Thiago trains at Black House with some of the best strikers in MMA such as like Anderson Silva, UFC Middleweight Champion; Jose Aldo, WEC Featherweight Champion; hard hitting Junior dos Santos; former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida; and the Nogueira brothers. As well as having decent striking skills, Kampmann is also a good grappler—in fact, he is better at grappling than he is at striking, however, in this fight, this means nothing. Though Kampmann may have four UFC submissions victories, he is nowhere nearly as proficient on the ground as Thiago. Thiago is a high level black belt in both judo and in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and of his first eight fights, he won seven of them by submission—by the way, all these fights were out of Brazil where everyone is a good grappler. He currently trains out of Black House where some of the best grapplers in the world work out of and it is likely that there is not a submission that Kampmann can put on Thiago that he has not seen and cannot get out of. Bottom Line: At the time this match-up was written, the online sports betting lines were not yet released but I am guessing they will open with the lines being fairly close. Kampmann might actually be set as the favorite since he has more UFC experience than Thiago and is a more recognizable (or marketed) name. I can see Thiago’s aggressive striking leading to a takedown as Kampmann will not want to stand and trade shots with such a powerful striker. Once it hits the mats it will be over quite quickly as Thiago will attack relentlessly until he lands a submission. Look for Thiago to Sub Kampmann with a Second Round ChokeBet on the UFC at Bookmaker.com - Where The UFC Line Originates |
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