Matt Erickson said:
Martin Kampmann must be itching to get back in the octagon, or at least itching to know what's next for him.
The UFC welterweight on Sunday called out a trio of fighters, all champions or former champs.
Kampmann (20-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) said he'd welcome a fight with final Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine (14-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) or the loser of Saturday's UFC 158 main event title fight between Georges St-Pierre (23-2 MMA, 17-2 UFC) and former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz (26-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC).
UFC 158 takes place at Montreal's Bell Centre with a main card on pay-per-view after prelims on FX and Facebook.
Kampmann currently isn't scheduled for his next fight. In November at UFC 154, also in Montreal, he was knocked out by Johny Hendricks (14-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) with one punch in just 46 seconds.
Kampmann, on his
feed, said he'd like to return to action this summer against Saffiedine or Diaz – in the process giving him prediction of who will win Saturday's title fight.
"No fights lined up yet, but I would like to get one this summer against strikeforce champ Saffiedine or Diaz after gsp beats him up," Kampmann stated.
But if Diaz pulls off the upset – St-Pierre is as much as a 5-to-1 favorite in the fight – Kampmann said he'd gladly fight St-Pierre, too.
"If Diaz pulls it off I will be happy to fight gsp as well, I would actually prefer that," he stated.
Kampmann had a three-fight win streak snapped with his November loss to Hendricks, the first time he had been knocked out in more than three years. Prior to the Hendricks fight, Kampmann had vaulted up the welterweight ranks after close decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez (two fights which many believe he won) with wins over Rick Story and bonus-winning victories over Thiago Alves and Jake Ellenberger.
Saffiedine won the final Strikeforce 170-pound belt in January at the promotion's finale before folding into the UFC. He upset Nate Marquardt with a dominant unanimous decision to win the title. He doesn't have his UFC debut scheduled yet. He closed out his Strikeforce career with four straight wins and went 6-1 in that promotion.
Barring a fight with Saffiedine, if he wants the loser of Saturday's main event between St-Pierre and Diaz, it would be a fight that could help put him right back in title contention with a win. St-Pierre hasn't lost in nearly six years and has won 10 straight. Diaz comes into the fight after a yearlong suspension he was given for testing positive for marijuana metabolites after a loss to Carlos Condit more than a year ago at UFC 143. Before that decision setback, he had an 11-fight win streak.
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Kampmann/Saffiedine would be a SICK tactical striking battle. I think thats the fight to make and the perfect test for Saffiedine, to see where he belongs in the UFC WW division.