Re-posting of Martin Kampmann interview…

A couple of months ago, I was able to sit down with Martin Kampmann at the Xtreme Couture MMA training center here in Las Vegas.  Martin is a great guy and we had a very nice talk. 

This interview took place right before he fought Jake Shields.  I have spoken to him since that fight and plan to interview him again once he knows what fight is coming up next…

You have had an amazing career!

20 pro fights with only 3 losses, most recently to 2 outstanding fighters, Nate Marquardt and Paul Daley.  Let’s talk victories… 7 KO’s and 6 submissions… very well rounded!

Huge fight coming up here pretty quick.  Are you training w/ the same guys as usual?

“I’m training with a core group of guys here at Xtreme Couture.  I also had Drysdale come in.  Had some other guys come in like Pat Healy.  He was down here to help me out a bit.  I’ve been trying to work with some wrestlers to help with my takedown defense.”

How important is the other guy’s game plan? 

“I definitely look at his strong points and his weak points and I try to put together a game plan from that.  Of course, I try to think about what his plan is coming in, but if you expect and only prepare for one thing you could be surprised.  You got to be ready for anything.  I think it is good to study your opponents.  This fight for instance, I know the guy, in his last 20 fights he has been trying to take people down and submit ‘em.  Most likely he’s gonna try to take me down and submit me as well.  So, of course, I have been working a lot of defense on that.” 

The fight before that, the guy I was fighting, also a good submission guy, but he had a lot of knock out power, swingin hard for the fences.  So, then I was training for that.  I will change it up a little bit.  My primary schedule before the fight will be the same, but I’ll adapt a few things, tweek it up a little bit depending on who I am fighting.“

It is going to be an amazing fight. I cannot wait!

“I am looking forward to it.  I mean, I think he is kind of boring a little bit.”

That has been in a lot of articles lately… how guys who are strong wrestlers can take people down, but then just lay on top of them.

More general… is there anyone in the MMA that you look up to? 

“The first one to come to mind, of course, is Randy Couture.  He is the main guy here at the gym and he is a great inspiration to be around and a great inspiration to train with.  He is a great guy.”

Where do you see MMA is heading in the next few years?

“hopefully keep evolving and get a bigger fan base.  Become the biggest sport there is and have the paydays grow with it! (laughing)

Dana White said that the UFC’s number one goal right now is to go “global”.  Over the last couple of years there has been a clear effort made to capture the European market.   In the next couple of months there will be events in England and Germany.  Do you feel like this has had an effect on the sport?

It was announced last week that the UFC is expanding to Asia.  Any thoughts on how that could change things?  

“going global is a great thing.  Most sports are global.  Of course some sport like America football is the biggest hit in the US, but soccer is played almost everywhere in the world.  I would love to see it go global.  I am European.  I’m from Denmark and I would love to see the sport grow in Denmark. It is still growing as a sport and getting bigger and more exposure in the mass media, but it’s still a lot of years behind where it is here.  So, whenever I am home I try to do my part.”

On a lighter note… what do you like to do for fun here in Vegas!

“I like to hang out with my friends and my wife.  This Sunday I went hiking up at Mt. Charleston with the dog and my wife.  Go to lake, I like to be outside when it’s not too hot.  I like to play poker, as well. Just chill.  Relax a lot, you train hard and all you have the energy for is the couch.”

Thank you so much for your time and good luck with the fight!