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Friday, Aug 19, 2011

Rick Story Said “Hell Yeah” to Upcoming Bout With Martin Kampmann

By Kelsey Mowatt

Just a few months ago, Rick Story appeared to be within striking distance of not only becoming one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s leading welterweights, but one of the promotion’s top fighters, provided he could defeat noted veteran Nate Marquardt on June 26th. Of course, in what is well documented history now, Story never faced Marquardt due to his medical suspension, and ended up losing by unanimous decision to late replacement Charlie Brenneman. The defeat put a halt to Story’s impressive six fight win streak, and put the brakes on a run that was positioning the 26 year-old-fighter in the title shot mix.

With word this week from the UFC that Story will face Martin Kampmann on November 19th, however, the Brave Legion fighter has been given an opportunity to defeat yet another established welterweight, rather than a newcomer to the promotion. And the fact that this is a chance for Story to quickly reassert his presence in the welterweight division, isn’t lost on the 13-4 fighter.

“I kind of think that maybe the situation in my last fight, with the last minute change of opponent, maybe played a factor; I mean, I don’t really know,” Story told FCF while discussing his upcoming bout with Kampmann and the possible matchmaking decisions behind it. “I just know that this is an awesome opportunity to jump right back up in the standings.”

“When I found out I was pretty excited,” Story added. “It was like, ‘hell yeah’, it’s going to be a good fight.”

While on paper, Kampmann is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez, the Danish fighter impressed many observers in both contests, so much so, some had the 17-5 welterweight winning both fights.

“Those were the kind of decisions where you don’t want to leave it in the judge’s hands,” said Story about Kampmann, who prior to the defeats had earned victories over Jacob Volkmann and Paulo Thiago. “As it goes, I don’t think anyone can take anything away from Martin’s standing in the division. They were tough opponents and they were awesome fights.”

In fact, it’s because of Story’s respect for Kampmann, that he believes their November 19th tilt could also be a memorable one for the fans.

“He’s a really tough opponent and he likes to fight,” Story noted. “He goes in there and keeps moving forward, and that’s the kind of fight I’m looking forward to.”

While Story was quick to credit Kampmann for his abilities and the challenges he will present, the Tacoma fighter believes he has the edge over his next opponent in several areas.

“I believe that I’m way stronger than he is and that my wrestling skills are a lot better than his,” said Story, who has defeated the likes of Johny Hendricks, Brian Foster, and Thiago Alves during his UFC tenure. “His striking is very crisp but I just think my power and my aggression with my stand-up is superior to his.”

“I’ve been really heavy before and my first fight was at 185lbs after dropping down from 215,” Story added, while following up on his belief that he’ll have a strength and power advantage over Kampmann, who also competed as a middleweight. “I was a big 215, was always in the weight room, so the size thing has never been too much of a problem for me. I feel like I have the strength to match anyone in the welterweight division, and I can probably say that for at least half the middleweight division.”

While not officially confirmed, the November 19th, UFC 139 card is expected to take place at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.

Photo courtesy Brave Legion

 

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posted by FCF Staff @ 12:58 pm
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