The first time Carlos Condit met Martin Kampmann inside the Octagon, he was fresh off a killer run in WEC and looking to make a name for himself on a much bigger stage. He lost a close fight, and never forgot about it. Now, over three years later, he got the chance to avenge that defeat in a rematch at tonight's (Wed., Aug. 28, 2013) UFC Fight Night 27 event in Indianapolis, Indiana.
With Condit so clearly winning the stand up battle, Kampmann continued to employ his strategy of fighting the war under his own terms. That meant grinding "The Natural Born Killer" down and employing a decidedly Georges St. Pierre-esque tactical approach.
The problem with that is Kampmann is no St. Pierre.
Indeed, Condit escaped once more and started landing punches with more and more frequency. He was doing very real damage too, as "The Hitman's" face started pouring blood. He was considerably slower than early on. It was bad enough that he seemed to be conserving energy, outright running from engaging at times.
Cue Condit's trademark flying knee.
Then, suddenly, the Greg Jackson trained Condit somehow grabbed a rear-naked choke and squeezed. It looked tight, but a slippery Kampmann managed to slide out and get back to his feet.
Still, the damage was done and the tide had turned.
For more on "Condit vs. Kampmann 2" click here, and for complete results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the UFC Fight Night 27 action click here.