Swick Injured, Daley To Face Kampmann

by Robert Sargent

With only two weeks until UFC 103 in Dallas, Texas, welterweight contender Mike "Quick" Swick has been forced to withdraw from the card and his #1 contender's fight with Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann after suffering a concussion in training.

In Swick's place, British knockout artist Paul "Semtex" Daley will take on Kampmann to determine the next challenger for UFC Welterweight Champion George "Rush" St. Pierre.

Swick suffered the injury during training when he was foot swept while sparring and landed on the back of his head and neck. He suffered what has been described as a fairly bad concussion and will be unable to compete on the card.

His injury actually makes the featured UFC 103 fight more interesting, as Daley is one of the most devastating strikers in all of MMA. While Swick is well-rounded, he looked uncomfortable in his first few welterweight fights. By contrast, Daley looks only for the knockout and always puts on a show.

Daley was originally set to face Brian Foster in other action on the card, but now receives an immediate opportunity to position himself for a title shot against St. Pierre in the near future. A knockout win over Kampmann would make a huge impact in a division that currently has very few competitors left to challenge for the title.

Though just 26 years of age, Daley (21-8-2) is already a veteran of the sport. An incredible 17 of his victories have come by a form of knockout or submission due to strikes and he is one of the most feared strikers at 170 pounds. He has never been knocked out in his career.

Daley has repeatedly voiced his distain for the ground game and has been submitted in five of his eight losses. However, he showed much-improved takedown defence in his December fight with John "The Natural" Alessio at MFC 19 and went on to become the first man to ever stop Alessio with strikes. Daley has won two of his three fights since.

Kampmann will now need to considerably alter his game plan for the fight, but if he can get Daley to the ground, Kampmann will hold a huge advantage. He would be wise to avoid engaging in punching battles with Daley because that has never ended well for anyone.


UFC 103: "Franklin vs Belfort" is headlined by a catchweight bout between former UFC champions Rich "Ace" Franklin and Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort and takes place on September 19th from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.