Jake Shields, who was dominant in his fights for Elite XC and Strikeforce, made his Octagon debut against Martin Kampmann at UFC 121. While Kampmann certainly could not rival Shields’ grappling game, he made for an interesting opponent in that he possessed a significant striking advantage and yet had enough ground competency to presumably avoid getting completely dominated.
Would the former Strikeforce champion transition instantly into the top of the UFC heap with a win over Kampmann? Or, would Kampmann use his striking and takedown defense to rain on Shields’ parade?
The result follows:
Jake Shields b. Martin Kampmann via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
*Story of the fight: A win over a solid opponent for Jake Shields, but this was not the kind of win Shields needed to establish himself with the casual UFC audience.
Shields’ grappling effort was extremely effective in the first round; he stuck to Kampmann like glue and gave the striking expert no opportunity to develop any rhythm. While Shields never did any damage on the ground, he did show some impressive ground-work and had little trouble advancing on top of Kampmann.
Cardio apparently caught up to Shields, however, as he was far less effective in the latter two rounds. Kampmann did a much better job of warding off Shields’ takedown and grappling, but save for two solid knees, he never took advantage of Shields’ fatigue to mount a true standing effort. And when push came to shove, Shields was able to get top position and totally neutralize Martin Kampmann. Round two thus still belonged to Shields, and it would not have been outrageous to give Shields the final round as well.
Kampmann actually had an advantageous ground position in round three, but instead of using it to bring the fight back to his feet, he tried to submit Shields. The submission attempts never took off and allowed Shields to eventually reverse to a dominant position of his own.
Given how gassed Shields looked late in the fight, it is clear that it was Kampmann’s gameplan–not his opponent’s talent–that led to the Shields victory. Had Kampmann worked to keep the action standing in round three, he would have at least given himself a chance of scoring a stoppage.