Kampmann took part in the 2004 M-1 Grand Prix and faced UFC veteran Andrei Semenov (Pictures). He was cut and the bout had to be stopped giving Semenov the victory; the Russian went on to win the eight-man tournament. He has won six in a row since the loss, including victories Matt Ewin (Pictures) (twice), Damien Riccio (Pictures) and Brendan Seguin (Pictures).
Martin was as a late replacement for Jose Landi-Jons (Pictures) in the WFA in July, where he stopped Edwin Aguilar (Pictures) with strikes in the first round. He is 1-0 in the UFC with a submission win over Crafton Wallace (Pictures) at UFC Fight Night 6.
Thales Leites (Pictures) is a Nova Uniao fighter with a 9-0 MMA record as a pro. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt trains with UFC veterans Andre Pederneiras and Joao Roque (Pictures). With just three years of fighting under his belt, the Brazilian has an impressive resume, which includes victories over some highly touted veterans.
Thales was scheduled to make his UFC debut last month at UFC Fight Night 7 against Nathan Marquardt (Pictures), but the match fell through.
This is a tough call in the only bout on the card involving non-TUF competitors. Even though Leites is undefeated and appears to have a nice mix of jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai skills, Kampmann can do it all too and has the better stand-up. Martin reminds me of the second coming of Andrei Semenov (Pictures) and he’ll likely make a statement here stopping a tough young Brazilian with strikes.