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Paul "Semtex" Daley

The top contender’s match between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann will not go down at UFC 103 as planned, due to an injury suffered in training by Mike Swick. New UFC signee, Paul Daley will step up and face Martin Kampmann. There’s no word yet on what title ramifications, if any, this bout has. It seems the injury bug is Mike Swick’s biggest enemy, as he is 9-1 in the UFC, but can’t seem to stay healthy.

While Daley is a game opponent, this is a big let down. Even if Kampmann beats Daley, there’s no guarantee of a title shot, and the UFC has pretty much run out of challengers for Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre is just about where Anderson Silva was a year ago, in that he has beaten all of the top 170lb fighters, and the UFC is out of contenders for him. On the other end of the spectrum sits Paul Daley, who with one good punch, can land himself in the 170lb title picture.

UFC 103 is headlined by the returning Vitor Belfort taking on Rich Franklin at a catch weight of 195lbs. Hopefully the UFC can rustle up another solid bout to add to this card, as several fighters have had to drop out of the already lukewarm lineup.

Marcus Davis has a good interview with mmaweekly. Here’s some quotes.

This is the longest training camp I had ever. I wanted to gain muscle mass. The heaviest I got was 193 pounds, but it was 193 pounds with eight percent body fat. I haven’t watched that fight since that fight happened. All I’m doing is focusing on what Mark DellaGrotte has told me to do and focusing that I’m fighting the best Mike Swick there’s ever been. I picture that and me winning the fight. This is the most intense training camp I’ve ever had. I keep getting better. I want to keep getting better. If I stop getting better then it’s time to hang it up.

Here’s another snip:

I think it’s going to be over in the first round. I’m going to go after him. He’s either going to catch me or I’m going to catch him. I think it’ll end by KO. I don’t think I’ll submit him and I don’t see him submitting me. I don’t shoot on people so he’s going to have to do a jumping Swick-o-tine to get my neck. I’m sticking to my philosophy that I’ll go out there and knock him out in the first. That’s what I’m keeping my fingers crossed for.

This will be Mike Swick’s second fight at welterweight, after going 5-1 at middleweight. Despite his stellar record at 185lbs, Swick looked quite mediocre in his debut at welterweight, out-pointing Josh Burkman in a lacklustre win.

Davis on the other hand, seems to get no respect. It’s probably due to the fact his highest profile loss was to Joe Stevenson, now a lightweight, during TUF 2. In that episode, Stevenson thoroughly dominated the then one-dimensional Davis and hammered him out in minutes. A teary-eyed Davis then declared it was the end of the road. Two years, exponential improvement, and a string of wins later, we have Swick vs Davis in what should be Fight of the Night material. Can’t wait.