Issue 078

August 2011

Martin ‘The Hitman’ Kampmann, one of Xtreme Couture’s most prodigious athletes, talks training with ‘The Natural’ and why ‘Captain America’s one of a kind,

You’re coming off two losses, but the last one against Diego Sanchez in March was a fight that a lot of people thought you won, and that almost everyone agrees was one of the best of the year. Where does that put you in your next fight?

“Well, I need to win, just like I need to win every fight. But I’ll always say I still think I won the fight against Diego; I was picking him apart. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m a better fighter than him.”

Is it difficult to learn from a loss when you think you won?

“No, you can learn from any fight, there are always things you do wrong, or that you’re not happy with. You just have to keep moving forward.”

Would you rather get a rematch, or get back on the championship ladder?

“Well, it’s a loss on my record and I don’t like those. I’d be happy to beat Diego up again, but I want to get back up at the top of the division too.”

You’ve been at Xtreme Couture since the beginning. How did that happen?

“I was actually training with Mike Kyle at the time. He trained in Denmark for a while, and then when I went to the States he very kindly let me sleep on his floor, and he was training with Randy at the time. Back then it was just a bunch of us training at different places – we’d train in the Xyience gym, and in the gym from the Ultimate Fighter house when they weren’t filming, guys like Gray Maynard and Jay Hieron. Then, when Randy wanted to open a gym, we all moved there. I actually taught classes for a while.”

Had you seen many of Randy’s fights before you met him?

“Of course, I used to follow the UFC a lot. I remember enjoying his win over Chuck Liddell; everyone thought he was going to lose that fight, and he came out and proved the doubters wrong.”

Do you remember the first time you met ‘The Natural’ himself?

“I guess he would have been on the mats one day. He trains a lot.”

That’s something he’s famous for.

“Yeah, he’s kind of an inspiration in the gym. When he walks in, he’s happy, he’s having a good time. He’s a great guy to have around.”

All the Xtreme Couture guys seem to have top-notch conditioning. In his book Got Fight, Forrest Griffin says you’re one of the toughest guys in the gym, and that you train really hard. Is that something that comes from the atmosphere there?

“Yeah, I think so. I’ve always been a hard worker, though – you get out what you put in. I’ve seen guys that could have kicked my ass if they’d put the work in and trained. That’s what makes a difference. In the old days at the Xyience gym, I remember sparring with Forrest Griffin, maybe it was the first day I trained with him, he broke his hand punching me in the head. 

I think it was a pre-existing injury, but still. These days we wear headgear.”

What’s the thing you’ve improved most since making the move?

“Well, I’ve been working on my wrestling a lot. It’s one of the things you can’t really do in Denmark; you don’t do it in high-school or college like they do in America. I used to train in Greco-Roman with a friend of mine, but that was about it. Obviously it’s something I’ve had to work on, and it’s been great to have wrestlers like Randy, Gray and Jay to help me out.”

It isn’t all head-punching and wrestling though. We’ve seen footage of Randy bouncing around on trampolines in his training. Is that the sort of thing you’d get into?

“No, I’ve never done anything like that. Randy’s very open to new ideas though, he’s willing to learn from everybody. Maybe I’d give it a shot sometime.”

Have you seen Randy back in the gym since his loss to Machida and his consequent retirement?

“Yeah, he was back in the gym not long afterwards. I haven’t seen him for a while, though. He’s got a lot going on right now, films and his charity foundation and stuff. I think he’ll keep training. It’s one of those things that you keep with you. Training for a fight’s obviously different from training because you enjoy the workout or whatever, but it’s a part of your life.”

He’s already going to go down in history as one of the most successful older athletes in the UFC. Do you think seeing a guy compete until the age of 47 has an impact on other fighters?

“I think we won’t see a guy like him again. When he started fighting, he’d been wrestling a long time, but he started quite late. And these days, the kids are learning everything. I grew up doing karate and Muay Thai, but now you’ve got kids learning the whole game of MMA from a very early age. You’ve got these young kids getting amazing at jiu-jitsu, wrestling, striking, throwing spinning kicks and flying triangles. You’ve got incredible athletes now. I think it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to do what Randy’s done again.”

Do you think he’ll compete again?

“I don’t think he’ll fight in the UFC again. But then again it’s Randy: you never know.”

COUTURE ICON ISSUE: CHAEL SONNEN

“Randy Couture is the only man in MMA I could not beat. I could beat the rest. You’ve got to understand, I have fought and beaten them all at some point. They come to our gym or we go to theirs. I’ve beaten them all, in five-minute rounds. They’ve beaten me, too. In the last 10 years, I’ve won five-minute rounds against Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson, BJ Penn, Don Fry, Evan Tanner… you can just keep going. But not one time – ever – have I come out on top against ‘The Natural.’ Not once. There is nothing I can say to the contrary. That’s just the way it went down”