Martin Kampmann
Danish UFC fighter from Aarhus who became one of Robert Drysdale's first Las Vegas students and a brown belt, then coached Team Alpha Male.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, article on Martin Kampmann (read 21 Oct 2026).(opens in a new tab)
Kampmann is a Danish former professional mixed martial artist who fought in the UFC.
Where in the source: Article lead and infobox nationality line; lead describes him as "Danish".
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Kampmann was born in Aarhus, Denmark, on 17 April 1982.
Where in the source: Infobox, Born line, giving the April 1982 date and Aarhus as birthplace.
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Kampmann won the Cage Warriors middleweight title in July 2005 by stopping Matt Ewin at Strike Force 2 in Coventry, and defended it that November against Damien Riccio.
Where in the source: Record table, rows dated July 16 and November 26, 2005, Cage Warriors events in Coventry.
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After a first-round TKO loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 in September 2008, Kampmann dropped to welterweight, where he beat Alexandre Barros by second-round TKO at UFC 93 in January 2009.
Where in the source: UFC section, paragraphs on UFC 88 and UFC 93 (welterweight debut).
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Kampmann was named full-time coach of Team Alpha Male in September 2014, after saying in January 2014 that he was taking a break from fighting rather than retiring.
Where in the source: End of the UFC section, on the hiatus and the Team Alpha Male appointment.
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Wikipedia's honours list gives Kampmann two Submission of the Night awards in the UFC, for the finishes of Drew McFedries and Thiago Alves, plus a Knockout of the Night and two Fight of the Night awards.
Where in the source: Championships and accomplishments list, UFC awards: "Submission of the Night".
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In January 2010 at UFC 108 Kampmann submitted Jacob Volkmann in the first round with a modified guillotine that he calls the Deathchoke.
Where in the source: UFC section, UFC 108 paragraph on the Volkmann submission and the choke nickname.
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Martin Kampmann official website, biography page, Wayback Machine capture of 26 Oct 2016.(opens in a new tab)
In his own biography Kampmann says he comes from Aarhus, wanted to do movie-style martial arts after watching a film, and started karate at age 14 before moving to Thai boxing and competing as an amateur in Thai and Western boxing.
Where in the source: BIO page, first paragraph, on his start in karate at age "14".
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Kampmann began training submission wrestling in 2000 at Shooters MMA, which his biography describes as a major martial arts organisation in Europe, and fought his early amateur MMA bouts for it.
Where in the source: BIO page, first and second paragraphs, on starting submission wrestling in "2000" at Shooters MMA.
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He had an 8-1 amateur MMA record, turned professional in 2003 while in college, and received the nickname Hitman from a Danish MMA reporter.
Where in the source: BIO page, second paragraph, on his amateur record "8-1" and the nickname origin.
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According to his own biography, Kampmann travelled to the United States in July 2006 to train with a friend, Mike Pyle, and Team Couture; he accepted a WFA fight on two days' notice, won it in round one, and the UFC then offered him a three-fight contract. He made his UFC debut while still an engineering student and submitted Crafton Wallace with a rear-naked choke.
Where in the source: BIO page, third paragraph, on the July 2006 US trip, the short-notice WFA bout, the three-fight offer and the debut.
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Kampmann's own biography page lists him as a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under world champion Robert Drysdale, alongside coaching from Randy Couture and Ray Sefo.
Where in the source: BIO page, last sentence of the bio paragraph, on his jiu-jitsu rank under Drysdale.
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Sherdog, The Ultimate Fighter Season 4 Finale Preview, 10 Nov 2006.(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog's preview before his November 2006 fight with Thales Leites described Kampmann as an engineering student from Aarhus who trained with the KFT Shootfighting team; it listed a 2001 Danish Thai boxing title, first place in a 2004 submission wrestling tournament, the Cage Warriors middleweight title, and a first-round WFA win over Edwin Aguilar as a late replacement.
Where in the source: Kampmann vs. Leites page, second and third paragraphs - "Danish Thaiboxing champion"; "late replacement".
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In the 2004 M-1 middleweight grand prix Kampmann lost to Andrei Semenov when the bout was stopped because Kampmann was cut; Sherdog notes he then won six fights in a row, including two over Matt Ewin.
Where in the source: Same page, fourth paragraph - "He was cut and the bout had to be stopped".
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MMATorch, column by Dayne Fox reflecting on Kampmann's career after his retirement, 9 Jan 2016.(opens in a new tab)
A retrospective column describes Kampmann's April 2009 split-decision win over Carlos Condit: Kampmann nearly finished it with a deep guillotine in the first round, Condit escaped and cut him, and Kampmann used takedowns in the last round and survived a late Condit guillotine.
Where in the source: Column, Condit paragraph - "deep guillotine"; "take a split decision victory".
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The column says his 2012 win over Thiago Alves came when Alves, who had been beating him on the feet, shot for a takedown with under a minute left and Kampmann caught him in a guillotine for the tap; it then describes a win over Jake Ellenberger by knees in round two after being floored early.
Where in the source: Column, paragraphs on March 2012 and the Ellenberger fight - "caught Alves' neck in a guillotine".
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The column places Kampmann in a title-eliminator bout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 154 in 2012, which he lost early, and says he fought only once more, a rematch loss to Condit that took Fight of the Night honours.
Where in the source: Column, last career paragraphs - "title eliminator"; "Fight of the Night".
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UFC.com, preview by Frank Curreri ahead of Kampmann vs. Diego Sanchez, 3 Mar 2011.(opens in a new tab)
A UFC.com preview in March 2011 said Kampmann had built strong Brazilian jiu-jitsu on top of a brawler's base, held a brown belt under multiple-time world champion Robert Drysdale, and had never been submitted in his career.
Where in the source: Preview, paragraph on his style - "owns a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under" Robert Drysdale.
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MMA Sucka, interview by Trevor Dueck ahead of UFC 139, 15 Nov 2011.(opens in a new tab)
An MMA Sucka interview from November 2011 says Kampmann was a brown belt under black belt Robert Drysdale, and quotes him as confident in his jiu-jitsu skills if the fight against Rick Story went to the ground.
Where in the source: Interview, paragraph before the Story discussion - "has a brown belt under the tutelage of" Robert Drysdale.
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Gracie Magazine, interview with Robert Drysdale, 17 Nov 2010.(opens in a new tab)
In a November 2010 Gracie Magazine interview, Robert Drysdale, who had just promoted another student to black belt, was asked about having given Martin Kampmann a brown belt; he said Kampmann had been training with him for some time and was one of his first students in Las Vegas.
Where in the source: Interview with Drysdale at his Las Vegas gym; the question on Kampmann's brown belt and Drysdale's answer on his first Vegas students.
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In the same interview Drysdale described Kampmann's jiu-jitsu as clearly focused on MMA and said he kept adding new positions and submissions, learned quickly, and contributed to the academy.
Where in the source: Same interview, answer on Kampmann's technique: "focused on MMA".
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Fox Sports via Fox News, Damon Martin, Kampmann exiting as Team Alpha Male head coach, 5 Aug 2015.(opens in a new tab)
Fox Sports reported in August 2015 that Kampmann had taken over as head coach of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento after Duane Ludwig left; the team included Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Joseph Benavidez and then bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.
Where in the source: Article opening paragraphs - "took over the team" following the exodus of the former coach.
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The August 2015 report said Kampmann would step down as head coach by the end of 2015 because his family wanted to leave Sacramento, and that Faber would search for a replacement while Kampmann stayed until one was found.
Where in the source: Article, second to fourth paragraphs - "family wants to leave Sacramento".
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UFC.com, Thomas Gerbasi, Martin 'The Hitman' Kampmann calls it a day, 6 Jan 2016.(opens in a new tab)
UFC.com reported on 6 January 2016 that Kampmann, a 33-year-old native of Aarhus, had officially retired from active MMA competition with a 20-7 record and eleven wins in 17 UFC fights.
Where in the source: Article opening paragraph and the paragraph with his record: "20-7".
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The article says that after the August 2013 Condit rematch he took the Team Alpha Male coaching job, and that as his family grew he decided it was time to move home to Denmark.
Where in the source: Paragraph after the 2013 Condit rematch, on the coaching job and the move home.
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Kampmann said in the same interview that he expected to stay involved in MMA more as a hobby, still helping and coaching at affiliate gyms and giving seminars, whereas before he had done full-time fighting and coaching.
Where in the source: Quote near the end, on staying involved through seminars and affiliate gyms.
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The retirement article credits Kampmann with bonus-winning finishes of Drew McFedries, Thiago Alves and Jake Ellenberger, and calls him a cerebral fighter with stellar technique on the feet and the ground.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on his UFC record and bonus-winning finishes.
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Lineage
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