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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
After suffering a huge setback in June in an upset loss to Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 4, Rick Story will return to action at UFC 139 this November against Martin Kampmann.
The UFC announced the welterweight matchup on Wednesday morning.
Kampmann was supposed to compete on that UFC on Versus 4 card himself, but an injury forced him out of the event. This will be his first fight back since losing a controversial decision to Diego Sanchez in March. The 29-year-old has lost two straight fights, but holds an 8-4 record inside the Octagon over the last five years.
Story's loss to Brenneman snapped a six fight winning streak in the UFC, and was his first loss since his UFC debut in 2009. After his biggest career win in a decision over Thiago Alves at UFC 130, Story stepped up on short notice to fight Nate Marquardt at UFC on Versus 4. However, when Marquardt was pulled from the event the day of the weigh-ins, Brenneman stepped up, and ultimately won the fight by out-grappling Story in the first two rounds of the fight.
UFC 139 takes place on Nov. 19 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and is expected to be headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Penick's Analysis: This is an excellent welterweight fight, and really the perfect fight for each of them right now. Story's loss to Brenneman saw his stock in the division plummet, but he's still 6-2 in the UFC and is a very capable fighter. Kampmann has lost two fights in a row, but they were close fights where he essentially just didn't do enough to convincingly take the rounds to win. He remains a dangerous fighter on the feet and on the ground, and he'll be a very difficult test for Story to get past to get himself back on track.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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