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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Longtime UFC welterweight Martin Kampmann hasn't fought since a loss to Carlos Condit last August at UFC Fight Night 27, but he found a different way to make similar money last week.
The Danish fighter picked up a win in the Nevada Poker Challenge main event on the 18th, netting $52,740 for his first place finish.
Kampmann, who is coached by poker pro Jason Somerville, is a representative of Ultimate Poker, the online site owned and run by UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who also own Station Casinos in Las Vegas. He picked up a win in the $1,100 buy-in event at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada, which brought him a likely larger payday than his last two UFC bouts.
Though the official payroll for Kampmann's last two fights weren't released, his last win saw him earn an officially disclosed $84,000, which represented $42K to show and $42K to win. As he lost his last two outings - to Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit - the safe assumption is him earning the $42,000 to show in each bout.
Penick's Analysis: Nicely done by Mr. Kampmann. That's a nice chunk of change for anyone, and by scoring that on three days of card-playing, rather than getting punched in the face, it's possible he could try to make a run outside of MMA. That said, one win does not a career-change make. Working with Somerville, though, is a good move on his part, and could suggest a more serious run in poker than had he picked up a random win on his own.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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