Also in 2005, Uusipaavalniemi won the first ever European Mixed Curling Championship with teammates Kirsi Nykänen, Teemu Salo and Tiina Kautonen in Andorra.

They beat Great Britain 4–3 in the semi-final, with the last stone of the final end — thrown by Uusipaavalniemi — giving the Finns the deciding point.

Two weeks before the start of the 2006 World Men's Curling Championship in Lowell, Massachusetts, Uusipaavalniemi suffered a wrist injury that forced him to miss the team's first three games of the competition.

He played out the rest of the competition throwing third rocks, but Finland did not make the playoff round, finishing tied for fifth with a 6–5 record.

Uusipaavalniemi returned to the 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship but his team got off to a rough start, losing their first two games and stringing together back-to-back wins only twice.

Markku admitted that his recent campaign for (and eventual election to) Finnish parliament had forced him to cut back on curling practice time, perhaps contributing to the team's early struggles.