The move up to the level of Cheick Kongo was too much, too soon for Shawn Jordan.
The former Louisiana State University football player lasted all 15 minutes, but had little success against the octagon veteran. Kongo won the UFC 149 encounter by scores of 30-28, 30-27, 30-27.
Jordan only got the main card slot after Kongo’s original opponent Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira determined he wouldn’t be healed from an injured arm in time for the fight.
The fight was a largely lackluster affair, with the Scotiabank Saddledome crowd lustily booing long stretch of inaction. While the fight itself was grueling, with long periods of clinchwork, there were hardly the fireworks that usually come with a heavyweight bout.
Kongo had no problem stopping the takedown as Jordan couldn’t take him to the mat a single time. Jordan had his sole opportunity late in the second after Kongo made a tactical error and Jordan ended up on top, but he couldn’t land anything of significance.
The rest of the fight was mostly Kongo moving him around the cage, and he did land several hard right hands, although nearly every hard punch he scored on was a single strike with nothing else behind it.
In rebounding from his February knockout loss to Mark Hunt, Kongo upped his career record to 18-7-2, while Jordan saw his two-fight win streak snapped, making him 13-4.