Filed under: UFC
The UFC is back with its fourth live show on Versus on Sunday night, with Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry in the main event after Nate Marquardt was forced out of his fight with Rick Story at the last minute. We’ve got the predictions right here.
What: UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry
Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh
When: Sunday, the Versus show begins at 9 PM ET.
Predictions on the televised fights below.
Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
If you like two heavyweights who will stand and bang, this is the fight for you. Both Kongo and Barry have some significant holes in their ground games, but they’re also both strong strikers, and there’s not much question that we’ll see some hard hitting (and probably some low blows).
Barry’s kicks make him a threat to anyone who’s going to trade with him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts Kongo in some trouble. But eventually I like Kongo to get Barry down and finish him with ground and pound.
Pick: Kongo
Charlie Brennaman vs. Rick Story
What a strange story of how this fight came to be. When this card was first getting put together, the main event was supposed to be Anthony Johnson vs. Nate Marquardt, and one of the undercard fights was supposed to be Matthew Riddle vs. TJ Grant. Neither Brennaman nor Story was even supposed to be on the card. But when Johnson got hurt, Story jumped in to face Marquardt on short notice. Meanwhile, Riddle got hurt, and Brennaman jumped in to fight Grant on short notice. Then Grant got sick, so Brennaman’s fight was called off. Then Marquardt failed to get medically cleared, and Brennaman jumped back in to take on Story.
Did you follow all that? Whether you did or not, we’ve now got Brennaman-Story as the co-main event, and I don’t see it as being competitive: Story should handle Brennaman and win a one-sided unanimous decision.
Pick: Story
Matt Brown vs. John Howard
Both of these guys are probably fighting for their jobs in the UFC, as Brown is on a three-fight losing streak and Howard is on a two-fight losing streak. I like Howard to win a decision and save his job, while Brown moves on and moves out of the UFC.
Pick: Howard
Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
Mitrione is a big, strong former football player who’s starting to make some noise in the UFC heavyweight division, but I don’t think he’s as complete a fighter as Morecraft, who ought to be able to submit Mitrione on the ground.
Pick: Morecraft