(Photo by Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports)
UFC President Dana White announced the “Fight Night” winners for Sunday night’s UFC Live: Kongo vs. Berry (aka UFC on Versus 4) event via Twitter (@danawhite) immediately after the conclusion of the live broadcast.
UFC officials also announced the gate numbers for the Consol Engery Center with a total of 7,792 fans in attendance for a live gate of $562,310.
Earning $50,000 in bonus money was main event fighter, and new comeback King, Cheick Kongo for “Knockout of the Night”, while Joe Lauzon earned his seventh bonus for “Submission of the Night”, and the “Fight of the Night” bonus went to Charles Oliveria vs. Nik Lentz.
UFC Live: Kongo vs. Berry took place at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 26. The main card aired live on Versus in the U.S., while Canadian fans tuned into Rogers Sportsnet. The entire seven fight preliminary card was broadcast live over the web via the promotions Facebook.com/UFC page.
Moving into the main event after that last minute removal of Nate Marquardt, heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry showcased their punching power in the first few minutes of the first round. Barry appeared to have Kongo in trouble after scoring some strikes that put the French fighter down, but referee Dan Miragliotta allowed the fight to continue. Kongo would get back to his feet, while still on rubber legs he’d plant his foot against the cage and stun Berry as he moved in for the kill. Kongo followed that up a right to Berry’s chin, knocking him out before his limp body would hit the mat finishing the fight at 2:39 of the first.
Winning his fourth “Submission of the Night” bonus, Joe Lauzon wasted little time finishing Curt Warburton with a Kimura in the first round. Lauzon appeared to have some issue finding his range against the longer reach of Warburton, finally scoring with a right hand that put the Brit to the mat. Lauzon immediately jumped in for the kill landing several strikes and quickly took Warburton’s arm instead, securing a Kimura. Warburton tried to fight off the submission but Lauzon would readjust the pressure, twisting the arm even more into an ugly position forcing the tap at 1:58.
Despite only lasting less than seven minutes, the lightweight bout between Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz was an exciting matchup from the beginning of the fight. Both fighters would score with a few punches, with Oliveira pushing the pace by attempting several submissions. In the second round both men would attempt to stand from their knees, with Oliveira rising first and scoring a vicious knee to Lentz face. The only problem was Lentz still had one knee on the mat, which was obvious to everyone but the referee who let the fight continue. The stunned Lentz was unable to recover allowing Oliveira to secure a rear-naked choke submission to end the fight at 1:48 of the second.
After the bout, color commentator Joe Rogan announced that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission would be looking into the illegal knee, which could mean the result of the fight could be turned into a “No Contest”.