UFC Live on Versus 4 has just come to a close, and it could not have ended in a more climactic fashion.
Cheick Kongo vs Pat Barry was promoted to the main event of the evening yesterday when the initial main event between Nate Marquardt and Rick Story was scrapped at the last minute.
Many fans were disappointed by this news, and so it was important for the new main event between Kongo and Barry to deliver some excitement, and it did just that.
This fight had a lot of potential because both men are excellent kick boxers, and tonight, fight fans saw that potential come to fruition.
The fight started off relatively tentative, with both fighters respecting each others skills and power.
Barry was getting the better of the striking at the start of the first round, but both men were landing. In particular, they traded a lot of heavy leg kicks.
Later in the first, Barry had Kongo moving back toward the cage when he hit him with a huge shot.
Kongo dropped immediately, and it looked like the fight was going to be over.
Pat swarmed on Cheick, throwing more bombs, and a couple times, it looked like Kongo might actually be out; Dan Miragliotta was definitely very close to stopping the fight multiple times.
To Cheick’s credit, he kept moving despite being rocked and showed enough resolve to keep the referee from stopping it.
Eventually, Kongo made it back to his feet and while still on very wobbly legs, landed two big right hands that knocked Barry unconscious.
Immediately after the fight Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan were both toting this fight as the greatest comeback in UFC history.
This is a giant win for Cheick. Due to his inability to defeat top level opponents, he had been labeled the heavyweight division’s gatekeeper. Tonight he showed the world that he isn’t happy with that position and that he is capable of much more.
Expect to see Kongo facing off against a top level opponent next time you see him in the Octagon.
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