Rick story, blatantly holding back his true feelings regarding Nate Marquardt.
In preparation for UFC on Versus 4 this Sunday night, Ariel Helwani has been busy interviewing fighters. Since you probably have a major concerns regarding his interviews, I’ll address it now: Nobody gets slapped. For those of you still here, Nate Marquardt and Rick Story don’t exactly speak highly of each other, Christian Morecraft talks beer and Black Sabbath and John Howard talks about the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup.
For more of Ariel Helwani, be sure to check out the pre-fight and post-fight shows on Versus Network, beginning at 8 PM ET and 11:30 PM ET, respectively. You’ll get analysis from Ariel, Todd Harris and Stephan Bonnar. You’ll also get a special appearance by our favorite reader (No, not Cheick Kongo). And also watch the other videos after the jump.
Rick story, blatantly holding back his true feelings regarding Nate Marquardt.
In preparation for UFC on Versus 4 this Sunday night, Ariel Helwani has been busy interviewing fighters. Since you probably have a major concerns regarding his interviews, I’ll address it now: Nobody gets slapped. For those of you still here, Nate Marquardt and Rick Story don’t exactly speak highly of each other, Christian Morecraft talks beer and Black Sabbath and John Howard talks about the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup.
For more of Ariel Helwani, be sure to check out the pre-fight and post-fight shows on Versus Network, beginning at 8 PM ET and 11:30 PM ET, respectively. You’ll get analysis from Ariel, Todd Harris and Stephan Bonnar. You’ll also get a special appearance by our favorite reader (No, not Cheick Kongo). And also watch the other videos after the jump.
Being on a UFC Live fight card is kind of a good news/bad news scenario for fighters.
The good news is that you get exposure on free cable TV, and it’s a little easier to stand out from the crowd without the pay-per-view megastars soaking up all the attention. The bad news is, if you’re on one of these to begin with, chances are it’s because the UFC doubts there are enough people willing to pay to see you fight.
Obviously, everyone wants to go home with a win bonus and a smile on his face on Monday morning, but some fighters need a victory worse than others on Sunday night. Let’s sort through the undercard and see who they are, and what their chances look like this weekend.
Cheick Kongo (15-6-2, 8-4-1 UFC) Who he’s fighting: Pat Barry Why he’s in danger: Honestly, when I looked up Kongo’s career record in the UFC I was surprised that it was — at least on paper — this good. Twice as many wins as losses? That’s not bad. Then you look at who he’s beaten (aside from that one big win over Cro Cop) and you see names likes Dan Evensen, Mostapha Al-Turk, Christian Wellisch, and Gilbert Aldana. In fact, of Kongo’s eight victims, only one is still in the UFC (again, Cro Cop, and just barely). The rest of those guys are long gone, and a few have stopped fighting altogether. Suddenly that record doesn’t look so impressive. Still, the UFC likes him, and it’s not like he’s been on a horrible losing skid, though in his last fight he fought to a mediocre draw with Travis Browne, and he was lucky to get that. The last time he looked good in a fight was against Antoni Hardonk in 2009. If he can’t beat Barry, you have to wonder how long he can realistically hang around the bottom of the division before dropping out the bottom. Odds of getting cut: 4-1. Maybe it’s his impressive physique, or maybe it’s just because he’s avoided the dreaded three-fight losing streak. Whatever it is, the UFC seems content to keep giving him work. Unless he looks absolutely horrible against Barry, expect that trend to continue at least a little while longer.
Matt Brown (11-10, 4-4 UFC) Who he’s fighting:John Howard Why he’s in danger: Brown is currently in the throes of the aforementioned three-fight skid that usually spells doom for a UFC contract. It’s a little surprising that he wasn’t cut after his loss to Brian Foster in November, but hey, apparently the UFC believes in fourth chances, at least for some guys. When he broke into the big leagues Brown seemed like a hard-nosed fighter with lots of potential. A few losses here and there can be written off as a consequence of the steep learning curve, but Brown is 30 years old and has more than five years as a pro. The time to develop gradually is over. Now it’s time to get busy winning some fights, or else seek your destiny elsewhere. Odds of getting cut: even. Howard is the betting favorite, and for good reason. Brown just hasn’t shown many bright spots lately, and he’s had plenty of opportunities. If he loses on Sunday — and if he’s not related to someone important in the UFC front office — he’s getting cut.
John Howard (14-6, 4-2) Who he’s fighting: Matt Brown Why he’s in danger: Howard started off his UFC tenure with four straight wins, then followed it with two straight losses, which will always place you firmly on the chopping block. Let that be a lesson to the kids out there: try and sprinkle your losses in among your wins rather than clumping them all together like that. It just looks bad. 4-2 in the Octagon is actually pretty respectable, and the two losses came against Jake Ellenberger and Thiago Alves, so it’s not as if he’s getting beaten by chumps. Still, you can only lose so many in a row. The problem with fighting a guy like Brown, who is hovering over the unemployment abyss already, is that if you beat him, well, he was on his way out anyway. If you don’t, then you might just swap spots with him. Howard has proved his toughness in two grueling battles recently. Now he needs to prove that he can still beat the guys he’s supposed to. Odds of getting cut: 5-1. Howard should win this fight, and even if he doesn’t the UFC might give him one more chance just because, hey, Matt Brown got to lose three in a row. Why not Howard?
Tyson Griffin (14-5, 7-5 UFC) Who he’s fighting:Manvel Gamburyan Why he’s in danger: In the face of three consecutive defeats, Griffin has chosen the ever-popular weight class jump as a cure for what ails him. He hasn’t fought at featherweight since 2005, but now that he doesn’t have to take a pay cut to do it in the WEC, why not give it a shot? His current losing streak is deceptive, however, since most people agreed that he deserved to win the decision over Nik Lentz at UFC 123. The UFC couldn’t exactly kick him to the curb off a questionable split decision loss like that, so of course it had to let him try to drop a few pounds and begin anew. Will it make a difference? Quite possibly. He’s always been a tad undersized for a guy who relies on wrestling and top control as much as he does. Maybe this is the rare situation where a drop in weight really is the answer. Or maybe not. We’ll find out soon enough. Odds of getting cut: 3-1. I like Griffin’s chances in this fight, and even if he loses he might be able to blame it on the weight cut. That excuse only works once, however.
Joe Stevenson (31-13, 8-7 UFC) Who he’s fighting:Javier Vazquez Why he’s in danger: As lovable a guy as “Daddy” is — and he is — his career has taken a troubling turn lately. It’s not just the three straight losses. It’s that a) Mac Danzig knocked him out with a punch that didn’t appear to have too much behind it, and b) he followed that up by losing to former WEC also-ran Danny Castillo. It is at about this point that you start to look at the 44 fights Stevenson has packed into an 11-year career and you wonder if the wear and tear is catching up with him. He, too, is trying the old drop-to-featherweight trick. He’s also fighting another relatively undistinguished WEC transfer, so he really needs to win in order to show the UFC that he’s still competitive. The UFC has already demonstrated its willingness to cut past TUF winners. If Stevenson keeps dropping fights to lesser-known opponents, his number will come up next. Odds of getting cut: 2-1. If he doesn’t win, wave goodbye to Joe “Daddy.” As much as we all hate to see bad things happen to good people, win percentage means more than good citizenship in the UFC. That’s just the way it is.
(Pokrajac chokes out James Irvin at UFC on Versus 2, but contracts the Sandman Curse in the process. Props: Francis Specker)
UFC 131 was never going to be remembered as the most stacked event of the year, but it did have a lot of crowd-pleasing names on it. Then, Brock Lesnar fell ill with a flare-up of diverticulitis, TUF 11 winner Court McGee tweaked his knee in training, and Mac Danzig’s chest injury snubbed out a compelling bang-up with Donald Cerrone. Throw in injury withdrawals from supporting players Anthony Perosh and Rani Yahya, and you’re left with a ghost-ship of a card that’s making Joe Silva work double-shifts.
Now, just days before the third UFC event in three weeks, the card continues to lose bodies. Due to an undisclosed injury*, Croatian light-heavyweight Igor Pokrajac has been forced to withdraw from his fight against Krzysztof Soszynski, and will be replaced on short notice by Mike Massenzio. (Pokrajac was already an injury replacement for Anthony Perosh, which means that this UFC 131 injury curse has affected K-Sos as much as anybody.)
(Pokrajac chokes out James Irvin at UFC on Versus 2, but contracts the Sandman Curse in the process. Props: Francis Specker)
UFC 131 was never going to be remembered as the most stacked event of the year, but it did have a lot of crowd-pleasing names on it. Then, Brock Lesnar fell ill with a flare-up of diverticulitis, TUF 11 winner Court McGee tweaked his knee in training, and Mac Danzig’s chest injury snubbed out a compelling bang-up with Donald Cerrone. Throw in injury withdrawals from supporting players Anthony Perosh and Rani Yahya, and you’re left with a ghost-ship of a card that’s making Joe Silva work double-shifts.
Now, just days before the third UFC event in three weeks, the card continues to lose bodies. Due to an undisclosed injury*, Croatian light-heavyweight Igor Pokrajac has been forced to withdraw from his fight against Krzysztof Soszynski, and will be replaced on short notice by Mike Massenzio. (Pokrajac was already an injury replacement for Anthony Perosh, which means that this UFC 131 injury curse has affected K-Sos as much as anybody.)
Best known as a middleweight, Massenzio was released by the UFC last year following consecutive stoppage losses to CB Dollaway and Brian Stann. He last competed on April 29th, scoring a 2nd round TKO over Nate Kittredge at a Combat Zone MMA event in New Hampshire.
In related news, a training injury has forced welterweight contender Martin Kampmann out of his scheduled bout against John Howard at UFC on Versus 4 (June 26th, Pittsburgh). Replacing him will be TUF 7 vet Matt Brown, who was slated to face Rich Attonito on the same card; Daniel Roberts will now come in to face Attonito. It’s a do-or-die fight for Brown, who has lost his last three fights — all by second-round submission.
* It’s nice to see that Sherdog has become as lazy as CagePotato, referring to Soszynski as ‘K-Sos‘. Add it to the list of phrases that we’ve popularized and then run into the ground.
Filed under: UFCThe UFC’s Pittsburgh debut got another shakeup overnight.
The UFC announced late Monday that Martin Kampmann has stepped out of his UFC on Versus 4 fight against John Howard with an injury. To compensate, Matt Brown moves up the card …
The UFC’s Pittsburgh debut got another shakeup overnight.
The UFC announced late Monday that Martin Kampmann has stepped out of his UFC on Versus 4 fight against John Howard with an injury. To compensate, Matt Brown moves up the card to face Howard, and Brown’s original opponent, Rich Attonito, will now face Daniel Roberts. The UFC did not disclose the nature of Kampmann’s injury.
Just last week, the card’s main event, between Anthony Johnson and Nate Marquardt, had to change when Johnson pulled out with an injury. Marquardt, dropping from middleweight to make his welterweight debut, now faces Rick Story, who just 10 days ago upset Thiago Alves at UFC 130.
UFC on Versus 4 takes place at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on June 26. The main card airs live on the Versus cable channel, part of a four-fight deal the UFC has with Versus for 2011. Versus previously was the home of the WEC, which was folded into the UFC at the start of this year.
Kampmann was looking to get back in the win column after a pair of decision losses – both controversial – to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez. Shields beat Kampmann by split decision at UFC 121 last October to get a shot at Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title. In March, at UFC on Versus 3, Kampmann lost a unanimous decision to Diego Sanchez – though many believe Kampmann won the fight, and FightMetric’s stats indicate Kampmann did more damage.
Brown has lost three straight, all by submission, to Ricardo Almeida, Chris Lytle and Brian Foster. Howard has lost two in a row, to Jake Ellenberger and Alves, after a 4-0 start to his UFC career.
Attonito also drops down from middleweight to welterweight for the first time. He is coming off a loss to Dave Branch at the TUF 12 Finale in December. Roberts had his three-fight streak stopped by Claude Patrick at UFC 129 in April.
“I feel I’m finally down at the weight class I should have been the entire time,” Attonito said in a release from his management company. “I feel better than I’ve ever felt physically and athletically.”
With just four bouts on the main card on Versus, the event will tie a UFC record for most preliminary card fights on one show with eight. UFC 103, in September 2009, was the first card in the promotion’s history with 13 fights – eight of which were prelims. That was also the first time a pair of prelims aired live on Spike TV.
Though not yet announced by the UFC, some of all of the UFC on Versus 4 prelims could wind up on Facebook. All of the UFC’s events since January’s Fight for the Troops 2 show have included preliminary fights streaming for free on the social networking site. Including this Saturday’s UFC 131 pay-per-view, the last four have aired each fight on the card with a combination of Facebook, Spike and pay-per-views.
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe UFC continues to fill up cards in its busy summer season, slotting a pair of lightweight fights for upcoming events in June and July, respectively.
At UFC 131, Donald Cerrone will look for his fourth straight win in a match a…
The UFC continues to fill up cards in its busy summer season, slotting a pair of lightweight fights for upcoming events in June and July, respectively.
Addiction can make the toughest S.O.B. as powerless as this guy. While many MMA fighters have had their lives and careers derailed by drugs and alcohol, some were strong enough to find treatment and pull their lives out of the tailspin. Here’s our trib…
Addiction can make the toughest S.O.B. as powerless as this guy. While many MMA fighters have had their lives and careers derailed by drugs and alcohol, some were strong enough to find treatment and pull their lives out of the tailspin. Here’s our tribute to five of them…
COURT McGEE Drug of choice: Alcohol, cocaine, heroin, meth, etc. Rock bottom moment: McGee began abusing drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd after high school, and was once pronounced dead following a heroin overdose. In 2006, McGee had managed to stay sober for five months. In order to test his willpower, he took a trip to Las Vegas and decided to order just one drink. He woke up four days later in Iowa, not wearing any pants. Recovery: McGee has been sober since April 16, 2006, two weeks after the Vegas/Iowa incident. He began training in MMA and rebuilding relationships with his family, which helped restore order to his life. "Crusher" came out of nowhere to win TUF 11 last June, and submitted Ryan Jensen in his follow-up fight at UFC 121.
Being on a 
The UFC’s Pittsburgh debut got another shakeup overnight. 
The UFC continues to fill up cards in its busy summer season, slotting a pair of lightweight fights for upcoming events in June and July, respectively.
