Filed under: UFC, NewsThe result of Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz is now officially a no contest.
The Pennsylvania state athletic commission on Wednesday determined that an illegal knee by Oliveira set up his submission win at this past Sunday’s UFC …
The Pennsylvania state athletic commission on Wednesday determined that an illegal knee by Oliveira set up his submission win at this past Sunday’s UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh.
“After review of the tape of this contest and after consultation with the referee the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission has ruled that the results of this match will be changed to a no-contest,” Executive Director Gregory Sirb said in a statement provided to MMAFighting.com. “This change is a direct result from an accidental kick to the head by Mr. Oliveira to a grounded Mr. Lentz.”
In the second round of the preliminary lightweight fight, Oliveira landed a knee to the head of a grounded Lentz and proceeded to tap out Lentz with a rear-naked choke at one minute and 48 seconds. The knee, while accidental, was clearly illegal and noticed by the live audience watching and the UFC commentators. However, there was no call from the one person who could have made a difference that night, the referee.
“All the other referees were jumping up, guys from the commission were jumping up, I was jumping up. A lot of people were wondering what was going on, why the fight wasn’t being stopped, because it was so blatant,” Lentz’s coach Greg Nelson told MMAFighting.com Tuesday, adding that Lentz suffered an injury to his eye socket due to the knee.
Despite the controversial finish, the match was exciting enough that it was awarded Fight of the Night by the UFC and both fighters walked away each with a $50,000 bonus.
With the result change, Lentz (21-3-2) remains undefeated in his UFC run with five wins, a draw and a no contest. Meanwhile, Oliveira (14-1) will have to try again to bounce back from the first loss of his career last December against Jim Miller.
Filed under: UFC, NewsFive fighters from Sunday’s UFC on Versus 4 card in Pittsburgh have been hit with medical suspensions following their fights, three of them for 60 days.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission released the post-fight suspensi…
Five fighters from Sunday’s UFC on Versus 4 card in Pittsburgh have been hit with medical suspensions following their fights, three of them for 60 days.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission released the post-fight suspensions to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
Most notably, main event heavyweight Pat Barry was suspended for 60 days and will need clearance from a neurologist before returning. Barry looked to be on his way to a win over Cheick Kongo after dropping him twice, and it looked as if referee Dan Miragliotta was close to stopping the fight.
But Kongo rallied back, still wobbly on his feet, and delivered a massive right hand that put Barry on his back. Kongo’s win is already being discussed as one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history.
And the damage he took from an illegal knee by Charles Oliveira will have Nik Lentz out for 60 days, as well. He also must have his right eye cleared before returning. Lentz said Monday on Twitter that he had broken bones around his eye that will likely require surgery, and his coach, Greg Nelson, told MMA Fighting on Tuesday his fighter has a broken eye socket.
After an exciting first round – one that led to a Fight of the Night bonus – Lentz took a knee to the head in the second that the referee didn’t see. Lentz’s right knee was grounded, and Oliveira went on soon after to secure a fight-ending rear naked choke. The PSAC has confirmed the result of the fight is under review. It is possible Oliveira’s win could be overturned to a no contest.
And Christian Morecraft, who ate a three-punch combination from Matt Mitrione that knocked him cold, also was hit with a 60-day suspension. The win by Mitrione, who will appear on Tuesday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” to talk about the fight with host Ariel Helwani, improved his record to 5-0 in the UFC with four wins by TKO or knockout.
Additionally, Matt Grice, who suffered a first-round TKO loss to Ricardo Lamas in the fighters’ featherweight debuts, will be on the shelf for 45 days. And Edward Faaloloto, who opened UFC on Versus 4 with a first-round TKO loss to Michael Johnson, Season 11 runner-up on “The Ultimate Fighter,” will be shut down for 30 days.
None of the fighters involved in unanimous decisions were issued suspensions, and only one fighter involved in a stoppage loss was spared a suspension – Curt Warburton. Warburton tapped to a kimura just 1:58 into the first round against Joe Lauzon, and it appeared that his right arm might be damaged. But Warburton said Monday on Twitter that his arm and shoulder were OK after the fight.
Filed under: UFCJust because Charles Oliveira got his hand raised when it was all over, that doesn’t mean his win over Nik Lentz on the prelim portion of Sunday night’s UFC Live fight card will stand.
That’s because while Oliveira may have finished t…
Just because Charles Oliveira got his hand raised when it was all over, that doesn’t mean his win over Nik Lentz on the prelim portion of Sunday night’s UFC Live fight card will stand.
That’s because while Oliveira may have finished the fight with a rear naked choke, he did so moments after hitting a kneeling Lentz with what appeared to be a blatantly illegal knee to the head. It was that knee that changed the complexion of the fight, said Lentz’s coach, Greg Nelson, and that’s why he expects Oliveira’s win to be change to a no contest by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
“It’s the illegal knee that basically knocked Nik Lentz out so he could get his back and hook him,” Nelson told MMA Fighting on Monday evening. “I mean, he was clearly down. That knee broke Nik Lentz’s eye socket, so it was not a soft knee. He took his time, held the back of the head, wound up the knee and then let it go. …It was a super hard knee that ended up doing a lot of damage.”
But the referee for the fight — Ohio’s Chip Snider — didn’t intervene after the illegal blow, which shocked not only Nelson, but also observers at ringside, he said.
“All the other referees were jumping up, guys from the commission were jumping up, I was jumping up. A lot of people were wondering what was going on, why the fight wasn’t being stopped, because it was so blatant. Then the crowd, when they saw the replay, it was doubly obvious to them.”
At the moment, the result of the bout still stands as a win for Oliveira, but PSAC executive director Greg Sirb said the commission is currently in the process of reviewing the bout, and expects to have a ruling to announce on Wednesday.
“After the referee came to me and we said we’d look at it, he had no qualms about looking at it, and we’re in the process of doing that,” said Sirb, who added that no appeal from the Lentz camp was necessary in order to start the review process. Sirb said that both he and the referee will look at the fight separately and discuss it over the phone before arriving at a decision.
“We looked at it a little bit last night and the ref will look at it again today, just to make sure we’re on the same page,” Sirb said. “We should have something I imagine some time [Wednesday].”
Earlier this week, Nelson wrote online that the result of the bout had already been changed to a no contest, but that was based on information he got from UFC officials after the fight, he said.
“I was told by the guys at the UFC that it was going to be overturned. …Of course I spoke to as many people as I could and they were reiterating to me that they were pretty sure the commission would overturn it. That was across the board. Everyone who saw it who I talked to, that’s what they said. They couldn’t believe that it wasn’t stopped when it happened.”
As for Lentz, he spent Sunday night in the hospital, having his badly damaged eye seen to. Nelson described his fighter as “really upset” with the result of the fight, though he was pleased to receive the $50,000 bonus from the UFC for Fight of the Night. Nelson also said Lentz would have to wait until he could get back to Minneapolis and see his doctors there before they would know the full extent of his eye injury.
The knee that caught Lentz was a brutal and illegal one, Nelson added, but he doesn’t think it was particularly malicious on Oliveira’s part.
“I don’t think it was done on purpose. It was done in the heat of the moment, but it was still done.”
Seems like you should be able to predict the fight based on the shorts alone. PicProps: MMAJunkie
It happens everytime. You write off a UFC card as uninteresting and decide to paint along with Bob Ross (or whatever it is you do with your personal time), and the fighters get wind of it and take your lack of interest personally.
They get in to the Octagon and perform stupifying acts of athleticism and heartitude, Dana White gets a huge boner at the press conference, and now you have to read recaps and watch GIFs to catch up on the action. Sucks to be you, we guess.
Frankly, you need to be making better choices in your life — you cannot paint those happy little clouds and friendly little mountains like Bob Ross — no one can. Frodog himself couldn’t even paint like that; all of Bob Ross’s shows were actually produced by Industrial Light and Magic. There, the secret is out, and we can die in peace.
For those dedicated souls that tuned in, hey wow, how about that show, huh? Like you, we had some thoughts during the fights, and unlike you, we wrote some of these thoughts down during and after the fights. Come on in and let us tell you how you’re feeling right now.
Seems like you should be able to predict the fight based on the shorts alone. PicProps: MMAJunkie
It happens everytime. You write off a UFC card as uninteresting and decide to paint along with Bob Ross (or whatever it is you do with your personal time), and the fighters get wind of it and take your lack of interest personally.
They get in to the Octagon and perform stupifying acts of athleticism and heartitude, Dana White gets a huge boner at the press conference, and now you have to read recaps and watch GIFs to catch up on the action. Sucks to be you, we guess.
Frankly, you need to be making better choices in your life — you cannot paint those happy little clouds and friendly little mountains like Bob Ross — no one can. Frodog himself couldn’t even paint like that; all of Bob Ross’s shows were actually produced by Industrial Light and Magic. There, the secret is out, and we can die in peace.
For those dedicated souls that tuned in, hey wow, how about that show, huh? Like you, we had some thoughts during the fights, and unlike you, we wrote some of these thoughts down during and after the fights. Come on in and let us tell you how you’re feeling right now.
Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz were putting on a damn show in the prelims, until Oliveira blasted Lentz in the eyepiece with an illegal knee. When referee Chip Snider missed the blow completely and kept the fight going, Lentz was submitted like he had no clue what was going on. (Because he didn’t.) Oliveira gets the win, and our blood pressure started going up … until we’re informed that reps from the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission were on the case, and the fight and the result would be examined. Props, kudos, and respect to the AC for being on the ball to: A) catch the foul, and B) move swiftly to assure everyone that they caught the foul.
It was quickly apparent in the Mitrione-Morecraft fight that Meathead hits quite a bit harder than Christian Morecraft appreciates being hit, and we were surprised to see it make it out of the first. It was the accumulation of damage, rather than one crushing killshot, that sent Morecraft to the floor, but Mitrione knew his work was done. Morecraft shying away from the referee like he’d just been tag-teamed by a honey badger and a silverback gorilla hopped up on Cialis only served to reinforce that he was done for the night. Mitrione was already off shaking hands with Joe Silva and thinking of a joke for his Rogan interview. Walk-off knockouts: yep, still awesome.
3. Maybe it’s NOT such a good idea to take fights back to back ….
Saturday, Rick Story was riding an impressive win streak (poised to join the 7 Win Club), coming off a great victory, shooting up the welterweight rankings, and was a chic pick to spoil Nate Marquardt’s debut at 170. Sunday night, he’s getting outwrestled by some guy from the prelims. While the late change in opponents could have been a factor, Story looked to be having some fatigue issues as the fight went on. Whether he was over-trained or under-gameplanned, Story probably wishes he’d taken a couple months off. On a related note…
4. It’s time to take a good look at Charlie Brenneman.
And we don’t mean his skinny-puppy physique or those awesomely bad highlighter vale tudo shorts. Charlie Brenneman is now 14-2 professionally, with losses to John Howard (three years ago) and Johny Hendricks — no shame there. In the UFC, he’s sent two other fighters home with a pink slip, including his debut victory over Jason High. On one hand, it seems surreal to even mention Brenneman against guys like GSP, Fitch, or Koscheck; on the other, he deserves more than just returning to the prelims versus TJ Grant. There’s plenty of fights for him: Brian Foster (if his brain is ok) or Matt Brown would be appropriate tests for him, but if he wants to make a splash he’ll go after Thiago Alves. We can’t see him winning that fight, but then again, dude, did you see what he did to Rick Story?
Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry brought the artillery for their fight, and they manages to use all of it in just about two and a half minutes. HD had Kongo reeling all over the Octagon between two knockdowns, and everyone expected ref Dan Mirgliotta to jump in and save Kongo — including Mirgliotta himself. Kongo managed to regain his footing, shaky as it was, and land a right hook and a follow-on uppercut that put Barry directly in touch with his belated great-nana . It was a scary KO and we were glad to see our boy HD was ok, but holy Scott Smith Batman! Between his “hay ladies” physique and his concussive knockouts, Kongo reminded all of us why he’s still in the UFC last night.
Filed under: UFCBetween Nate Marquardt’s murky, ongoing professional nightmare and Cheick Kongo’s dramatic comeback in the main event of UFC Live, it was a weekend to remember in the MMA world.
Now, after a good night’s sleep filled with terrifying up…
Between Nate Marquardt’s murky, ongoing professional nightmare and Cheick Kongo’s dramatic comeback in the main event of UFC Live, it was a weekend to remember in the MMA world.
Now, after a good night’s sleep filled with terrifying uppercut-related dreams, we return to the weekend’s action and inaction alike to ask ourselves the eternal question: what the heck happened last night?
Answers may (or may not) lie with the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between from UFC Live.
Biggest Winner: Charlie Brenneman
What do you say when you get the call to sub in for the co-main event on a day’s notice? Most of us might have suddenly remembered that we had somewhere else to be, but Brenneman stepped up and made it count. He out-wrestled and out-hustled Rick Story, who seemed surprised that this guy was taking the fight so seriously. It was not only the biggest win of Brenneman’s career, it was also yet another reminder to every fighter on the UFC roster to be ready for absolutely anything at any time. You sign to fight on the prelims? That doesn’t mean you won’t be in the top spot by the time fight night rolls around. That’s just how it goes in this insane sport of ours. One minute you’re weighing in just to get your show money, and the next you have a victory over the UFC’s up-and-comer of the month. Like they say, luck is when preparedness meets opportunity meets a good double-leg takedown.
Biggest (Active) Loser: Rick Story
Some said it was a no-lose situation for Brenneman. Really, it was a no-win situation for Story. He’d stepped up on short notice to face Marquardt — a former title contender at middleweight who found himself in need of an opponent at welterweight. But when Marquardt got pulled under mysterious circumstances, Story went from fighting up the ladder to fighting down it. There’s no other way he would have gone from a win over Thiago Alves to a fight with Brenneman, who was 2-1 in the UFC before Sunday night. Story thought he’d be the one with everything to gain, but Marquardt’s “medical” problems fixed that. Through no fault of his own, Story’s great opportunity turned into a raw deal this weekend. Then his lack of a strong takedown defense did the rest.
Biggest (Inactive) Loser: Nate Marquardt
All we know for sure at the moment is that he wasn’t medically cleared to fight, and that he knew he probably wouldn’t be medically cleared to fight, at least according to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission officials. We also know that Dana White is “disgusted” with him, which tells us that the likely culprit is not something as innocent as a failed eye exam. Marquardt and his team have chosen to hold their tongues until Tuesday’s MMA Hour appearance (you’re not going to want to miss that, by the way), but unless he has a ridiculously good explanation for all this, Marquardt’s probably going to come out looking like the bad guy on this one. He already lost his UFC gig at a very limited time for MMA free agency, and now he has the ire of the fans to deal with on top of it. It’s a rough time for Nate the Great and, depending on what he has to say on Ariel Helwani’s show tomorrow, it may only get rougher.
Most Amazing: Cheick Kongo
How he even had his legs under him well enough to throw a decent punch after getting rolled up by a couple of Pat Barry bombs, I’ll never know. How he managed to get enough on that punch to knock Barry out cold — a feat never before accomplished in either MMA or kickboxing — that might remain one of the world’s great mysteries. Kongo said afterward that he was never knocked out, but then again he also said that he didn’t remember much after Barry’s right hand dropped him to his knees. He did seem to be briefly separated from his senses, but they became reacquainted with one another just in time to take advantage of Barry’s reckless aggression, and the result was one of the greatest comebacks in MMA history. After the fight Kongo seemed more freaked out than elated, sort of like a man who had narrowly avoided a horrible wreck on the freeway, then pulled off at the next exit and bought the winning lottery ticket at the first gas station he saw. I’m not sure if this one memorable win is enough to reinvigorate Kongo’s somewhat stagnant career, but it sure saved this fight card, for what that’s worth.
Most in Need of a Hug: Pat Barry
If I ever need to teach a robot how to recognize human sadness (shut up, it could happen), I’ll just show it the look on Barry’s face right after the Kongo fight. He didn’t need to say a word — all the hurt and crushing disappointment was right there in his perma-pout lower lip and his glassy eyes. One look at him and you almost know how it must feel to come so close to a great victory — to have it just outside your reach as you chase it like a toddler after a butterfly — and then to end up on the business end of a highlight that will live on in UFC hype clips from now until when super-intelligent apes enslave us and take over the planet. Barry is one of the nicest, most emotionally honest fighters in the game, which makes it all the more difficult to see him go through something like that. It’s just another reminder that of all the things this sport does with great efficiency and regularity, its ability to break your heart in a few seconds flat is still unparalleled.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Nik Lentz
As anyone who jumped on Facebook in time to watch the prelim fights already knows, a) your ex-girlfriend is only pretending to be so happy in all those photos, and b) Lentz was the victim of one of the most egregious referee errors in recent memory. Charles Oliveira nailed him with an obvious illegal knee, and the ref did absolutely nothing as Lentz crumpled up and Oliveira finished him off. The hell of it is, right up until that point Lentz was engaged in the most exciting fight of his UFC career. His slow-paced, clinch-heavy fighting style has been the biggest knock against him so far, which makes it sadly ironic that his first loss in the UFC should come in a thrilling effort on the undercard. At least, it’s a loss for now. If the Pennsylvania commission has any sense at all, it will overturn that one on appeal. This isn’t even one of those cases where you need a lengthy slow-motion video review to sort things out. A flipbook of Oliveira’s transgression and the ref’s inaction should do just fine.
Least Impressive in Victory: Matt Brown
After three straight losses, you can see why he might have felt the need to fight a little conservatively and get the win. But the performance that Brown and John Howard put on quickly went from conservative to anemic. One of Brown’s greatest strengths as a fighter — in fact, it may be what’s allowed him to hang around through so many defeats of late — is his exciting, go-for-broke style. If he abandons that in favor of a style that results in these narrow decision wins, he better make sure he never ends up losing another fight. While the UFC will tolerate you through a few interesting losses, it has far less patience for boring victories.
Best Walk-Off Knockout: Matt Mitrione
He must have felt a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the uppercut that Kongo used to put Barry to sleep. Before that punch, Mitrione had the $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus all but spent already. Then Kongo landed one blow and took that money right out of his bank account like a vengeful divorce lawyer. Bummer. The good news is, Meathead has another highlight-reel finish, and he even got to show his compassionate side by leaving Morecraft alone as he struggled to regain his wits. Sure, you could argue that it’s the referee’s job to decide when the fight’s over, but it’s not like all the referees had been living up to their end of the bargain by that point. Fortunately for the dazed and vulnerable Morecraft, Mitrione knew when to walk away.
Filed under: UFC, NewsMatt Mitrione’s three-punch knockout of Christian Morecraft looked like a sure-fire bonus winner. But Cheick Kongo had a little something to say about that.
Kongo’s amazing comeback win over Pat Barry in the main event of UFC on…
Matt Mitrione’s three-punch knockout of Christian Morecraft looked like a sure-fire bonus winner. But Cheick Kongo had a little something to say about that.
UFC president Dana White announced the bonus winners via Twitter following the promotion’s Pittsburgh debut, which took place at the Consol Energy Center.
Kongo’s knockout is already being talked about as perhaps the biggest comeback in UFC history. Barry rocked Kongo, knocking him down and pouncing to land several more shots. Referee Dan Miragliotta jumped in and nearly waved the fight off, but pulled back when he saw Kongo was attempting to stand up. Moments later, Kongo hit Barry with a pair of rights, the second of which put Barry’s lights out.
Lauzon made quick work of Curt Warburton on the preliminary card with a first-round kimura submission, just 1:58 into the frame. The Submission of the Night bonus is Lauzon’s fifth straight post-fight bonus award and sixth in seven fights.
And in another prelim fight, Oliveira submitted Lentz with a second-round rear-naked choke. But it was a back-and-forth first round that likely earned it Fight of the Night honors. Lentz fended off multiple submission attempts from Oliveira in the first round, and the two traded kicks and knees on the feet. Lentz nearly went out from an Oliveira guillotine, but survived and landed a guillotine of his own, though he couldn’t finish it.
That fight, though, was controversial thanks to an illegal knee to a downed Lentz that was missed by the referee. With Lentz’s right knee down, Oliveira, who had been throwing knees in the second round and landing with regularity, threw one that connected to Lentz’s head – and likely did enough damage to help lead to Oliveira’s fight-ending choke. Though the fight is a submission win for Oliveira on the books now, Joe Rogan announced in the cage following the bout that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission will review the fight, specifically the knee incident, and could overturn Oliveira’s victory to a no contest.
The result of Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz is now officially a no contest.
Five fighters from Sunday’s 
Just because 
Between Nate Marquardt’s murky, ongoing professional nightmare and 
Matt Mitrione’s three-punch knockout of Christian Morecraft looked like a sure-fire bonus winner. But 