FACT: At some point tonight, someone will refer to this man as “Kongo Slice”, and consider him/herself incredibly clever for doing so. Props: MMAJunkie.com.
The UFC will be holding its fourth installment of live MMA on Versus Network tonight at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, headlined by Nate Marquardt versus Anthony “Rumble” Johnson Pat Barry versus Cheick Kongo. Eh, what are you going to do? Plus, Rick Story and Charlie Brenneman battle for welterweight contendership, Matt Brown and John Howard more than likely fight for their jobs and Matt Mitrione squares off with Christian Morecraft.
The prelims are currently happening on Facebook now, so why not check them out? We’ll be here when you get back with live updates starting at 9 PM, ET. And yes, we know you’ll be back. It’s a Sunday night, now’s not the time to start acting like you have other plans. Refresh this page every few minutes for the latest results.
Whoa. Technical difficulties in the house. Quick recap…
Matt Mitrione completely handled Chistian Morecraft standing, scoring two knockdowns in the first round; Morecraft was clearly flash-KO’d during the second knockdown, but he managed to regain his senses when Mitrione pounced on him, and held on to the end of the round. Mitrione showed more of the same striking dominance in the second frame. Aside from a successful Morecraft takedown, it was all Meathead, who battered Morecraft until a very impressive three-punch walk-off knockout.
Mitrione def. Morecraft via KO, 4:28 of round 2. Great performance.
– Matt Brown beats John Howard via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) after a gritty grind of a fight that saw Howard opt for a (mostly ineffective) wrestling-based gameplan, and Brown win most of the standup and ground exchanges. Brown breaks his three-fight losing streak and saves his job.
Rick Story vs. Charlie Brenneman
Round 1: Brennerman comes forward to clinch, Story flips him to the mat, but Brenneman is quickly back on his feet. Brenneman separates and runs off to get some distance. Brenneman clinches. Story turns him against the fence and drops low, looking for a takedown. Brenneman defends and escapes. Now it’s Brenneman’s turn to shoot for a takedown. Story is briefly on the mat, but he recovers. Brenneman fires a straight right that lands flush, and immediately transitions into a takedown. Brenneman moves to side control. Story establishes guard and locks Brenneman down. Brenneman with punches to Story’s ribs. Story is content to just hang on while Brenneman racks up points. Brenneman shoulder-shrugs Story into the mat. Brenneman goes body/head from the top. Story does not get the standup he was looking for, and the round ends. 10-9 Brenneman.
Round 2: Brenneman gets a quick takedown. Story tries to scramble out, but Brenneman stay on him. Story grabs a guillotine and rolls to north/south on the bottom, but Brenneman escapes. Story flies forward with a knee that bounces off Brenneman’s chin. Brenneman swings a hook and comes in with another takedown that scores. Story works some rubber guard for a moment. Story heel-chopping Brenneman’s leg off his back. Story goes for a guillotine again. Brenneman tries to pass to side control but Story gets his guard back. Story loses the hold. Brenneman rides the round out on top. 10-9 for the Spaniard. Man, is Story’s six-fight win streak going to end like this?
Round 3: Both guys throwing uppercuts and looking for the takedown. Brenneman scores with the single leg. Story looking for a kimura. The referee breaks them and Joe Rogan blasts the standup. They start firing wild punches, and Brenneman grabs a leg in a scramble. Story manages to set up an inverted triangle. Brenneman lucks out when Story can’t finish it. But Story transitions to full mount and starts bouncing Brenneman’s head off the mat with short slams. Brenneman escapes and grabs Story’s legs. And that’s the fight. Wow. Nate Marquardt didn’t just fuck his own career, he fucked Story’s as well. And now Charlie Brenneman is a contender, I guess?
Charlie Brenneman def. Rick Story via unanimous deicision (29-28 x 3).
Cheick Kongo def. Pat Barry
Barry circles the Octagon, spitting water all over the mat. Kongo has Rampage Jackson with him for the walkout. Kongo has a 7.5-inch reach advantage, and a significant beard advantage. Big Dan Miragliotta whispers something to Pat Barry. Probably something like “watch your balls against this guy.” Pat Barry weighed in heavier, which is kind of crazy when you see them in the face-off.
Round 1: Barry with a leg kick. Barry shoots in, Kongo brushes him off and throws a leg kick. Hard leg kick from Kongo. And again. Ouch. More kicks from Kongo, and Barry is hesitant to return. Pat Barry throws a right hand that catches Kongo behind the ear and drops him. Barry fires down some ridiculous ground and pound, but Kongo stumbles to his feet. Barry overwhelms him with punches. Kongo somehow survives and escapes again. But he’s completely dazed. Barry comes in to finish the job, Kongo catches him with two hard right hands and Pat Barry is dead alseep.
Joe Rogan calls it the most amazing comeback he’s ever seen. Holy shit. Legendary.
A couple minutes later, Barry is still on his back. Hopefully he’s up by the time we return from commercial. Barry is on his feet for the result announcement. Kongo def. Barry via knockout, 2:39 of round 1.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
– Tyson Griffin def. Manny Gamburyan via majority decision (29–28 x 2, 29–29)
– Javier Vazquez def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30–27 x 2, 29–28)
– Joe Lauzon def. Curt Warburton via submission (kimura), 1:58 of round 1
– Rich Attonito def. Daniel Roberts via unanimous decision (29–27, 30–27, 29–28)
– Charles Oliveira def. Nik Lentz via submission (rear naked choke), 1:48 of round 2
– Ricardo Lamas def. Matt Grice via TKO, 4:41 of round 1
– Michael Johnson def. Edward Faaloloto via TKO, 4:42 of round 1
Kongo says he was never out, by the way. Likely story. Anyway, we’ll talk more tomorrow…