Going into UFC's foray into Pittsburgh Sunday evening, the big story was surrounding Nate Marquardt and his surprising release from the promotion. After all, the card was initially hyped up as being the former Middleweight contenders debut at the lighter 170 lb. division, against a guy who took his first "true" test in the cage and ran with it, in Rick Story. That, coupled with the fact that the main event was now Frenchman Chieck Kongo and American Pat Barry, left fans with a bitter pill to swallow due to the fact that while an interesting matchup, Kongo vs. Barry is likely the 4th spot on a Pay per view card at best.
After the event Sunday night, fans can honestly say that while it didn't have star power, the main event did show us one of the freakish comebacks in recent history.
For the first minute or so, we saw both kickboxers by trade circling, Kongo exchanging leg kicks with Barry though not thoroughly engaging. An early attempt by the American was stuffed by Kongo, the Congolese born Frenchman who now calls Paris home. Just as it had appeared that the main event was going to be a dud, fireworks exploded with a heavy right hand landed by Barry that had Kongo dropped and reeling, hoping to secure a takedown. After being warned by referee Dan Margliotta to defend himself, Kongo got up and received another heavy shot. While getting up and being woozy akin to roller skates, Kongo got up and walked back to the cage with Barry swarming. Barry however, left himself open and Kongo responding with a heavy uppercut, that dropped Barry clean out. In doing so, Kongo defeats Barry via 1st round TKO.
Next for Kongo : Definitely still an exciting fighter that knows how to put on a show. I'd say throw him Joey Beltran.
Next for Barry : Definitely a guy who just keeps getting stung by bad luck. How about Christian Morecraft?
Heavyweight prospect and former NFL player Matt Mitrone fought Christian Morecraft on the main card's opening fight on Versus. The first round got off to a solid start, with Morecraft landing some leg kicks while Mitrione was able to tag the Ithica, New York native to the floor, while just laying up and allowing his opponent to get back up. Mitrione cruised throwing his left hand and dropped Morecraft about a minute left in the 1st, with Morecraft scrambling back up losing his mouthpiece just before the clock reached 0. The second round saw Mitrione pushing forward and Morecraft throwing wildly, trying to keep the former lineman at bay. Mitrione threw a leg kick, though missed, and again finding a home with his left tearing Morecraft's face to shreds. A takedown after the 2 minute mark by Morecraft nullified Mitrione temporarily, with an inside clinch and an elbow allowing Mitrione to work; Another takedown by Morecraft got him down and passed Mitrone into full guard, though not doing enough for about a minute before the referee stepped in and got them back up. After that, Mitrione showed his superiority and standup prowess, stuffing another Morecraft takedown attempt and throwing a heavy combination with 30 seconds left in the middle stanza to win by KO.
Next for Mitrione : Either Pat Barry or Chieck Kongo.
Next for Morecraft : Joey Beltran.
Honorable Mention : Hats off to Mitrione for backing off after dropping Morecraft. He could have thrown 2 more shots that gave him a concussion, but was content in his win. Also, both former lightweight standouts Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson are going in different directions. Both making their featherweight debuts, Griffin earned a majority victory over former 145 lb. title challenger Manny Gamburyan, while Stevenson looked rather timid against his opponent, Javier Vasquez (no relation to the baseball player), and lost via unanimous decision. Also Charlie Brennerman, who while taking the fight versus Rick "Horror" Story on 24 hours notice, dominated the would-be main eventer in earning a decision victory. Such a thing could be compared to Seth Petruzelli shocking the world against Kimbo Slice in 2008....but, seeing as how Kimbo's career ended up, it shouldn't have been a surprise in the first place.
2-0 for my picks for the night. Brings me to 30-16-2 for the year. which would give me a winning percentage of .625. Not bad.
Look for more about the Nate Marquardt situation on this blog in the coming days, as well as a preview of this weekend's tilt between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Until next time, fight fans!
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