June 27, 2011 – They may have had to put the kibosh on their original main event twice (read: Anthony Johnson and Nate Marquardt) but what took its place at UFC LIVE 4 in Pittsburgh last night was nothing short of the perfect topper to cap off a long day of MMA action on Facebook and the Versus Network.
Coming behind from the depths of annihilation at the hands of former K-1 kickboxer Pat Barry, Cheick Kongo mustered up all the energy he had left and balled it up into one right uppercut to send the scary Barry into dreamland and complete the most improbable cage comeback of the year thus far. Seriously, that fight features nothing less than three knockouts in about a minute’s time. Purely amazing.
In the co-main event, short-notice fight taker Rick Story was trumped as Charlie Brenneman took this bout with Story on even shorter notice (hours, not days) as former Nate Marquardt was unable to pass medicals and subsequently got fired in front of the world. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Brenneman used his D1 wrestling skills to rain on “The Horror” Story’s parade and steal much of the momentum gained through Story’s win over Thiago Alves. Definitely a tough loss to stomach for an otherwise impressive Rick Story.
Speaking of tough losses, it’s likely that John “Doomsday” Howard suffered the worst one on the card, losing to Matt “The Immortal” Brown in what was likely a “loser-gets-cut-from-the-UFC” match due to both their less-than-awesome losing streaks heading into the bout. With this, his third loss in a row, “Doomsday” will likely join Nate Marquardt on the unemployment line.
Lastly on the main card, “Meathead” Matt Mitrione pushed his undefeated record to 5-0 by summarily dismissing the large Christian Morecraft via KO in the second round of their opening fight of the night. With this win, look for Mitrione to start making even more noise and take on more impressive opponents. It should be interesting to see how he performs against the likes of the Cheick Kongos and Roy Nelsons of the world!
To quickly summarize the undercard, several of the better performances on the night took place in front of our keyboards as several featured fighters showcased their skills on Facebook. Most significantly, Joe Lauzon, Javier Vasquez, and Ricardo Lamas scored impressive victories over their opponents. Houstonian representative Charles “do Bronx” Oliviera also got the submission victory, and impressively at that, in a bout that was however marred by an illegal knee to opponent Nick Lentz that set up the eventual finish. That didn’t stop the UFC from naming Oliviera/Lentz fight of the night though. $50,000 can buy a whole lot of DETHRONE shirts so a big TEXAS-sized congrats to Mr. Oliviera on both his win and the bonus!
UFC LIVE 4 – Full Results from Pittsburgh, PA
Main Card:
- Cheick Kongo def. Pat Barry via KO (punches) at 2:39, Round 1
- Charlie Brenneman def. Rick Story via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Brown def. John Howard via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Mitrione def. Christian Morecraft via KO (punches) at 4:28, Round 2
Preliminary Card:
- Tyson Griffin def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Javier Vazquez def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
- Joe Lauzon def. Curt Warburton via submission (kimura) at 1:58, Round 1
- Rich Attonito def. Daniel Roberts via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Charles Oliveira def. Nik Lentz via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:48, Round 2
- Ricardo Lamas def. Matt Grice via TKO (strikes) at 4:41, Round 1
- Michael Johnson def. Edward Faaloloto via TKO (strikes) at 4:42, Round 1
Bonuses:
- Charles Oliveira, Nik Lentz both earn $50,000 for “Fight of the Night”
- Cheick Kongo earns $50,000 for “Knockout of the Night”
- Joe Lauzon earns $50,000 for “Submission of the Night”
That’s it from UFC LIVE 4 guys. Stay tuned to TXMMA.com for more on local, regional, and national MMA all day, every day!
