UFC Live 4: SHOCKING RESULTS – What it Means

By Sean Farrell

Now as good as my Prelim results were, NOTHING on it topped the main card last night at UFC Live 4. With the release of Nate Marquardt following his “failed medicals”, the UFC promoted heavyweight sluggers Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry to the main event with all the pressure of carrying Sunday’s UFC on Versus 4 event on their own. I will start with that fight and, was it an incredible few minutes!

Barry vs. Kongo

The tension for the fight was evident at the nose-to-nose staredown at Saturday’s official weigh-ins, and it came full circle at the bout when the two refused to touch gloves. There would be plenty of glove touching to come however, in what was one of the most memorable UFC finishes ever.

The bout starts, and after a few sharp low kicks from both fighters, Barry actually flashed a takedown attempt. It didn’t work, and he returned to his core skillset, Kickboxing. A big right hand crumbled Kongo and the goliath went crashing to the canvas, Barry then swarmed with bad intentions.

Referee Dan Miragliotta allowed the fight to carry on, even as Kongo stumbled around the cage, trying to escape Barry’s wrath. It seemed initially like a poor decision as Barry unloaded on Kongo who looked clearly out of it. Miragliotta would soon be vindicated and loved as a referee forever.

Kongo somehow cleared the cobwebs in an instant, returned to his feet and blasted Barry with a pair of right uppercuts that left the heavyweight unconscious on the floor with both eyes open and the arena stunned.

The intense drama unfolded in just two minutes and 39 seconds and was probably the best finish in fight history.

With the stunning win, Kongo remains unbeaten in his past three octagon outings, and despite being called a “cheat” and a “bully” Kongo became an instant UFC favorite. Barry falls to just 1-2 in his past three fights and has yet to put together back to back wins in his UFC career. This capped off a great night of fights and a finish to be talked about for years to come.

Brenneman vs. Story

It wasn’t exactly “Rocky,” but Charlie Brenneman made the most of a bad situation by defeating Rick Story by unanimous-decision in “Rocky” fashion according to UFC executives.
Brenneman went from a fight with T.J. Grant, to sitting on the sidelines, to meeting Rick Story in the evening’s co-main event all in a week. But, to his many disadvantages he thrilled his fellow Pennsylvanians with an upset victory.

The two scrambled from the clinch in the early moments of the fight. Brenneman looked frequently for the takedown, but Story stood firm in defense until “The Spaniard” deftly followed a right hand with a successful shoot. Brenneman worked briefly into side control before Story regained guard, but the late replacement stayed active from the top with punches to the body and finished the frame in the dominant position.

In the second, Brenneman landed an early takedown and avoided a Story choke before scrambling back to the feet. Story landed a few crisp straights against the cage, but Brenneman dumped him back on the floor instantly. Story tried to buck and roll, but Brenneman outwrestled him from the top, avoiding a guillotine choke attempt and grinding away with punches and positional control.

Needing a finish in the final round, Story moved quickly forward. Brenneman scored another takedown, and Story worked for a kimura. Shockingly, the fight was restarted on the feet, but Story moved immediately back into the same position. From there, Story switched to a triangle choke from top position. As Brenneman defended underneath, Story tried to adjust the hold, but the finish wouldn’t come. As time left the clock, Story scrambled to the mount position.

Brenneman held tight underneath, but Story repeatedly lifted up and slammed his head to the floor. Brenneman swept Story in the final 30 seconds, and Story looked again for a kimura. It wouldn’t come before the final bell, and Brenneman jumped to his feet to celebrate the effort.
After the bout the Pennsylvania native stated “I feel amazing on the win, My team really keeps me on my game, especially mentally. I’ve got the skills, but now I’m fighting smarter.”
Brenneman is now riding a two-fight win streak and is 14-2 and solidified his case to be televised. Story, fighting for the second time in just four weeks, sees a six-fight Octagon win streak snapped by the most unlikely of foes.

Brown vs. Howard

A highly-anticipated welterweight bout between explosive scrappers Matt Brown and John Howard…Count me in! And then I saw it. This one didn’t deliver the fireworks most expected, but “The Immortal” did pick up a much-needed win.

They opened on the feet, but Howard seemed to take the early advantage with slapping low kicks. However, Brown pressed forward landing a high kick in the process. A missed knee led to a Howard takedown, though Brown briefly latched onto a D’arce choke. It didn’t work, and after returning to the feet, Howard answered with a slamming takedown.

In the second, Howard looked immediately for the takedown. Brown defended well and remained on his feet, even threatening with a standing guillotine choke in the first half of the round. As the pace slowed, it was actually Brown who worked to top position for much of the round. A Howard leg lock attempt led to a sweep, but Brown countered with an omo plata in the final seconds.

A tiring Howard returned to the leg kicks to open the third, but Brown scored a takedown in the opening minute. He could do little with the position, but Howard was equally unable to capitalize when the fight returned to the feet. Howard did finally score a takedown in the final minute, and he looked unsuccessfully to wrench in a kimura in the closing seconds, and the two fighters were greeted with a chorus of boos at the final horn. I was left wondering where was this “Doomsday” Howard everyone talked about?

It was a surprising outing from the two traditionally exciting fighters, but Brown did enough to snap a three-fight skid and keep his job. Meanwhile, Howard has now dropped three-straight and may find his spot in jeopardy, but with a name like “Doomsday” and no doom I won’t miss him.

Mitrione vs. Morecraft

The ever entertaining Matt Mitrione, former New York Giant and Minnesota Viking, and a fighter with hands of stone. Again the latter was proven after a war of words left heavyweight sluggers Matt Mitrione and Christian Morecraft in a grudge match to open the evening’s broadcast on Versus main card. Mitrione continues to silence critics, impress, and live up to his new line of “I piss excellence!”

In the opening round, Morecraft came out pawing his jab, while Mitrione bounced around and looked to work through the reach disadvantage. Both fighters mixed in a few low kicks, but it was a Mitrione left that did the first damage, dropping Morecraft putting him on his backside. Mitrione declined to follow, as Morecraft is well versed on the ground and the fight returned to the feet.

As the round wore on, Morecraft found some success with low kicks, but Mitrione again sent him on the floor with a solid series of strikes. Morecraft was visibly wounded, but he did last until the bell.

Mitrione was patient on the feet in the second frame, picking his spots while avoiding his opponent’s counter shots. Morecraft did earn a few takedowns in the frame, but Mitrione landed a walk off three-punch combination which saw his opponent’s mouthpiece fall out as he crumpled to the canvas and Mitrione walked away before he dropped. The referee did not rush in to stop the fight, Mitrione simply walked away and held his hands in the air knowing it was over.

Mitrione then was given mic time and that is by far the best time of any telecast. Mitrione says “I’m sorry I piss excellence.” to Joe Rogan and everyone is in stitches. Mitrione then said “Christian was a different risk for me, a different challenge, we scouted him really well. He really stayed patient a lot more than we expected him to. He stayed patient and tried to engage. I didn’t want to go right on him when he went down. I wanted to wait a little bit. His lights were still on, but I figured I would catch him up again.”

The impressive performance from Mitrione marks his fifth-straight professional win and continues his rise up the heavyweight division. Meanwhile, Morecraft falls to 1-2 in the Octagon. Ariel Helwani and Stephan Bonnar both have differences in Mitrione’s next opponent as Bonnar feels he is ready for a top 5 guy like Frank Mir and Helwani feels Mitrione vs Kongo would be perfect. Whatever Joe Silva chooses for Mitrione, he improves each fight and I cannot wait until his next bout or Tweet for that matter.