By Sheldan Keay
After the chaos that surrounded the UFC on Versus card following the cancellation of the main event and subsequent release of Nate Marquardt, many were skeptical as to whether or not this card would live up to expectations. The new main event certainly did.
After being promoted from the co-main event to the headlining bout, heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry were given the task of making sure that the paying spectators went home happy, and the pair succeeded in doing so. After around 2 minutes of neither man significantly engaging, Barry knocked Kongo down to the mat and followed that up with some ground and pound, that led to UFC commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan both believing the bout was over. However, Kongo was able to get back to his feet, only to then be knocked straight back down, again leading to many believing the fight was coming to a close. It turned out that it would be, but not the way anybody expected it. Kongo again managed to return to his feet, and while staggering back towards the cage, a pressing Barry was soon hit with an unexpected right hook and upper cut, which resulted in him lay flat out on the mat. Kongo followed that up with some ground and pound to Barry, and referee Dan Miragliotta waved off the contest, something many thought he would have done during Barry's enslaught of Kongo, it turned out to be the right decision to let the bout continue.
The unexpected turn around from Kongo was a remarkable one, and one that is up there with previous UFC bouts such as Scott Smith VS Pete Sell as one of the best comebacks in MMA history. It was such a turn around, that it led to Barry stating the following after the bout. "Honestly, when I was laying on my back and (coach) Marty Morgan was standing over me, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, hey man, I killed him!" Barry can not be blamed for believing that he had won when he regained consciousness, as many believed this was to be the case before the shocking turn around. However, it wasn't the only shocking result on the card, as that was also the case in the quickly thrown together co-main event.
Flying high Rick Story was sent crashing back down to Earth, after his high profile victory over top contender Thiago Alves at UFC 130, Story was being praised as a potential future title challenger. While that still may be the case, it doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon, this is due to his shock defeat to relatively unknown Charlie Brenneman. Both men entered the week leading up to the fight expecting to face different opponents. Story was drafted in as a late replacement for the injured Anthony Johnson who was set to face Nate Marquardt in the main event, whereas Brenneman was set to face TJ Grant on the preliminary card. However, Grant pulled out of their bout with an illness in midweek, and as previously mentioned, Marquardt was released from the bout after he tested positive for hormone replacement therapy, and this left both men without an opponent, therefore this bout was thrown together with just over 24 hours to go until the event.
Story was the overwhelming favourite in the fight, and the fight was seen as a lose-lose fight for Story, a win would put him no closer to a title shot, and a loss would sent him right back down the ladder. Unlike the main event, this contest was staged primarily on the ground, which is expected with both fighter boasting great wrestling credentials. However, it was Brenneman who was deemed the more effective following 3 close rounds, and was given the decision after all three judges scored the fight 29-28 in Brenneman's favour. The fight is a huge set back for Story, who went from potentially earning a title shot with a win over Marquardt, to a loss against lowly ranked Brenneman, you cannot take anything away from Brenneman though, as he put in a great performance to potentially prove that the lowly ranked fighters can compete with the best when given an opportunity.
Also on the main card, Matt Brown ended his three fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win over John Howard, who now has three back to back losses to his name. Whether or not Howard will still remain with the company following this is up for debate. The final bout on the main card saw a heavyweight encounter take place between Matt Mitrione and Christian Morecraft. Both men were trash talking in the build up to the fight, but it was Mitrione who made the trash talk count, as he earned the stoppage victory over Morecraft in the second round. Some notable bouts on the preliminary card saw Tyson Griffin earn a majority decision victory over Manny Gamburyan, Javier Vazquez defeat Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision, and Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz fight to a no contest, after the original verdict of Oliveira winning by submission being over turned due to an accidental illegal knee by Oliveira.
Follow Sheldan on Twitter: @SheldanKeay
