A critically-panned battle between Matt Brown and John Howard in the middle of the UFC on Versus 4 card was not enough to prevent the show from making a massive impact.
In the epitome of a barn burner main-event, heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry concluded their bout with one of the most memorable finishing sequences in the sport.
It all started when a big right hand from Pat Barry dropped Kongo the mat. Kongo’s legs wobbled and he looked about out, and as Barry pursued Kongo with a steady flow of shots, he rocked the French fighter on at least two other occasions (including a major knockdown at one point). Many viewers were likely yelling at referee Dan Miragliotta for his hesistance to stop the fight, and nearly all seemed to be operating under the assumption that the end was definitely coming for Kongo.
Then, out of nowhere, Kongo worked his way back to the feet, and as Barry pursued Kongo to presumably finish the UFC veteran off, he walked into a perfectly-placed right hand. Kongo followed up with more shots, and Barry was out cold.
UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan said that this might very well have been the best comeback in the history of the sport.
For as much as Kongo-Barry delivered on the card, going into the show, all of the drama was on Rick Story for Charlie Brenneman. Originally scheduled as a main-event bout between Story and Nate Marquardt, the bout was thrown for a loop when an undisclosed medical issue resulted in Marquardt being dropped from the card–and the UFC. Brenneman, fighting in his home state of Pennsylvania, stepped in as an underdog against “Horror” and delivered a nightmare for the rising welterweight.
From the get-go, Brenneman utilized his wrestling advantage, and the ground control gave him easy wins in round one and two. In round three, Story fought more intelligently and looked for submission attempts, but his variety of submission offense that included at least two kimura looks and a lengthy triangle was not enough to stop the underdog. Story mounted Brenneman late in the round, but in trying to break Brenneman’s grip to unload with strikes, he gave up too much posture, and Brenneman was able to slip out the back to avoid danger.
Full results from UFC on Versus 4 follow:
Michael Johnson b. Edward Faaloloto via TKO (strikes) at 4:42 of Round One
Ricardo Lamas b. Matt Grice via TKO (strikes) at 4:41 of Round One
Charles Oliveira b. Nik Lentz via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:48 of Round Two
Rich Attonito b. Daniel Roberts via decision (29-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Joe Lauzon b. Curt Warburton via submission (kimura) at 1:58 of Round One
Javier Vazquez b. Joe Stevenson via decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Tyson Griffin b. Manny Gamburyan via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)
Matt Mitrione b. Christian Morecraft via KO (punches) at 4:28 of Round Two
Matt Brown b. John Howard via decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Charlie Brenneman b. Rick Story via decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cheick Kongo b. Pat Barry via KO (punches) at 2:39 of Round One
