UFC Live 4 – Kongo vs. Barry
June 26, 2011
Consol Energy Center,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
Cheick Kongo (16 – 6 – 2) defeated Pat Barry (6 – 3 – 0) by KO due to a punch at 2:39 of round 1. Kongo, who is 2-0-1 in his last 3 (prior to which he suffered back to back losses), moves 2 spots up the ranks from [#16] to [#14]. General consensus seems to be that Kongo should face fellow winner on the card [#19] Matt Mitrione next. This would be a test for both fighters to see who will enter the next tier of the division. Barry, who is 2-3 in his last 5 (3-3 in the UFC), drops 5 spots from [#44] to [#49]. Barry could either face [#43] Aaron Rosa or [#50] Stefan Struve next, both which would be slugfests.
Welterweight (170 lbs)
Charlie Brenneman (14 – 2 – 0), who was a 1 day late replacement for [#5MW] Nate Marquardt, defeated Rick Story (13 – 4 – 0) by unanimous decision. Brenneman, who is on a 2 fight win streak (3-1 in the UFC), rockets 80 spots up the ranks from [#97] to [#17]. He should look to face the winner of [#7] Carlos Condit vs. [#18] Dong Hyun Kim taking place this Saturday at UFC 132. Story, who was on a 6 fight winning streak prior to this loss (6-2 in the UFC), drops 9 spots from [#11] to [#20]. Perhaps Story should next face the man whom he replaced in tonight’s bout, [#21] Anthony Johnson.
Welterweight (170 lbs)
Matt Brown (12 – 10 – 0) defeated John Howard (14 – 7 – 0) by unanimous decision. Brown, who breaks a 3 fight losing streak with this win, flies 75 spots up the ranks from [#136] to [#61]. He could face fellow “Ultimate Fighter” alum [#51] Rich Attonito in his next fight. Howard, who is on a 3 fight losing streak (4-3 in the UFC), drops 13 spots from [#54] to [#67]. If Howard isn’t cut for losing 3 in a row, he could face [#56] T.J. Grant or [#74] Carlos Eduardo Rocha in what would be a must win fight for the Boston native.
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
Matt Mitrione (5 – 0 – 0) defeated Christian Morecraft (7 – 2 – 0) by KO due to punches at 4:28 of round 2. Mitrione, who has won 4 of his 5 victories by (T)KO, moves 1 spot up the ranks from [#20] to [#19]. Mitrione should face [#14] Cheick Kongo next. Morecraft, who is 1-2 in his last 3 (all in the UFC), drops 13 spots from [#91] to [#96]. Morecraft is in need of a victory to stay employed by the UFC, He should face [#43] Aaron Rosa or [#53] Jon Madsen to see if he will stick around.
Featherweight (145 lbs)
Tyson Griffin (15 – 5 – 0) defeated Manny Gamburyan (11 – 6 – 0) by majority decision. Griffin, who breaks a 3 fight losing streak with this win, moves from [#37LW] into the featherweight “Top 250” at [#7]. He should look to face rising prospect [#18] Dustin Porier in his next bout. Gamburyan, who has back to back losses (prior to which he won 3 in a row), drops 5 spots from [#8] to [#13]. Gamburyan will need a win in his next bout to stay relevant in the 145 lb division, and should look to accomplish this feat against [#14] Mark Hominick or [#15] Diego Nunes.
Preliminary Bouts
Featherweight (145 lbs)
Javier Vazquez (16 – 5 – 0) defeated Joe Stevenson (33 – 14 – 0) by unanimous decision. Vazquez, who is 3-1 in his last 4, moves 13 spots from [#35] to [#22]. He should face [#20] Ricardo Lamas or [#31] George Roop in his next match. Stevenson, who is on a career worst 4 fight losing streak, moves from [#56LW] into the featherweight “Top 250” at [#34]. If Stevenson will be kept around, he could face [#54] Josh Grispi in what would probably be a “loser leaves town” match.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
Joe Lauzon (20 – 6 – 0) defeated Curt Warburton (7 – 3 – 0) by submission via kimura at 1:58 of round 1. Lauzon, who is 4-2 in his last 6 (7-3 in the UFC), moves 15 spots up the ranks from [#58] to [#43]. He could face [#36] Evan Dunham in a fight with tons of entertainment potential. Warburt0n, who is 1-2 in the UFC, falls 33 spots from [#131] to [#164]. He could either face the loser of [#147] Andre Winner vs. [#182] Anthony Njokuani (taking place on saturday at UFC 132) or [#168] Michael Johnson, who is attempting to start climbing the ranks at lightweight.
Welterweight (170 lbs)
Rich Attonito (10 – 4 – 0) defeated Daniel Roberts (12 – 3 – 0) by unanimous decision. Attonito, who is 5-1 in his last 6 (3-1 in the UFC), moves from [#112MW] into the welterweight “Top 500” at [#51]. Attonito vs. [#61] Matt Brown would be a good litmus test for both fighters to see where they belong in the division. Roberts, who has back to back losses (3-3 in the UFC), falls 16 spots from [#50] to [#66]. Roberts should look to face someone like [#88] DaMarques Johnson in what would be a must win bout.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
Charles Oliveira (14 – 1 – 0) fought to a No Contest with Nik Lentz (21 – 3 – 2). Originally, this went down in the books as a victory by submission via rear naked choke in the 2nd round. However, this was changed due to the illegal knee Oliveira threw to the head of Lentz, who was on his knees at the time. The fight was never stopped by the referee after the knee, drawing the ire of the fans in attendance. Oliveira, who was coming off the first loss of his career going into this bout, bounds 53 spots up the ranks from [#78] to [#25]. Lentz, who came into this fight at 12-0-2 in his last 14, drops 23 spots from [#22] to [#45]. These rankings will be changed next update to indicate the entry of the No Contest in place of the submission victory for Oliveira. This match should be made again so we can get a definitive result to the match up.
Featherweight (145 lbs)
Ricardo Lamas (10 – 2 – 0) defeated Matt Grice (13 – 4 – 0) by TKO due to a head kick and punches at 4:41 of round 1. Lamas, who is 4-1 in his last 5 (3-2 in the WEC), moves from [#69LW] into the featherweight “Top 250” at [#20]. He should look to face [#22] Javier Vazquez in his next UFC outing. Grice, who was on a 4 fight win streak (3 by submission), moves from [#151LW] into the featherweight “Top 250” at [#84]. A bout with [#54] Josh Grispi could show who belongs in the UFC and who will return to the regional circuit.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
“Ultimate Fighter” season 12 finalist Michael Johnson (9 – 5 – 0) defeated Edward Faaloloto (2 – 2 – 0) by TKO due to punches at 4:42 of round 1. Johnson, who is 4-1 in his last 5 (1-1 in the UFC), moves 12 spots up the ranks from [#180] to [#168]. Johnson should look for fights with [#115] Waylon Lowe or [#141] Daniel Downes. Faaloloto, who has lost back to back bouts, remains unranked. It is doubful that we will see Faaloloto in the UFC any time soon.