Kongo knocks out Barry in main event

THE CANADIAN PRESS

PITTSBURGH — French heavyweight Cheick Kongo snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by knocking out Pat (HD) Barry in the first round Sunday night in the makeshift main event of a televised UFC card.

Kongo (26-6-2) was knocked down twice and looked out on his feet but somehow survived to stage the comeback. Barry (6-3) seemed fully in control but when he rushed in to finish the fight, he walked straight into a right to the head and vicious uppercut that knocked him senseless.

“It was perfect,” said Kongo.

The card at the Consol Energy Center — in the UFC’s first visit to Pittsburgh — was fraught with controversy and injury dropouts with the Barry-Kongo fight bumped to the main event at the last minute.

The original marquee bout pitted Nate (The Great) Marquardt in his welterweight debut against Anthony (Rumble) Johnson. Rick (The Horror) Story stepped in when Johnson was injured in training and then Marquardt was dropped — and cut by the UFC — after failing to pass his medical the day before the fight.

No explanation was given, with the UFC citing Pennsylvania privacy laws.

“Nate is going to have to man up & come out and tell the world why he didn’t pass his medicals,” the UFC tweeted UFC president Dana White as saying.

Marquardt’s management group tweeted that their fighter would speak Tuesday.

Barry prepared for the fight at Brock Lesnar’s Team Death Clutch camp and had Lesnar coach Marty Morgan in his corner. Kongo had former light-heavyweight champion Quinton (Rampage) Jackson in his corner.

The six-foot-four Kongo had five inches in height and 7.5 in reach on Barry. And the two, who went nose to nose at the weigh-in, did not touch gloves before the fight.

The two men exchanged kicks before Barry felled Kongo with a right to the head some two minutes into the round. Referee Dan Miragliotta seemed about to step in but pulled back.

Kongo grabbed a leg then got up, only to be put down with another right. He got up and unsteadily backed away to the fence. Barry rushed after him and got caught.

The fight ended at two minutes 39 seconds of the first round.

When Marquardt was dropped, Story was pitted against Pennsylvania native Charlie (The Spaniard) Brenneman. The local boy pulled off the upset, using his wrestling to end Story’s win streak at six with a unanimous 29-28 decision.

According to Compustrike, the two men spent more than 11 of the 15 minutes on the ground.

Brenneman (14-2) hurt Story with a couple of blows and then took him down in the first round via a trip and kept him there for a while until the round ended.

It was more of the same in the second, with an early Brenneman single-leg takedown. Story (13-4) tried for a choke but Brenneman fought him off and took him down again later in the round.

With both fighters exhausted in the third, Story tried unsuccessfully for several submissions. He mounted Brenneman late in the fight but Brenneman escaped.

Brenneman was due to face T.J. Grant of Cole Harbour, N.S., but the Canadian pulled out last week with an undisclosed illness.

Story was coming off a quick turnaround, having earned a decision over Thiago Alves on May 28 at UFC 130,

Former NFL lineman Matt Mitrione looked impressive in knocking out six-foot-six Christian Morecraft at 4:28 of the second round. A sluggish Morecraft was outclassed from the get-go and had no answers for Mitrione’s crisp striking.

There was no love lost here. The two heavyweights met in the middle of the cage before the introductions to exchange pleasantries.

Morecraft (7-2) had ridiculed Mitrione’s punching power but found himself on his butt on the first round thanks to a straight left. Morecraft went down again with a minute left but survived the round.

Morecraft took Mitrione down in the second but couldn’t take advantage and the referee stood the fighters up quickly. Mitrione (5-0) finished Morecraft off with a right-left-right combination that sent his mouthpiece flying. Morecraft toppled and Mitrione walked away rather than administer more punishment.

Matt (The Immortal) Brown won a unanimous 29-28 decision over John (Doomsday) Howard in a back-and-forth welterweight fight.

The smaller Howard scored with more than 10 kicks in the first round and took Brown down to the ground as well. But it was Brown who had success on the ground in the second.

Howard went back to his leg kicks in the third and Brown responded with a takedown before the two engaged in a lengthy clinch at the fence.

Both men needed a win coming into the fight. Brown (14-10) had lost three straight while Howard (14-7) had dropped two in a row.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today