UFC on Versus 4: Cheick Kongo's Knockout and the 7 Biggest Comebacks of 2010-11
After sitting down to watch UFC on Versus 4: Marquardt vs. Story—actually Kongo vs. Barry—I have to say fans everywhere would be hard pressed to say this free event was a dud, especially with the way the main event played out.
Originally Nate Marquardt was slated to headline the card against Rick Story. However, that plan was scrapped on Saturday when Marquardt failed to receive medical clearance from the athletic commission.
In all honesty, the event looked like it had lost all momentum.
To an extent, there were some lulls in the action tonight, particularly in the John Howard vs. Matt Brown fight and at certain points during the co-main event featuring Rick Story and Charlie Brenneman.
Then enter the two heavyweights, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry. The finish that ensued in this fight was for the ages, and a look back at some of the best comebacks fans were privy to over 2010-2011 seems fitting after tonight's fight.
Chael Sonnen Almost Shocks Anderson Silva at UFC 117
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Looking back on how the rest of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 has played out for Chael Sonnen, his last-minute loss to Anderson Silva for the middleweight title seemed like a fitting start to the events that unraveled Sonnen's life and career.
After out-wrestling and grinding out Anderson Silva for more than four-and-a-half rounds, Sonnen succumbed to a Silva triangle choke in the fifth round with no more than two minutes to go.
This was the toughest fight of Silva's UFC career and the closest he has been to losing his UFC title.
Of course, after submitting to Silva, Sonnen was forced to submit to the authorities, as he had both his license to fight suspended for failing drug tests and his real estate agent license suspended for being found guilty of mortgage fraud.
Silva's comeback isn't higher up on the list because he never really absorbed very much damage during the fight. He was just far down on the judges' scorecards due to being out-wrestled.
Robbie Lawler Outboxes K1 Kickboxer Melvin Manhoef—Well, Sort Of
2 of 7Strikeforce kicked off 2010 on January 30 with its Strikeforce: Miami event, and Melvin Manhoef, the Dutch K1 kickboxer, started off the year almost kicking his opponent Robbie Lawler's leg clean off.
Manhoef put his kickboxing prowess to work against the outmatched Lawler and began chipping away at his right leg with kicks that sounded like a baseball bat connecting on home runs.
Past the midway point of the first round, it looked as if Lawler was done as he hobbled around on his gimpy right leg.
Fortunately for Lawler, Manhoef started getting more aggressive with him, and with a miraculous overhand right counter from Lawler that landed flush, Manhoef was out like a light.
After watching the video, one would think this would be higher up on the list, but there were guys that came back from a lot worse than this.
How Did Frankie Edgar Survive Round 1 Against Gray Maynard?
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Frankie Edgar, a New Jersey native, really had a Rocky Balboa moment in his fight with Gray Maynard.
Edgar, undersized in pretty much all of his lightweight matches, has managed to use his speed and footwork to win the lightweight title and defend on two occasions, once in a rematch against BJ Penn and for the second time against Gray Maynard.
In his title defense against Maynard, the defense was anything but easy.
Maynard rocked Edgar early and kept the pressure on for all of Round 1. At times, it looked as if Edgar was out on his feet. Nobody would have been upset had the referee stepped in to stop the fight—except for Edgar, that is.
Edgar fought on for the remaining four rounds in a back-and-forth battle that ultimately ended in a draw.
The two are expected to meet once again to decide once and for all who the lightweight champion really is.
Until the rematch, this goes down as the biggest test of Edgar's heart and determination thus far in his career and really was a real-life Rocky story.
This fight isn't in the No. 1 slot mainly due to the fact that Edgar came back but didn't win the fight, instead fighting to a draw.
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Jake Shields Wins Another Decision Despite Dan Henderson's Right Hand
4 of 7Jake Shields has made a career off using his wrestling and American jiu-jitsu to grind guys out of a victory or lock in a submission.
Shields has never been known for his stand-up, and many people fail to comprehend how Shields had been able to always bring fighters into his world on the ground despite his poor stand-up skills—that is, until he met Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 a few short weeks ago.
In his April 2010 fight against Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville, Shields put his chin to the test against former Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson and his wicked right hand.
That Henderson right hand has taken the heads off many of his past opponents, and a Michael Bisping knockout probably stands out the most to fight fans around the world.
Less than 30 seconds into Round 1, Henderson's right hand found a home and sent Shields plummeting to the mat like a ton of bricks.
Shields showed tremendous heart and manged to survive the first-round onslaught from Henderson.
Round 2 began, and Shields was able to implement his game plan, which was to drag the fight to the ground and look for submissions.
Shields didn't get the submission, but he did get the nod from the judges, as he beat Henderson via unanimous decision.
This was the biggest comeback of Jake Shields' career, but not the biggest comeback on this list.
Brock Lesnar Submits a Punched-Out Shane Carwin
5 of 7Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin at UFC 116 last July has to go down as one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the sport.
How this fight went down is pretty simple. Lesnar tried to take Carwin down early in Round 1 and couldn't; Carwin clipped Lesnar and followed him to the mat, where he landed some of the most devastating ground-and-pound ever.
One look at the fight metric report and one really has to wonder how Lesnar managed to get out of that first round alive. Carwin landed a total of 60 strikes to Lesnar's head in Round 1; those are numbers people usually see over three rounds, let alone one.
Don't forget the fact that Carwin is one of the hardest hitters in the sport, with seven of 12 victories coming by way of first-round knockout.
Many say Lesnar was lucky the referee let the fight continue, and to be honest, he probably was. That being said, not many men would get up from that beating and come out with a smile on their face and wink at their opponent for Round 2.
Once Round 2 began, it was clear that Carwin had punched himself out, and it wasn't long before Lesnar secured a takedown and forced Carwin to tap to an arm triangle choke near the beginning of the round.
This could easily be at No. 1, but the fact that Carwin was out of the fight due to exhaustion by Round 2 kept it from the top spot.
This fight wasn't only a comeback victory for Lesnar. It was also his comeback from dealing with a life-threatening bout of diverticulitis, something that has sidelined the big man once again.
Paul Daley Thought He Had Nick Diaz Finished
6 of 7Nick Diaz and his brother Nate are probably the biggest trash talkers in all of mixed martial arts, and for the most part, they are able to back it up.
Diaz has a Gracie black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has made a foray into professional boxing—he is well rounded.
Unfortunately for Diaz, but to the great appreciation of the fans, he often likes to beat fighters at their own game, and Diaz looked to do just that against British striker Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley.
Daley dropped Diaz twice in Round 1, and on both occasions, Daley looked extremely close to getting the referee stoppage.
Luckily for Diaz, he regained his composure and unleashed some of his own strikes. At one point, Daley awkwardly fell to his back, and Diaz followed him to the ground with some wicked ground-and-pound that led to a referee stoppage with mere seconds left in Round 1.
Up until tonight, this was probably one of the biggest and most decisive comebacks of the year.
Cheick Kongo Comes Back from the Grave to Knock Out Pat Barry
7 of 7The replacement main event for UFC on Versus 4: Kongo vs. Barry definitely lived up to its expectations.
The fight certainly didn't look technically sound towards the end, but the spectacular finish really had to make fight fans around the world go crazy.
If you listen to Pat Barry discuss the fight with the media in the video above, you can hear the fact that he felt the fight was going to be stopped, and with good reason.
Barry landed a right hand that floored Cheick Kongo in the first half of Round 1.
It looked as if Kongo was knocked out, but as Barry moved in, the Frenchman tried to take him down.
Kongo made it back to his feet, albeit briefly, as Barry landed some more punches that buckled Kongo, once again inciting commentator Joe Rogan to say, "He's out." To be honest, he really did look like he was out.
But no—Kongo tried to get the takedown once again with no luck but managed to get back to his feet, this time for a bit longer.
Visibly wobbled, he managed to backpedal away from Barry and get his back up against the cage.
Barry, smelling blood, closed in on Kongo to try to finally put him away for good, but he got a little too aggressive for his own good.
Somehow, with rubber legs holding him up and stars flying around his head, Kongo managed to counter Barry with an uppercut from the depths of hell that knocked the former K1 kickboxer clean out.
It really was a performance for the ages and will probably go down in UFC history as the biggest comeback ever.
Despite never getting a shot at UFC gold and falling flat whenever he was in a position to get that title shot, Kongo definitely has to be one of the scariest gatekeepers in mixed martial arts today.
Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: 
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