UFC Live: Kongo vs Barry & My Experience from the Seats of Consol Energy Center

The date was June 26th, 2011. The event was UFC Live on Versus 4. The place was the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This was when and where I attended my first live event held by the UFC. I must admit I was overly excited for a chance to see some of the best athletes in the world, competing right in front of my eyes.

I entered the arena early as I wanted to experience the arena and set-up before fans filled the seats in. The lights were dimmed and the Octagon was lit up which made for some good pictures. As fans started pouring in, the seats filled, and the excitement built. I was ready for some UFC action.

The card was changed multiple times for various reasons and the main attractions such as Nate Marquardt, Anthony Johnson, and Martin Kampmann were all removed from the card but as I looked at the fights presented, it looked to be a very good card. That statement though, was very underrated as the UFC held on of the best shows ever, as stated by Dana White himself.

The show had a lot of finishes and the fights that went to a decision were pretty entertaining. The event had a huge upset and one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of MMA.

This will go down as one of the best sets of fights on a card in a long time and I was very grateful to have experienced this in person.

Michael Johnson vs Edward Faaloloto

The first fight that took place was between Michael Johnson and Edward Faaloloto. Johnson came out and winning over the crowd by waving around a Pittsburgh tradition, the Terrible Towel, which fired up the crowd early.

Johnson started out with a good pace that was matched by Faaloloto. The match started looking bad for Johnson when he had a cut opened up on his head from a nice looking elbow thrown by Faaloloto.

Johnson fought through the blood and adversity by landing a huge knee which dropped Faaloloto. Johnson swarmed in and landed many shots to the downed Faaloloto until the referee stopped the fight.

Johnson ended his fight at the end of the first round by punches, winning by TKO. On his way out he threw his shirt and Terrible Towel into the accepting crowd.

It was a great way to start off what would be a fantastic night of fights.

Matt Grice vs Ricardo Lamas

What a debut UFC match for Ricardo Lamas.

Lamas controlled the Octagon for mainly the entire length of the fight and it set the tone for what would end up with the referee's trend of letting fights go on a little longer than usual.

Lamas landed a nice switch kick to the head of Grice that in most cases would have ended the contest but the referee let it continue. Lamas then proceeded to land a good amount of punches on the downed Grice but yet again the referee did not stop the fight.

Finally another swarm of punches forced the referee to call an end to this contest.

This fight had a good amount of crowd reaction as the shots landed were pretty solid.

Lamas won by TKO in Round 1.  

Nik Lentz vs Charles Oliveira

I thought this could steal "Fight of the Night" honors and when it won the award though, I was actually a bit surprised due to the finish.

Going into the fight, I was probably one of the few that were pulling for Oliveira as most were cheering on Nik Lentz.

The start of the fight was almost all Oliveira with him knocking down Lentz and using his BJJ background while attempting many submissions from the ground. Oliveira definitely came out aggressive for this fight.

When round two started, it was a little more even but it was all overshadowed by a punishing illegal knee landed by Oliveira to the face of Lentz. The crowd reacted almost immediately with boo's and Oliveira quickly followed up with a submission via rear naked choke.

The boo's turned to a chant of profanity and the crowd was really pumped up. Oliveira seemed very apologetic but the crowd wasn't very forgiving.

Though I do not like the rule, it is a rule and should be enforced. I would like to see it changed to a "no contest" in the record books if they do decide to overturn the decision.

All in all though, the fight was very entertaining.

Oliveira wins in Round 2 by submission.  

Daniel Roberts vs Rich Attonito

This was the first fight that people were starting to get annoying in the crowd. The fight itself did not have the pace of the first three fights and it was apparent that most fans were not aware of who the combatents were.

Regardless, Rich Attonito was dominant in his win over late replacement, Daniel "Ninja" Roberts.

The storyline here was Attonito making his debut in the welterweight division. He definitely looked like he belonged at 170 as he outworked Roberts on almost every level.

Attonito landed a big head kick that again, probably should have ended the fight,  yet the referee let the fighters continue until the final bell.

The fight might not have had the pace but it was another good fight, just underappreciated.

Attonito wins by unanimous decision.  

Joe Lauzon vs Curt Warburton

Joe Lauzon came out fired up and it really showed.

Lauzon opened the bout and landed some really solid shots which quickly dropped Warburton. Lauzon followed up with punches to the downed Warburton but could not get the finish from the referee.

Lauzon didn't hesitate and switched gears by locking in a very nasty kimura which gave only Warburton two options: tap or risk his shoulder being removed from his torso. Warburton decided to tap. For his efforts, Lauzon won "submission of the night" honors and the bonus that goes with it.

Lauzon was a huge crowd favorite and one of the more known fighters on the card up to this point.

Another fast paced fight and the crowd was yet again pumped up.

Lauzon wins by Round 1 submission.

Joe Stevenson vs Javier Vasquez

This was one of the more disappointing fights of the night as Stevenson was unwilling to open up and become offensive in his debut at 145.

Especially in the third round when Vasquez was carrying his left hand at waist level and Stevenson would not throw a right hand, even though it was almost being begged for.

The crowd surrounding me was laying on the boo's as this fight went on and people were heard questioning who Stevenson has ever beaten. Apparently they didn't know.   

Vasquez controlled this bout from beginning to end and earned the Unanimous Decision victory that could have handed Stevenson his walking papers from the UFC.

Tyson Griffin vs Manny Gamburyan

This was the fight I really expected to win "Fight of the Night" honors and well, disappointed was how I can best describe my feelings pertaining to this fight.

The largest crowd reaction in this fight is when Clay Guida came into the arena, walking to his seat and taking some pictures with random fans.

The fight was really slow paced and being that this fight was at 145, that isn't a good thing.

The contest seemed pretty even as both fighters thought they did enough to earn the win. I had the bout as 29-28 for Griffin and the judges agreed. Many in the audience did not.

I hope to see some better action from Tyson Griffin in the future.

Christian Morecraft vs Matt Mitrione

There was no doubt in who the crowd favorite here was as Matt Mitrione made his entrance to the loud applause of fans. Mitrione was clearly one of the most cheered fighters on the night as fans yelled "Meathead" throughout this match-up of heavyweights.

Mitrione did not disappoint his fans.

This was the first heavyweight match of the night and it was obvious as a lot of the earlier fights were in the smallest divisions so these two fighters looked like monsters.

Mitrione and Morecraft started by feeling each other out for a little, trying to get their distance. Mitrione soon after connected with a punch that sent Morecraft to the mat. Mitrione did not follow this up and let Morecraft get back up to his feet. The crowd was rocking.

Later in the first round after a small exchange, Mitrione again connected, dropping Morecraft while following it up with a big diving punch reminiscent of Henderson/Bisping, which I thought was going to end the fight. The referee did not stop it and Morecraft ended up on top after a scramble. Mitrione regained his feet and that pretty much ended round one.

Round two started off with Mitrione again getting the better of the exchanges. The crowd was roaring and after a take-down and another stand-up, Mitrione lands a 1-2-1 combination that sent the mouth guard of Morecraft flying as the big man fell limp to the mat. Mitrione stood over the referee and Morecraft with his hands out almost saying, is that enough?

The referee mercifully stopped the fight giving Mitrione the win by knockout in Round 2.

I did not like Mitrione on The Ultimate Fighter show but I have really started to like him over his past three fights. It will be interesting to see who they give him to fight next as he has looked impressive so far. I hope they test his ground game and take-down defense against Mike Russow next.

John Howard vs Matt Brown

The crowd again rolled out the boo's in this fight as Matt Brown did just enough to pull out a decision win. The bout was very closely contested but there wans't a lot of big shots and the pace was not very fast.

This was more of a grappling match and wasn't a crowd pleasing fight but this one was more about positioning. Brown was a late replacement so I think this fight should get a pass.  

Brown did attempt some submissions throughout the fight as he tried a D'arce Choke and a Omaplata which made me happy to an extent as I like submissions.

Brown outworked the fading John Howard in the last round, earning the unanimous decision win in a fight he really needed to win to remain in the UFC.

Rick Story vs Charlie Brenneman

This wasn't the most crowd-pleasing fight but it didn't matter to the fans of Pittsburgh who were cheering on Charlie Brenneman who took the fight with highly ranked and favored Rick Story on only one day of notice.

How couldn't they cheer on "The Spaniard"? Brenneman, a Pennsylvania native, came out wearing a Sheetz tee shirt. Now I don't expect the majority of the country to know what Sheetz is but it is a popular Pennsylvania gas/convienence store that is famous for the M.T.O. or Made to Order food selection. I believe the back of his shirt said, Brenneman Beatdowns M.T.O.

Brenneman showed off some good scrambling and wrestling skills throughout the first two rounds as he ended up on top of Story and did just enough that he did not get stood up like previous fighters by landing some body shots to Story.

The third round was the most entertaining of the bout as Story came out firing and was on the verge of locking in a kimura. The crowd though, impatient with the ground fighting was calling for a stand-up and it was delivered. I could not believe that this fight was stood up as Story was working hard to get the Kimura and it seemed he had an almost perfect position to get it. I did not understand it and when I watched the replay on television, I seen that I wasn't the only one.

After the stand-up, Story almost landed back in the same position seeking a Kimura but Brenneman survived and won the Unanimous Decision win and ultimately one of, if not the biggest upset of 2011.

The crowd was roaring and ready for the main event.   

Cheick Kongo vs Pat "HD" Barry

This was a promising fight from a stand-up point of view. You have two elite MMA strikers facing off so it was unlikely that this was going to a decision or even making it out of the first round.

I highly expected Pat Barry to win this fight and it seemed like that would be the case for the majority of the fight.

After a few minor exchanges, Barry landed a big right hand that sent Kongo crashing to the mat. This was the fist time I thought the fight was over but wasn't.

Barry rushed in and starts landing some more shots as Kongo is again tagged with a huge shot that I could swear  knocked Kongo out but apparently his head hitting the mat woke him back up. This was the second time I thought the fight was over.

The crowd was on it's feet and the environment was electric!

Kongo somehow regains his feet and is being wildly chased down by Barry who rushes in to finish Kongo when it happens.

On wobbly legs, Kongo plants his feet and lands a right hand behind the ear of Barry which knocks him off balance, Kongo quickly reloads the right and throws another hard uppercut that connects flush with Barry's chin and instantaneously knocked Barry out as his head bounces off the mat.

Unfortunately for Barry, the mat did not wake him back up. Kongo falls on top and lands another shot as I still don't understand what just happened. Watching the replay only confirmed that I still couldn't believe what just happenned.

The crowd is just going insane after witnessing one of the craziest comeback endings in UFC history and in my opinion, the best comeback ever.

Kongo wins by Knockout in Round 1 and puts the show to a close in dramatic fashion.