UFC Live 4: Marquardt vs. Story

[INDYjon22]

Main Card

• Welterweight Bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story
• Heavyweight Bout: Patrick Barry vs. Cheick Kongo
• Heavyweight Bout: Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
• Welterweight Bout: Matt Brown vs. John Howard

Preliminary Card

• Featherweight Bout: Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan
• Featherweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vasquez
• Lightweight Bout: Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto
• Welterweight Bout: TJ Grant vs. Charlie Brenneman
• Lightweight Bout: Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz
• Lightweight Bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
• Welterweight Bout: Daniel Roberts vs. Rich Attonito
• Featherweight Bout: Matt Grice vs. Ricardo Lamas

Nate Marquardt will make his Welterweight debut against the red hot Rick Story. A win for Story will put him in prime position to face one of the elite Welterweights in the division, such as BJ Penn, Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch, in some sort of contenders fight. A win for Marquardt would also do wonders. He is looking for a fresh start in a new division and depending on how well his weight cut goes he could potentially make a good run at a title shot, though I don't see him being able to hang with the likes of GSP, Fitch or Penn. Should be a solid contender eliminator fight.

The co-mainevent features two very good strikers in Cheick Kongo and Pat Berry. Kongo was once considered a legit contender before he unfortunately took a fight with Cain Velasquez, and Pat Berry has been a well regarded prospect for some time now. Kongo has the reach advantage, but Berry is probably the better overall striker. Should be a very fun fight to watch if both guys come out with a KO in mind.

Another Heavyweight fight featuring some big time prospects will feature Christian Morecraft and the always entertaining Matt Mitrione. Mitrione has really come into his own since his stint on TUF. He has not only proven to be an entertaining persona, but also a solid fighter on the rise. Morecraft picked up an impressive win over McCorkle in his most recent fight. This one should be one hell of a fight, but will probably be one-uped by the next fight.

John Howard vs. Matt Brown should be an all out war. Both guys are heavy hitters and have something to prove. Both are on the cutting block and a win here will likely save their UFC careers. I am a big fan of both guys, and they always put on fun and exciting fights. I expect either a knockout of the night or a three round war.

The undercard will feature a great match up between Tyson Griffin and Manny Gamburyan. Griffin needs a win and Gamburyan needs a comeback victory since his loss to Aldo. Also, Joe Stevenson may be making his final stand. He must defeat Javier Vazquez if he wants to keep his job. Joe Lauzon and Michael Johnson also have important fights. And a Lightweight showdown between Nik Lentz and Charles Oliveira will likely propel the winner into bigger and better competition.

The UFC has put together another very good looking card in UFC Live 4. The main event, as well as the other main card fights, all look to be exciting and have significant implications in their divisions. The undercard is also solid as hell and should be fun to watch.

 

[Fizzy]

It is a fantastic free card with quite a few important match ups on it. Really looking forward to it.

I've been a fan of Story since his first fight in the UFC. The guy has a huge future ahead of him if he continues to work hard, and improve. There weren't many people who thought he'd beat Alves but he proved them wrong, and I hope he beats Nate. While I hope he wins, it all depends on how Nate shows up and how the cut affected him. I believe if he fights like he has been at 185, he will win, but if he had a tough cut, I think Story may pull out the victory. Regardless, it should be a fun fight that i'm looking forward to.

Kongo is a good striker, but he is much stronger than Barry and I see him winning a fairly boring UD by pushing him up against the fence for three rounds and kneeing his balls into his stomach. Barry's problem is his grappling and Kongo has shown good ability to hold his opponents against the cage. Hopefully I am wrong though, and Barry destroys him because I am a huge fan of Barry, but I doubt it will happen.

I'm not really into the other two fights on the main card, but the undercard is looking fantastic. I'm very interested to see how Tyson Griffin looks at Featherweight. The guy has the chance to be a force in that division if he can cut the weight well. He's going up against a game Manny, so it'll be interesting to see how he stacks up.

Hopefully Olivera can pick up the win against Boring ass Lentz. Olivera has a HUGE future and I fully expect him to get back on track after the slip up against Miller. Lentz is a good wrestler so this will show us how Olivera stacks up against the wrestlers of his division. I've got Olivera by sub in the second, or Lentz by UD.

Nearly all the undercard is interesting, and the show as a whole should be very fun. Really looking forward to it.

 

[INDYjon22]

Nate Marquardt’s loss was Charlie Brenneman’s gain.

Brenneman will replace Marquardt in a welterweight bout against Rick Story at UFC Live 4 on Sunday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Marquardt, who was set to make his first UFC appearance at 170 pounds, was scratched from the lineup on Saturday, a little more than 24 hours before the event. Marquardt was not cleared to fight, though the specific reasons behind his exit were not immediately known.

Spawned by the AMA Fight Club in New Jersey, Brenneman (13-2, 2-1 UFC) last appeared at UFC “Fight for the Troops 2” in January, when he outpointed Amilcar Alves en route to a unanimous decision at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. The 30-year-old Hollidaysburg, Pa., native has won eight of his last nine fights. Brenneman made his UFC debut in March 2010 with a unanimous decision victory over 2009 Dream welterweight grand prix finalist Jason High.

Story (13-3, 6-1 UFC) has rattled off six consecutive wins, including a unanimous nod over Thiago Alves at UFC 130 less than a month ago.

Well that sucks for the show tomorrow. Marquardt and his debut at Welterweight was one of the selling points of that card to me. Big props to Charlie Brenneman for stepping up and taking this fight on such short notice. This is a big fight for him against a very talented fighter in Rick Story. It could change his career forever if he manages to pull off the upset, but with that said, I think Story will likely run through Brenneman. Story has been on fire as of late and even though he is coming into this fight on short notice, his short notice was still longer then Brenneman's. Story should win this fight and move on to higher competition.

 

[Window Licker 101]

On top of the fact Marquardt pulled out, dude has also been cut! People are saying it is weight-cutting issues but from someone who was filming Nate cutting weight they said the cut was going "absurdly easy." Something is in this and hopefully someone gets to the bottom of this. Damn.

 

[JWGunslinger]

I'll say
Michael Johnson picks up a decision

I'd love to see Oliveira give that douche Nik Lentz a loss but I dont see it so Lentz Dec.

Lamas has been in there with some tough boys and pulled a few out, I say Lamas KO's Grice.

A guy who's finished 9 of 12 wins, and is from my area? Even though I like Rich, I gotta go with Roberts here by sub.

Curt Warburton is outmatched in this one, J-Lau by whatever he wants.

I've always liked Joe Daddy Stevenson, and if I was asked if he would win this fight back in 2007 when he was coming off wins over Yves Edwards, Mishima, Guillard and Pelligrino I would have said Joe without hesitation. But recently he has looked horrible, and i'm afraid he will drop another one if he adds to this 3 fight losing streak. I'll give Joe the benefit of the doubt and say he wins by Guillotine.

Gamburyan vs Griffin is a very interesting matchup, Tyson is great all around and Manny is freakishly strong with some lead hands. I'll say Gamburyan by KO, but i'm hoping Tyson can prove me wrong.

Mitrione vs Morecraft, I feel bad for Morecraft.....Mitrione by TKO, and Morecraft either gets cut or gets fed to another rising HW and then gets cut. Mitrione is on a roll and Morecraft is just the next victim.

Now this is going to be an amazing fight! I cannot wait to see Matt Brown and John Howard throw down, I love both guys and it'll be a war but in the end John Howard takes the win by decision or KO.

Rick Story vs Charlie Brenneman, could they have picked someone I cared less about to replace Marquardt? Probably not, so Story dominates.

Kongo vs Barry is tougher to choose on than some might expect, Kongo has reach and Barry sure as hell doesnt but I see him with more potential to score a TKO or KO. I'm going to say Barry by split dec. I dont see Kongo doing much and that will give Barry the win.