This Sunday, June 26th, UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story comes to you live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With injuries causing a shuffle in a few of the fights, the final fight card is set and ready to go down. The entire preliminary card will be broadcast on Facebook and immediately following, the Main Card will be broadcast on Versus.
Let’s take a look at the four Main Card fights and see how they each break down.
The opening bout of the broadcast features Heavyweight Matt “Meathead” Mitrione (4-0) facing off against Christian Morecraft (7-1). If you’ve ever seen either of these two fight, you know what to expect when the cage door shuts. With twelve fights between them, they have each picked up three knockout wins. Every time Mitrione steps in the cage, he throws bombs aimed to take out his opponent’s head. In his UFC debut, Morecraft threw everything but the kitchen sink against Stefan Struve but could not put him away. After wearing himself out, Morecraft succumbed to Struve’s onslaught in the second round. He came out the same way in his second UFC fight, but, fortunately, was able to put his opponent away. When the cage door shuts, expect these two behemoths to come out throwing leather and head hunting.
The next bout on the Main Card is a battle of Welterweights as “The Immortal” Matt Brown (11-10) takes on John “Doomsday” Howard (14-6). With two men nicknamed The Immortal and Doomsday, you can be sure something exciting is about to happen. Both fighters are coming off back-to-back losses and their UFC futures could potentially be on the line. Brown and Howard both have a background in Muay Thai and BJJ, so the stand up battle that could go down could be REALLY great. Desperately needed a win, expect these fighters to be looking for an impressive finish.
Pat Barry will look to improve to 7-2
The Co-Main Event of the evening features Heavyweights Cheick Kongo (15-6-2) and Pat “HD” Barry (6-2) squaring off in a battle of former kickboxers. In Kongo’s last bout, a disappointing draw with Travis Browne, he showed his lack of conditioning which resulted in him grabbing Browne’s shorts and being deducted a point. However, in Barry’s last fight, a fifteen minute battle with Joey Beltran, he showed his crisp striking and ability to take punishment as well as dish it out. In what may very well be a kickboxing match rather than an MMA fight, you can expect these two Heavyweights to butt heads and cause fireworks.
The Main Event of the evening features Nate “The Great” Marquardt (31-10-2) in his Welterweight debut as he takes on Rick “The Horror” Story (13-3). Marquardt’s original opponent, Anthony Johnson, had to pull out after sustaining an injury in training and Story, who just fought last month at UFC 30, stepped up to the plate. Following a disappointing performance against Yushin Okami last November, Marquardt returned to his normal form in his dominance over Dan Miller in March. Story, who has gone 6-0 since losing his UFC debut back in 2009, looks to spoil Marquardt Welterweight debut. If Marquardt can make the move down in weight classes, he could really shake things up in the Welterweight title picture. Story, too, can shake things up and possibly put himself near the top if he can gain a victory of the veteran Marquardt.
Before the Main Card on Versus, the eight preliminary fights will be broadcast for free on the UFC’s Facebook page. Make sure to join us in the MMA Valor chatroom as each fight goes down. Also, as always, follow MMA Valor on Twitter for your up to date MMA news.
