Eight Reasons You Should Watch UFC Live 4

It may be on the Versus network and it may be smack dab in the middle of a whirlwind of MMA activity but UFC Live 4 packs a punch, big time. Here are eight reasons to tune into a masterfully put together free UFC card.

1. The Nate Marquardt Welterweight Experiment – Nate Marquardt always seemed like a big middleweight to me but apparently he wasn’t big enough. “The Great” found himself a perennial fringe contender in a division with a king he had already been laid slain by and decided to drop some pounds and try his luck at welterweight. Ironically he finds himself pitted against one of the biggest and hottest 170 pounders in the world today. Marquardt can’t concern himself with that though as he finds himself at a crossroads. How many times can he start over? How many more “runs” at a title shot can he begin? A loss here wouldn’t put him away but it would put him well behind the eightball. The shame is that Nate Marquardt is good, really good but despite his nickname he is something short of greatness to this point. I wouldn’t call this a must win but this fight is going to have a lot to say about where his career is headed and at what weight class.

2. Rick Story’s Big Chance – Rick Story finds himself with a golden opportunity to skip about a years worth of work in one night. The UFC has called him up to replace an injured fighter in the main event just one month after the biggest win of his career. After defeating former number one contender Thiago Alvez, Story had converted a lot of fans (including myself) who just hadn’t seen him as a legitimate top 10 fighter to that point. Now he welcomes another former number one contender in Nate Marquardt to 170 pounds. The UFC is fond of this move, take a promising fighter coming off the biggest win of their career and let them to serve as replacement in a big time fight, giving them the opportunity to tally two wins in about half the time that would take with standard booking procedure. Just ask Phil Davis how it works. He was ready to take a year off after defeating Little Nog until he was offered a main event slot against Rashad Evans. This move rests on the same booking priorities. Story has a great chance to make the most of this with everything to gain and almost nothing to really lose.

3. Kickboxing – Do you like heavyweight strikers? Do you like big time KOs? How about giant personalities? If you answered yes to any of these questions then the co-main event is for you. Both Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry have a reputation as lethal strikers with mean streaks in the cage. I would put the chances of this fight being finished by way of strikes at about 60%. Yeah, as much as I would love to hype this fight as a sure fire slug fest there is a solid chance it doesn’t deliver. Kongo is not a dumb fighter and if he feels his best chance is to take the fight to the ground and hold Barry down he will do it. Considering Barry’s previous performances on the ground I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Kongo’s game plan. There is also the chance that one man (cough… Kongo… cough) chooses to clinch against the cage and hold his opponent there. Then there is also the ever-present chance that a Kongo fight ends in controversy. I am not going to say that he is a dirty fighter… but that is sure what it looks like. Lets just say he has had a tendency to find himself on the delivering end of low blows and multiple instances of holding his opponents shorts to gain position. Barry and Kongo could tear the house down but the plain truth of the matter is that it might end up being a snooze fest. Two guys with power like this though are worth tuning in for.

4. Scrapapolooza – If I am skeptical of Kongo vs Barry delivering the goods I have reserved none of that skepticism for Matt Brown vs John Howard. These are two of my favorite fighters to see show up on the card. Both consistently deliver the good and never let off the gas. Matt Brown might be in a must win situation as he is on a 3 fight skid and Howard is not the kind of guy you want to meetin a must win situation, especially since Howard is on a two fight skid himself. This may lead both fighters to be cautions but I don’t think it is either’s nature produce a boring fight. Howard loves to stand and bang but isn’t afraid to scramble. That is good because Matt Brown has a tendency to turn fights into a mêlée of strikes, submission attempts, and sweeps. I expect fireworks in this fight and you should too. Even with lots of probable excitement further down the card, this might be front-runner for fight of the night.

5. The Development of Matt Mitrione – Matt Mitrione (pictured - punching) has made some waves with a little runin he recently had with Tito Ortiz. Not to be taken too seriously as big personalities clash all the time, the episode is somewhat indicative of Mitrione’s persona. In short, he has a brash, a little too happy to be alive personality that rubs some people the wrong way. Ever confident in his own ability, some people think he talks out of turn given that he is only 4-0 as a pro fighter and has yet to notch his “big win.” On the other hand, Mitrione has done nothing but impress since coming off of The Ultimate Fighter and gets noticeably better every time we see him. To take nothing away from Christian Morecraft, Mitrione is the focal point of this fight – win, lose, or draw. Morecraft is a very game wrestler and could steal a lot of thunder from the vocal Mitrione but he has his work cut out for him to say the least.

6. Featherweight Showdown – Tyson Griffin vs Manny Gamburyan would have been a surefire main card fight, and a stretch co-headliner on a card like this two years ago. It is not that either man has fallen far from grace, bur rather that both have found consistency hard to achieve. Gamburyan got a shot at the featherweight title and was bested by Jose Aldo and now he will look to spoil the 145 pound debut of Tyson Griffin, who many think could the cream of the crop at this weight. While you can find decisions on both men’s records you will not find a lot of boring fights. Tyson Griffin has a number of Fight of the Night awards under his belt and Gamburyan was widely considered one of the most high octane fighters at any weight class. If you have a facebook account you have no excuse for missing this fight, which will close out the under card and have profound ramifications on the UFC Featherweight Title picture.

7. The Joes – The aforementioned featherweights are not the only ones I am a bit surprised to see on the under card. Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon are also featured on the card in separate bouts. Lauzon is coming off a lose to George Sotiropoulos in a high profile match while Stevenson will try to buck a three fight losing skid. A forth lose could spell serious trouble for Stevenson as he too tries to find success at 145 pounds for the first time, a far cry from challenging BJ Penn for the belt. Both Joes need big wins and both have very game opponents, particularly Stevenson. One way or another we are going to learn a lot about both men’s futures and it is highly unlikely that the lessons are boring.

8. Are These REALLY at the Bottom Of The Card? – If that wasn’t enough to convince you that even the under card is worth tuning into guys like perennial spoiler Nik Lentz (pictured - top position), who had a win over Tyson Griffin last year and 14-1 Charles Oliveira might do the trick. Submission ace Oliveira believes he will be the youngest UFC champion in history but he can’t afford another lose if he is to attain that goal. How about former WEC contender Ricardo Lamas? He makes his UFC debut in the crowded lightweight division against Matt Grice who is likely fighting for his job in the UFC. Both are tough guys and neither man can afford to lose. Michael Johnson was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter. To demonstrate just how competitive MMA is today, he sits at the very bottom of this card where previous finalists have found themselves in much more favorable positions. It is not uncommon to see people fighting for their professional lives at the bottom of UFC cards. It is somewhat more unique to see so many familiar faces and so many fighters known for bringing excitement. This card brings excitement all the way down.