Cheick Kongo vs Heith Herring Fight Review UFC 82

Herring got this one started of with a big punch that definitely caught Cheick Kongo off guard. Surprisingly after that Kongo took Herring to the ground twice. Herring also suffered a cut some where while they were skirmishing along the fence. Kongo definitely delivered some good blows in round one and I had Kongo winning the first round.

The second round was kind of strange as well Kongo took Herring to the ground hard. I definitely wasn't expecting to see Kongo go to the ground at all. Kongo was caught buy one of Herrings upkicks and decided to toy with Herring on the ground a bit invoking a few boos from the crowd. Mid way through the round Kongo found himself on his back and Herring literally spent the rest of the round taking knees to the ribs and shoulders.

Round 3 again started off with some big shots coming from Kongo. Kongo went for a porr submission attempt and then before you knew it he was on his back again. The rest of the round was a replay of round two at two minutes fifteen seconds into the round Cheick was getting his ribs eaten up. Kongo is currently putting out a red stream into the urinal. Nobody should take that mean knees to the ribs.

This fight shows a gaping hole in Kongo's game. Kongo had Herring's back and gave it up to stand. Then he missed an easy submission when he had Henderson's back. Fighters are not going to be afraid to give up their back to avoid any ground impound being given by Kongo. They have an easy way out. In addition, Kongo is like a turtle on his back. He simply has no way out once he is pinned. Kongo appears to be naturally athletic and I believe he will fix these flaws in his game.

I scored this for Tanner as did two of the judges. Cecil Peoples called it for Kongo. Again, causing me to hope he has that stroke.