UFC on Versus 1 Preview: The Main Card

Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello

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The Breakdown: Because no card is complete without a couple of heavyweights trying to crack each other’s skull open, the UFC is sending out Cheick Kongo and Paul Buentello to put on a proper George Romero tribute. While Mike Goldberg will undoubtedly waste many a breath getting you to believe that this fight is of incalculable importance, the fact is that the UFC matchmaking department knows that a good ole’ heavyweight brawl draws fans.

Buentello has made a living out of winning brawls, but he’s 36 now and has nearly 40 professional fights to his name. In his last fight, at UFC 107 against Stefan Struve, he lost a majority decision despite spending most of the bout on his feet against a fighter known more for his wildly aggressive guard than anything else.

Considering it was Struve’s reach that really frustrated Buentello, the idea of him fighting Kongo starts to enter flat-out unfair territory. At this point Kongo will never develop into a title worthy fighter, but he is a menacing gatekeeper and his striking is simply in a different league than most anyone in the division. Rangy, accurate, powerful and quick are not words commonly used to describe the striking of any heavyweight, but amidst a sea of one-note brawlers, Kongo stands out like the Pope at a Christopher Hitchens reading.

It’s hardly a secret that Buentello makes his living off a powerful straight right. Kongo’s straight right is even better, though, and he has the leg kicks and clinch game to force Buentello out of his comfort zone. The other migraine in the making for Buentello is Kongo’s ground-and-pound. Takedown defense has never been Buentello’s forte, and Kongo is quite adept at changing levels off his strikes, which disguises his fundamentally subpar wrestling quite well. One way or another, Buentello is going to be outmatched, which leaves him hoping to land a straight right kill-shot on a guy who has a laundry list of ways of doing the same.

The Bottom Line: A few lopsided exchanges will open the way for Kongo to close the pocket and work the clinch before forcing a TKO stoppage on the mat.