Update: This fight is scheduled to happen at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” and not UFC 81: “Breaking Point.” Apologies for any confusion.
Cheick Kongo (11-3-1) and Heath Herring (27-13) with meet in a heavyweight clash at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
MMAmania.com today confirmed that match up with Kongo’s primary trainer here in the United States, Juanito Ibarra. However, both bout agreements are not signed even though it appears inevitable at this time.
“Kongo’s here at my house already getting ready for the fight,” said Ibarra. “This is going to be his year. Kongo’s got all the talent to be a heavyweight champion real soon, I truly believe that. Heath’s a tough opponent and this is going to be a big test.”
“The French Sensation” sports a solid record inside the Octagon (4-1) since his debut in 2006, losing only to Carmelo Marrero via unanimous decision at UFC 64: “Unstoppable” in and ugly fight. He outlasted the highly touted Mirko Cro Cop his last time out at UFC 75: “Champion vs. Champion” to earn a victory on all three judges scorecards.
Herring is a grizzled mixed martial arts veteran who has had some bad luck since his Octagon debut in January 2007, losing two of three fights. “The Texas Crazy Horse” had Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pretty much knocked out at UFC 73: “Stacked” last year but failed to finish the tough-as-nails Brazilian.
Herring went on to lose a unanimous decision.
The bout between Kongo and Herring is the third major heavyweight to be featured early in 2008. The two co-feature fights at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” on February 2 include Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia for the vacant division title, as well as former champion Frank Mir welcoming Brock Lesnar to the eight-sided cage.
For the latest UFC 82 fight card click here.
59 Comments »
not bad
Chieck is a beast
With Heath and Kongo if both bring all they have into this fight..it can be a good scrap..Hopefully they start and finsih this fight standing and banging. If the heath that fought Jake O`brien and the Kongo that fought Carmello shows up..it will give BJJ a bad name. This for sure helps this very weak and sickel cell of a fight card.
What is the point of this fight? I thought Kongo was getting someone like Arlovski or someone.
Great another non-finishing, no ground game, snooze fest with an ex-Pride fighter. Heath is boring and Kongo is only good on his feet. Lets all hope they worked on their games before this fight, but I don’t see it happening.
Kongo vs. Lesnar would be interesting. If I was Kongo, I’d try to spend some time with someone like BJ Penn and work on my ground game. Kongo has the potential to be a star.
kongo has shown he only really has problems with dudes that take him down, we all know herring’s not gonna do that…should be a slugfest and i say herring tires out late in the 2nd or early in the 3rd and kongo finishes him off…
great fight, if kongo wins i think he will have the next title shot
[quote comment=”258841″]What is the point of this fight? I thought Kongo was getting someone like Arlovski or someone.[/quote]
i think the point is to have a fight that will be fun to watch, these guys are gonna bang, and herring wasn’t horrible in his last fight either, he’s no chump…i do like arlovski vs. kongo better, no doubt, but if arlovski won and then left for another org. then the ufc would have nothing to show for that fight except a loss for kongo, who is a guy they want to push now after beating their 250 grand a fight superstar mirko cro cop, but if herring beats kongo, they can still push herring a little bit since he had a decent showing against nog…
this will be a slug fest, heath loves to keep it standing,remember his 1st fight, bitched bout d loss due to da ground work to irish(ya rite, his grandfathers cousin girlfriends dog was irish)jake o brien, plus dat Nogueira fight, he could have finished him with ground and pound, but no wanted to stand! kongo a kick boxer/ Muay Thai fighter, where the majority of his wins come from ko/tko - i c kongo taking this in da 1st, knee strikes = good nite! i just wish they could have put kongo against lesnar, especially after dat comment bout couture, no boubt mir will take him, but would have loved to have seen kongo teach him sum respect!
this looks like a good ass fight except heth needs to lose that gut
i wanted cro cop vs arlovski but were the hell has andre been i thought i read somewhere he was left to go to an other org.
[quote comment=”258868″]i wanted cro cop vs arlovski but were the hell has andre been i thought i read somewhere he was left to go to an other org.[/quote]
He should be fighting at 82 or 83 is manager said. so did Dana”its good to be”White an i think it was on this website a while ago,MANIA HELP US OUT!!!
truthfuly i thought kongo was fighting tim.
[quote comment=”258868″]i wanted cro cop vs arlovski but were the hell has andre been i thought i read somewhere he was left to go to an other org.[/quote]
Dana White said it at the UFC79 press conference
IMO this should be a good brawl,it would be good to see Heath ready to fight he took some time off,an i know Kongo is going to be ready he has his eyes on the prize an if big timmmmmmy wins an Kongo takes it, it will set the fight up that timmy wanted f the first place
Arlovski is still with the ufc he should be fighting in 82 or 83 Dana Wizzite said it at a press conference at UFC 79[quote comment=”258868″]i wanted cro cop vs arlovski but were the hell has andre been i thought i read somewhere he was left to go to an other org.[/quote]
what the hell is this. Kongo beats CroCop to fight this bum. what a joke…thanks again Dana. what a lose lose situation for Kongo.
kongo will win because heth will gas.kongo by TKO or desicion
glad to hear arlovski is still here
If Kongo beats Herring, maybe Kongo will go on to fight Soa Palalei?
[quote comment=”258897″]If Kongo beats Herring, maybe Kongo will go on to fight Soa Palalei?[/quote]
i sure hope tht wasnt a dis to soa
this will probably be a boring fight yet I somehow cant wait to watch it.
i thought this fight was suppose to be at 82? 81 already has 8 fights booked on ufc.com..other than the dud they thru us at New jersey had 9 the rest usually have 8.
Kongo vs. Vera, or Kongo vs. Arlovski would have been much better.
[quote comment=”258920″]Kongo vs. Vera, or Kongo vs. Arlovski would have been much better.[/quote]
Agreed but now we get to see him win again
I dont actually rate Kongo and I think all Herring needs is a better mental game. He needs to came down, think clear and explode when the times are right. At the moment he is an under-achieving fighter.
I see these two exchanging before Herring taking it to the ground and pounding Kongo out.
Heath, maybe you need to spend sometime with Randy.
P.S surely Dana can see the need to bring back Arlovski NOW
TRAINER: Wrestling, juijitsu good… no wrestling no juijitsu baaaddd… Kongo understand?
KONGO: No… me no like wrestle or JuJu, me like kick’ punch’
TRAINER: We train Kongo in wrestle, JuJu… now Kongo complete MMA fighter… Good.. yes?
KONGO: No!… Kongo no wrestle no JuJu… Kongo think already wrestle JuJu good… me like kick punch’ knee.
TRAINER: No no “bad kongo’! bad kongo’! kongo learn wrestle and JuJu good!
KONGO: U say Kongo bad wrestle bad JuJu, Kongo kick trainer in face!
TRAINER: Ok Ok Ok… sorry Kongo good wrestler Kongo good JuJu! Kongo no practice wrestle JuJu..ok?
KONGO: Me like kick, punch, knee… goooood kongo!
this could be very exciting. i see heath taking it decision.
i didn’t believe that crocop vs arlovski would be possible but now actually i think those two are gona fight. It kind of makes sense for those two to fight now, Crocop loses he is done, arlovski loses he is gone.
Crocop wins by tko in 2nd round
Kongo doesn’t need jits or wrestling; it’s too late for that in his career in my opinion. What Kongo needs is a killer sprawl. If he gets a killer sprawl/takedown defense, there isn’t a heavyweight in the UFC that isn’t having a tough night against him. All he needs are the skills to keep a fight standing. He should have the strength to do it……
Wow this is gonna suck.
The last few times i’ve seen Heath fight he sucked. Complained about he fight not following his rules, and basically just gave me a chance to refresh my drink and make a sandwich.
He needs to spend less time on his hair, and more time learning how to fight.
[quote comment=”258953″]TRAINER: Wrestling, juijitsu good… no wrestling no juijitsu baaaddd… Kongo understand?
KONGO: No… me no like wrestle or JuJu, me like kick’ punch’
TRAINER: We train Kongo in wrestle, JuJu… now Kongo complete MMA fighter… Good.. yes?
KONGO: No!… Kongo no wrestle no JuJu… Kongo think already wrestle JuJu good… me like kick punch’ knee.
TRAINER: No no “bad kongo’! bad kongo’! kongo learn wrestle and JuJu good!
KONGO: U say Kongo bad wrestle bad JuJu, Kongo kick trainer in face!
TRAINER: Ok Ok Ok… sorry Kongo good wrestler Kongo good JuJu! Kongo no practice wrestle JuJu..ok?
KONGO: Me like kick, punch, knee… goooood kongo![/quote]ha nice
I will go with kongo on this one
[quote comment=”258968″]i didn’t believe that crocop vs arlovski would be possible but now actually i think those two are gona fight. It kind of makes sense for those two to fight now, Crocop loses he is done, arlovski loses he is gone.
Crocop wins by tko in 2nd round[/quote]
…but still even that doesnt make much sense either - however you look at it AA and CC are top 5 HW’s …if the UFC loses these two guys they are screwing themselves. Like Fedor these two fighters can make a small organisation HUGE. lets say they both went to M-1 , the possibilities of the HW division would be real hardcore - AA, CC, fedor, barnett, hunt…and 1 or 2 more - bad move for the UFC
kongo beats Cro Cop and gets Herring? doesnt make sense to me.
[quote comment=”258856″]great fight, if kongo wins i think he will have the next title shot[/quote]
No way does Kongo get the next title fight. Gonzaga I think deserves a second go the title before a vastly inexperienced Kongo gets a go at the title. I think Sylvia would prove way to experienced for Kongo standing up and wirh Nog he will prove to be way to experienced on the ground and willl goto sleep….
[quote comment=”258881″]IMO this should be a good brawl,it would be good to see Heath ready to fight he took some time off,an i know Kongo is going to be ready he has his eyes on the prize an if big timmmmmmy wins an Kongo takes it, it will set the fight up that timmy wanted f the first place[/quote]
I don’t know if Timmy Webfoot will get passed Big NOg..other than Randy Couture, AA, and Ricco..Big Nog will be a big test for him.
Juanito is gonna take Kongo to a whole new level. Juanito Ibarra is one of thye best trainers in the game who has been around a long time. Actually, Juanito was Vitor Belfort’s trainier back when Vitor destroyed wanderlei. Juanito deserves a big part of the credit for the new and improved Rampage and I think he will do wonders for Kono……..I reported on this fight last week, so I already posted my thoughts.
if not because of Juanito Ibarra, chieck congo has already been knockout by crocop in their fight
I dig Ibarra, think he’s an excellent trainer. Actually, I wish Kongo wasn’t training in his camp, then I’d feel better about rooting against him. But I’m a sucker for the underdog. That’s why I’d like to see Herring do well in this fight. Herring is still a young guy, and doesn’t seem to come into fights with a good plan. For Herring’s sake, I hope he beats Kongo. On the other hand, I like Ibarra and Kongo, so I won’t be bummed if Kongo takes it. I’ll feel bad for Herring though, because that might mean he’s sidelined or let go.
[quote comment=”258840″]With Heath and Kongo if both bring all they have into this fight..it can be a good scrap..Hopefully they start and finsih this fight standing and banging. If the heath that fought Jake O`brien and the Kongo that fought Carmello shows up..it will give BJJ a bad name. This for sure helps this very weak and sickel cell of a fight card.[/quote]
PhilQNY, you aren’t happy with the way UFC 82 is shaping up? It has the best main event of the year, Henderson vs Anderson Silva. Fitch will be fighting Gono, even though he deserves a better oponent. Fitch and Karo NEED to fight in a #1 contender match right around April, when Serra and GSP meet up. So this fight with Gono is pretty pointless for Fitch. He just likes to stay active. Dustin Hazelett, a slick BJJ pacticioner, is fighting KOS. I root heavily against KOS everytime he fights, so I look forward to the majority of his fights hoping to see him get KTFO. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting….
[quote comment=”259218″][quote comment=”258840″]With Heath and Kongo if both bring all they have into this fight..it can be a good scrap..Hopefully they start and finsih this fight standing and banging. If the heath that fought Jake O`brien and the Kongo that fought Carmello shows up..it will give BJJ a bad name. This for sure helps this very weak and sickel cell of a fight card.[/quote]
PhilQNY, you aren’t happy with the way UFC 82 is shaping up? It has the best main event of the year, Henderson vs Anderson Silva. Fitch will be fighting Gono, even though he deserves a better oponent. Fitch and Karo NEED to fight in a #1 contender match right around April, when Serra and GSP meet up. So this fight with Gono is pretty pointless for Fitch. He just likes to stay active. Dustin Hazelett, a slick BJJ pacticioner, is fighting KOS. I root heavily against KOS everytime he fights, so I look forward to the majority of his fights hoping to see him get KTFO. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting….[/quote]
VM..I was mistaken..ufc 80/81 are the “basura” cards..I thought they had this match for 81. 82 is shaping up much better than 80/81.
[quote comment=”259249″][quote comment=”259218″][quote comment=”258840″]With Heath and Kongo if both bring all they have into this fight..it can be a good scrap..Hopefully they start and finsih this fight standing and banging. If the heath that fought Jake O`brien and the Kongo that fought Carmello shows up..it will give BJJ a bad name. This for sure helps this very weak and sickel cell of a fight card.[/quote]
PhilQNY, you aren’t happy with the way UFC 82 is shaping up? It has the best main event of the year, Henderson vs Anderson Silva. Fitch will be fighting Gono, even though he deserves a better oponent. Fitch and Karo NEED to fight in a #1 contender match right around April, when Serra and GSP meet up. So this fight with Gono is pretty pointless for Fitch. He just likes to stay active. Dustin Hazelett, a slick BJJ pacticioner, is fighting KOS. I root heavily against KOS everytime he fights, so I look forward to the majority of his fights hoping to see him get KTFO. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting….[/quote]
VM..I was mistaken..ufc 80/81 are the “basura” cards..I thought they had this match for 81. 82 is shaping up much better than 80/81.[/quote]
AHHH, OK. Not that makes sense. I didn’t think you’d be complaing about 82. I think that 82 will be better than 80 and 81 combined.
Out of curiosity, what does “basura” mean?
[quote comment=”259322″][quote comment=”259249″][quote comment=”259218″][quote comment=”258840″]With Heath and Kongo if both bring all they have into this fight..it can be a good scrap..Hopefully they start and finsih this fight standing and banging. If the heath that fought Jake O`brien and the Kongo that fought Carmello shows up..it will give BJJ a bad name. This for sure helps this very weak and sickel cell of a fight card.[/quote]
PhilQNY, you aren’t happy with the way UFC 82 is shaping up? It has the best main event of the year, Henderson vs Anderson Silva. Fitch will be fighting Gono, even though he deserves a better oponent. Fitch and Karo NEED to fight in a #1 contender match right around April, when Serra and GSP meet up. So this fight with Gono is pretty pointless for Fitch. He just likes to stay active. Dustin Hazelett, a slick BJJ pacticioner, is fighting KOS. I root heavily against KOS everytime he fights, so I look forward to the majority of his fights hoping to see him get KTFO. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting….[/quote]
VM..I was mistaken..ufc 80/81 are the “basura” cards..I thought they had this match for 81. 82 is shaping up much better than 80/81.[/quote]
AHHH, OK. Not that makes sense. I didn’t think you’d be complaing about 82. I think that 82 will be better than 80 and 81 combined.
Out of curiosity, what does “basura” mean?[/quote]
No complaints from me about UFC 82. As Mike pointed out it features the best main event of the year and the rest of the card is pretty solid. God I hate Koschek……I am about to start my own Kosheck Basher club…..were we can all go on it and Bash Kos….GO DUSTIN!!!!!
Herring wins this fight pretty easily by submission or ground and pound stoppage in my opinion.
the Kongo/Herring fight makes sense for Kongo simply because they are obviously setting up Kongo for the title shot. This is how the UFC tends to do thinks, I mean look at Fitch taking on Gono and Parisyian just waiting in the wings for GSP after he dismantles Serra. This card is shaping up to be the best of the year with the main event and all the talent they got on it. I mean 3 of my favorite fighters are on this card alone! Kongo, Fitch and of course Silva.
BTW, if that is indeed true about Arlovski and Cro Cop I CAN NOT WAIT for that fight!! Arlovski is going to come back with a bang and pound Cro Cop into retirement. GO ARLOVSKI!
[quote comment=”259417″]the Kongo/Herring fight makes sense for Kongo simply because they are obviously setting up Kongo for the title shot. This is how the UFC tends to do thinks, I mean look at Fitch taking on Gono and Parisyian just waiting in the wings for GSP after he dismantles Serra. This card is shaping up to be the best of the year with the main event and all the talent they got on it. I mean 3 of my favorite fighters are on this card alone! Kongo, Fitch and of course Silva.
BTW, if that is indeed true about Arlovski and Cro Cop I CAN NOT WAIT for that fight!! Arlovski is going to come back with a bang and pound Cro Cop into retirement. GO ARLOVSKI![/quote]
Who said anything about Arlovski vs. Cro cop? is that true? I always thought that it was a great match up and a realistic possability as well.
I like Kongo a lot, but if he wants to beat Hearing he is gonna have to keep Hearing away with Jabs and front kicks. At times Kongo shows good takedown defense but it has to get better in order to beat Hearing, because if it hits the ground, Hearings experience will win him the fight. But if Kongo can keep it standing and keep the distance then he can beat ANYONE. In no way is this a gimmie fight for Kongo. I could see Hearing easily getting the takedown and winning. I think Kongo will win, but if Hearing submits him I wont be the least bit surprised.
Yea I read it was going to be 81 on here yesterday and now it is 82, that makes me one of the happiest posters on here right now. I got great seats ($400) to the Columbus fight and that made my day. Thanks for the UPDATE!!! THIS IS GOING TO BECOME A GREAT CARD. I CAN’T WAIT!!!
[quote post=”4426″]Out of curiosity, what does “basura” mean?[/quote]
Garbage.
RIP - Heath Herring
basura = garbage
This is going to be a snooze fest! Herring will grind out a win via a slow and methodical love fest on the ground. I think this will rank up there with that tryptophan induced coma everyone is put into after Thanksgiving.
Heath took time off to get back on track.Not to mention he’s been training with Rob Kaman… no f’n way will Kongo win this one.
herring vs kongo should be a great fight.
a tough match up for Kongo - we’ll see what he’s got on the ground - although kongo’s great at getting back to his feet herring will be tougher than his previous opponent in that regard. also herring is very tough to ko and tough to submit
i think hearring is going to win this fight for sure is going to be good one herring loock very comforble in his last 2 fights heariing by stoppage 2 round