Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman stole the show as the UFC came to the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Post-Gazette reports. Brenneman stepped in to fight Rick Story after Nate Marquardt was suspended by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission and subsequently dropped by the UFC.
↵ESPN has plenty more on what happened from Story's perspective:
↵↵↵It didn't take long for Story to discover that Brenneman was no ordinary replacement. He matched Story's determination and his skill level. Brenneman had little difficulty getting Story to the ground, where he regularly controlled the action.
↵After two rounds were in the books, Story's plan of landing a title shot were dashed by a guy who just a day ago wasn't considered worthy of a spot on the main card.
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It was a big night for Brenneman, who is from the Altoona area.
↵Also, Cheick Kongo defeated Pat Barry in a heavyweight fight, and lightweight Charles Oliveira's defeat of Nik Lentz was marred by a missed call:
↵↵↵Fans booed heavily at Brazilian lightweight Charles Oliveira's preliminary victory over Nik Lentz. Before clinching the bout with a rear choke that led to a tap out, Oliveira kneed Lentz in the face -- an illegal move in the UFC that wasn't called by referee Chip Snider.
↵Backstage, Oliveira apologized for the knee.
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(Lentz didn't look so good after the fight.)
↵It's unclear what the event meant, if anything, for the future of the UFC in Pittsburgh. The building wasn't sold out, the Post-Gazette notes, and sections were closed so that there were only about 10,000 seats. Meanwhile, welterweight Matt Brown's defeat of John Howard was apparently accompanied by incongruous "Here we go Steelers" chants. Lightweight Michael Johnson used the crowd's love of the Steelers to his advantage, spinning a Terrible Towel before his defeat of Edward Faaloloto. Mike Tomlin, who the Trib notes was in attendance, must have been thrilled, but Pittsburgh's relationship with mixed martial arts doesn't seem to be ripe quite yet.
↵For lots more on UFC Live 4, check out Bloody Elbow.
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