UFC 97 Kongo vs. Hardonk "What it could mean for both"

[Keegman]

I would like to see Hardonk pull out a win but Kongo has a great stand up game and improving on his ground. Hardonk has great leg kicks but doesn't have a good defence. (Kongo next in line for the title.)

[JT42]

This would be a great fight if it stayed standing but it wont. I think Kongo will take Hardonk down and control him for a UD.

I am kind of hoping if Kongo and Cain win their fights they will meet for #1 contender

[Aaron]

for UFC HW division standards....Kongo has great standup....

I'd be surprised to see this fight go the distance...

kongo will take him down, and hardonk's overconfidence on the ground will allow him to do it....from there he'll be fed elbows and hammerfists

bad matchup for hardonk

[Brad.Taschuk]

To be honest, I'm not looking forward to this fight at all. Neither of these guys have anything near what it takes to be a champion in the UFC, and they're both beneficiaries of the HW division still being pretty subpar. Plus, Kongo will take him down and Hardonk doesn't have the ground game to do anything to Cheick from his back except possibly get finished.

Also, move to UFC forum?

[PirateNinja415]

i'm pretty excited for this fight, i hope kongo keeps it standing, but i think he'll take the fight down and we can see how his ground game is developing.

i like the winner of this against cain if he wins his fight against herring, i think that would be the perfect fight to see who gets the next title shot after mir

[mls]

If Eddie Sanchez can out-box Hardonk then so can Kongo if he chooses to keep it standing.

[stitch1z]

This would be a great fight if it stayed standing but it wont. I think Kongo will take Hardonk down and control him for a UD.


Exactly how I see this going! repped!

[ShadyNismo]

Kongo has been very impressive recently...it's gonna be a good fight for sure.

[milkkid]

You guys seem to be forgetting Carwin.

I would assume the winner of this fight will fight Carwin for a title shot.

If this stands, I would give the stand up a slight edge to Hardonk. If Kongo goes for the takedown, he will more than likely bring Hardonk down. From there, Hardonk will try to pull his tight guard hoping for the ref to stand it up. But I doubt Kongo will be able to be controlled from top. Kongo has horrible BJJ, so Hardonk may be able to pull off a submission, but he will have to survive the storm of GnP from Kongo.

If it stands, Hardonk will have to beat Kongo with his leg kicks and clinch up. We have seen Hardonk willing to take punishment to get in close to unleash his barrage of knees, punches, and kicks. This will be dangerous against Kongo. Hardonk can also take a punch and recover quite fast, but Kongo isn't an Eddie Sanchez or Mike Wessel.

Brad, I wouldn't say Hardonk doesn't have a ground game. He does have a blue belt in BJJ with Rickson Gracie.

[FunkYou]

The fact that these two have the best stand up in the UFC HW division makes me sad. Thankfully we will see very litle of their B level striking as Kongo will take Hardonk down and finish with GnP.