Kongo Needs a Stoppage in August
Posted by Chad Edward on May 20th, 2008Sunday, “Unstoppable” Cheick Kongo (11-4-1) announced that he’ll bounce off his March defeat to Fighters.com eighth-ranked heavyweight “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) versus Norwegian Dan Evensen (10-2) in Minneapolis in August.
Evensen is primarily a BodogFight product, going 3-0 in that now-defunct promotion.
Evensen won his last fight in November by unanimous decision over Konstantin Gluhov (2-2).
The Norwegian’s record lists an April 2006 loss to UFC heavyweight “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (8-3).
Kongo seemed slated for stardom by the UFC after forcing a unanimous decision “W” over “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2).
After UFC 77 in October, fourth-ranked “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) called out the surging Frenchman as an alternative to a then-uncertain title challenge versus top-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1).
When Sylvia scored his title shot versus Nogueira, Kongo was matched against Herring. An unimpressive wrestling slog saw Herring take a split decision.
The “L” added to another split decision loss to “Fury” Carmelo Marrero (7-2) in October 2006 and a majority decision Kongo squeaked over Assuerio Silva (13-6) in April 2007.
Evensen’s 10-2 record belies his pedestrian competition.
The match-up reveals the UFC’s waining confidence in their statuesque kickboxer.
Kongo needs a stoppage victory in the UFC’s current heavyweight climate which has seen Filipovic, Sylvia, and “Irish” Jake O’Brien (10-1) cut loose.
