Denny Burkholder

They're getting ready for Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo. From the prefight interviews:

Herring: "I feel pretty confident for this fight."
Kongo: "I don't care."

Round 1: Herring puts Kongo down with a punch within the first 10 seconds but Kongo is back to his feet so fast it might have been more of a slip than anything. Kongo with a takedown. Herring rolls through to take top control. Herring has Kongo against the cage on the ground. Kongo fights back to his feet and has Herring back against the cage, with Herring holding him in a front facelock. Kongo is doing his famous knees to the inner thigh that missed their target in the Cro Cop fight. They are grappling for position with Kongo reversing and briefly getting back control on the mat, but he stepped away from it. The crowd is booing with 20 seconds left in the round, but honestly, it's been a very good and active fight so far, especially for a heavyweight bout. Very hard round to call, but I'll give it to Herring 10-9.

Round 2: Kongo controls Herring again on the ground and then decides to let Herring up... kind of. He wants Herring to stand, but he won't back off enough to allow it. The ref finally stands them (Herring) up. Herring rushes in with strikes and quickly winds up grappling on the cage again. It goes back to the ground with Kongo controlling first, then Herring reversing for side control. Herring with a series of big knees to the side. Kongo is looking at the clock and taking knee after knee without trying to improve position. The round ends, and that one is Herring 10-9.

Round 3: Both guys land big shots to start and Herring applies a guillotine. Kongo slips out. Kongo gets Herrings back but Herring escapes and shoves him off. They wind up against the cage again and Herring gets side control. Herring starts punishing with knees to the ribs again and twice rears back with the knee closest to Kongo's head, and thinks better of it and stops himself. Kongo gets in this position and just holds on and takes every shot. Full mount for Herring and he hammers away at Kongo's head as the round ends. Herring 10-9. Even though I've given all three rounds to Herring, I could see either of the first two rounds being scored for Kongo, so it's not like Herring ran away with it or anything, but I do think he deserves the decision. We'll see.

Winner: Heath Herring defeated Cheick Kongo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) after three rounds.

This is a huge win for Herring. He looked a lot better than in recent fights, going the distance without gassing and seemingly much more motivated. Herring mentioned after the fight how unexpected it was that Kongo didn't opt to strike more.