UFC on Versus 4 weigh-in: Fighters dropping down all look good

The scale doesn't lie, so often times how you look on weigh-in day can be a huge indicator of how fight night will go down. Five fighters on the UFC on Versus 4 card are dropping down to a new weight class and they all looked healthy on the scale in Pittsburgh. A sixth was expected to weigh-in, but Nate Marquardt was dumped from the card for failing his medicals and subsequently fired from the promotion.

Two former UFC lightweight contenders were really worth monitoring on the scale (full weigh-in video).

Both Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson, dropping 10 pounds to 145, looked good. Neither looked drawn in the face or sickly from a physique standpoint. Stevenson simply lost some mass on his upper body and Griffin was shredded around the waist. Rich Attonito, coming down from middleweight, looked good as well at welterweight. And featherweight absolutely looked like the correct move for Ricardo Lamas and Matt Grice.

The heavyweight staredowns were intense. Matt Mitrione had words for Christian Morecraft, who actually appeared a little thrown off by the exchange.

Cheick Kongo got right in the grill of Pat Barry. The Kongo-Barry fight is now the main event. Charlie Brenneman stepped up to fight Rick Story, the original opponent of Nate Marquardt. Brenneman and TUF 12 runner-up Michael Johnson both played to the Pittsburgh crowd. Brenneman wore a Steelers' hard hat and Johnson weigh-in with a "Terrible Towel" on his head.

UFC on Versus 4 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD (Versus)

Pat Barry (243) vs. Cheick Kongo (234.4)
Charlie Brenneman (170.6) vs. Rick Story (170.4)
Matt Brown (170) vs. John Howard (170.2)
Matt Mitrione (261.1) vs. Christian Morecraft (261.4)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Manny Gamburyan (145.8) vs. Tyson Griffin (145.8)
Joe Stevenson (146) vs. Javier Vazquez (145.8)
Joe Lauzon (156) vs. Curt Warburton (155.6)
Rich Attonito (170) vs. Daniel Roberts (170.6)
Nik Lentz (155.6) vs. Charles Oliveira (153.8)
Matt Grice (145.2) vs. Ricardo Lamas (145.4)
Edward Faaloloto (155.4) vs. Michael Johnson (155.2)

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In just 27 seconds, Leben takes out Silva at UFC 132

Chris Leben did not take his time in beating a fighter he said inspired him to fight. In just 27 seconds, Leben knocked out Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Silva came out swinging, and landed a strike right on Leben's chin. Leben was not hurt, and with Silva in close, Leben landed a series of left-handed uppercuts until Silva fell to the ground.

Leben was pumped after the win.

"How do you think after that?" he said when asked how he felt by UFC commentator Joe Rogan. "He hit me on the button. He cracked me, and I went autopilot."

Before the fight, Leben talked about how he would watch tapes of Silva in his prime for PRIDE Fighting Championships. After the bout, he called Silva his hero, and thanked him for taking the bout, Silva's first in 16 months.

Silva, who has been fighting since 1996, now has a record of 33-11-1. Leben originally burst onto the MMA scene after the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and now has a record of 26-7.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Cruz outguns Faber in UFC 132 showdown
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? Junior Nation not happy with Jimmie Johnson

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Siver edges Wiman in a tight decision, loser storms out of the building

LAS VEGAS - Matt Wiman was convinced he'd won the fight and so was much of the crowd in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but that's not the way the judges saw it. Denis Siver did enough in the first and third rounds to take a unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards, in bout No. 3 on the UFC 132 pay-per-view.

When the decision was announced Wiman ripped his hand away from the referee, stormed out of the cage and actually left the building. Wiman (13-6, 7-4 UFC) eventually came back after walking around the parking lot.

"I did a lot of damage. Maybe he got the decision because he threw more punches, but they weren't effective. Effective striking and grappling is what they say and he didn't have that at all," said Wiman.

The numbers backed up the judges. FightMetric said Siver outlanded Wiman 128-34. In the third round, while Wiman was 2-of-5 on takedowns, Siver had a strike advantage of 47-6. Over the 15 minutes, Wiman was good 5-of-16 takedown attempts.

It had to be the second round that convinced Wiman he'd rolled to the victory. Wiman dominated Siver on the ground. He got him down with 3:50 left in the round and blasted away. A nasty left elbow busted open Siver's forehead and he bled like a stuck pig for the next few minutes. Siver never got back to his feet.

The first round was one the more tightly contested stanzas of the night. It went back and forth as Siver threw with vicious intent. He landed the better shots on the feet showed off some good takedown defense. Apparently, Wiman didn't press on the gas pedal enough in the final round. He scored a couple of takedowns, but didn't inflict the same damage he did in the second.

For Siver (19-7, 8-4 UFC) to escape with a win was huge. Because of a his slugging style, the Russian fighting out Germany, is a  promotion and fan favorite.

"I'm glad to win this fight. It was a very hard fight. My striking was a little bit better. My takedown defense was a little bit better. Altogether, I was just a little bit better tonight. Again, it was a very tough fight," said Siver.

After starting off his career in the UFC at 1-3, Siver has ripped off wins in eight-of-nine. He's also won four straight.

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Urijah Faber Thinks He Did Enough to Beat Dominick Cruz

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LAS VEGAS -- MMA Fighting spoke to Urijah Faber following his UFC 132 loss to Dominick Cruz, whether he thinks he did enough to beat the champ, what he could have done differently, his overall thoughts on the fight, how he felt after the fight and whether he still has an issue with Cruz.

 

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