UFC 137's Cheick Kongo aiming for rematch with 'lucky' champ Cain Velasquez

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LAS VEGAS – Slow and steady wins the race, though fighting ugly does little to win fans.

Cheick Kongo knows Saturday's UFC 137 co-main-event win over Matt Mitrione wasn't a signature or highlight-reel win that dazzled fans, but it served its purpose.

It got him one step closer to a rematch with champ Cain Velasquez, whom Kongo said was "lucky" in their first meeting.

Kongo (17-6-2 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) earned a unanimous-decision victory over the previously unbeaten Mitrione (5-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the pay-per-view co-headliner of UFC 137, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. An action-light first round was showered in boos, though Kongo picked up the pace for an effective third round that led to the victory.

"Most of the time, when I win a fight, I can say it was exciting," Kongo told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the event. "But I was kind of slow.

"I was expecting to exchange more than I did tonight. I wanted to see what he would do specifically. The last round, I just decided to go for it."

The chiseled Frenchman finds himself in a peculiar situation. As one of the elder statesmen of the UFC's heavyweight division, Kongo has logged more than five years and 15 fights with the world's top MMA promotion. He previously faltered in big fights, but he's now on a 3-0-1 run, and he's determined not to fill the dreaded "gatekeeper" role – one that gets you high-profile fights but no real shot at the title.

After all, Kongo is confident he can take out current champ and heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez. He nearly did it two-and-a-half years ago at UFC 99, when Kongo twice buckled Velasquez only to be squelched by his limited ground game.

Kongo, though, said he wasn't 100 percent for the fight, which contributed to Velasquez's "lucky" win.

"Of course I would like to get this opportunity to fight for the belt and face Cain Velasquez," said Kongo, who's made strides in his ground game. "To get just three weeks to train and get hurt during the few weeks during the preparation [for that fight], I can say, it made me sad.

"I just want to ... have the chance to prepare for the next time, six months or whatever, to face him. I had no legs last time. Now I've come back. I've got all my skills ready to do that. ... It's been a long time now – maybe five years in the UFC. I got a chance to improve myself here with my skills. I think I didn't show everything (against Mitrione). I would like to face [Velasquez] again and get my chance to fight for the title."

Against Mitrione, a hard-hitting NFL vet who's quickly adapted to the MMA game, Kongo probably didn't move up the contenders' list too much. But a loss could have moved him down quickly. That knowledge admittedly influenced his performance, for better or worse.

"People say, 'You're good. You did a good job before, and now is the time to come back and get your opportunity to fight for the belt – to try to be the next contender,'" Kongo said. "I just tried to save my position. 'Don't push too much but just end the fight.' That's what I did.

"He tried to hurt me, but honestly, I was confident. He's a good puncher, but he didn't hurt me.

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I wouldn't mind seeing that rematch soon.

I am a Kongo fan but i don't think a rematch would be any different. I will admit there were a couple of times it looked like Kongo was about to drop Cain and Cain went to his wrestling to avoid the shots. But Kongo has a punchers chance that's for sure. now that i think about it Kongo really has been the only guy to put Cain in any type of danger during a fight that i can recall. Maybe i am off or i forgot some one.

Kongo has a punchers chance against anyone in the UFC HW division, as seen last in his fight against Pat Barry; he did nothing special against Mitrione imo and barely deserved the decision.

He would need at least 2 fights against top tier HWs before he can even attempt to talk himself back into the title picture; I would like to see Kongo face someone like Lesnar who would completely victimize him on the mat (wrestling) although I know Kongo has been working on that aspect of his game recently.

Beating Mitrione doesn`t get you even brought up in title contention talks in my books, he could fight Big Country, Lesnar, Overeem, Werdum?, Carwin (if returns healthy), JDs (depending on outcome).

He is dreaming if he thinks he deserves a shot at a much improved version of the Cain he faced in 2009.

He hasn't lost since 09, give him a rematch against Mir. Then if he wins that give him one of the guys you named and he could be the #1 contender.

^rebutle^

1 - Rematch to avenge loss to Mir.

2 - Rematch Travis Browne after a uneventful performance warranting a draw where Kongo
had a point deducted.

3 - Face 1 of the guys I mentioned.

Win all three of those fights and we'll start talking Kongo and the title, only deterrence is he is getting up there in age.

Kongo's fight against Travis Browne was only Browne's second fight in the UFC, and surely he has improved since their first meeting.
That rematch is more warranted than a rematch against Mir at this point in time, imo.

What in de fuck?

Kongo?!? Title shot?!?

How about throwing a punch in his next fight before calling for a title shot?

^Word

Chrom wrote:

He hasn't lost since 09, give him a rematch against Mir. Then if he wins that give him one of the guys you named and he could be the #1 contender.

I like that idea a lot, it actually makes the most sense too.