The 10 greatest UFC fights of the last decade (2010-2019)

2011: Pat Barry vs Cheick Kongo – UFC on Versus 4

Cheick Kongo delivered an incredible comeback against Pat Barry.

Either one of the wild brawls between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Dan Henderson, and Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann could’ve been named as 2011’s Fight of the Year, but probably the most exciting fight of all that year came in June between Heavyweights Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo.

The two were thrust into the main event of UFC on Versus 4 on late notice after a fight between Nate Marquardt and Rick Story was cancelled, and to say they stepped up to the plate would be an understatement. The big men came out to strike, and it was Barry who struck first and hardest, dropping his French opponent with a big overhand right.

Kongo somehow got to his feet, only for Barry to catch him with more clean punches, putting him down for a second time. It looked like the fight was over, but the Frenchman scrambled to his feet again, his legs looking like jelly – and as ‘HD’ closed in for the kill, Kongo froze him in his tracks with a right hand, and then added another to knock him silly.

It was a ludicrous comeback, summed up by the fact that Kongo fell onto Barry’s unconscious body as his legs simply couldn’t carry his own weight. As far as Heavyweight fights go across the last decade, this one has to be considered near the top of the tree.