UFC
Dana White says a "Rocky story" played out in Charlie Brenneman's UFC on Versus 4 upset of Rick Story
Jun 27, 2011 - 12:50:26 PM Dana White says a "Rocky story" played out in Charlie Brenneman's UFC on Versus 4 upset of Rick Story

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Sunday night's UFC on Versus 4 event will be a career highlight for Charlie Brenneman for years to come, as he picked up a win over highly regarded welterweight Rick Story on a day's notice in front of a hometown crowd in Pittsburgh, Penn.

The decision win over Story capped off a hectic week for Brenneman. After losing his originally scheduled opponent in T.J. Grant, Brenneman was told to make weight to collect his contracted fight purse. In doing so, he left himself available as a replacement if the UFC needed.

That's exactly what was required when Nate Marquardt was pulled from the event on Saturday night, and Brenneman stepped up on a day's notice to take the fight against Story. By not only taking it, but defeating him as well, UFC President Dana White said Brenneman had his own "Rocky" story.

"His fight tonight was a Rocky story," White said at the post-fight press conference. "He's in his hometown, and he gets the shot at the guy who's hot and on his way to a title shot. He comes in and wins it. That's the thing about this sport. You never know who's going to win."

At the post-fight press conference as well, Brenneman reflected on the roller coaster week he had in his hometown.

"This whole week has been a roller coaster," he said. "When we got to weigh-ins, I was told, 'You may have to wait until 3:59, or you may not even know until tomorrow if you're fighting.' What can I do other than sit there and try to remain professional and do what I do? And, well, it worked out."

He summed up his feelings further after the fight in an interview with Versus' Tina Dixon during the post-fight show on the network.

"[I feel] amazing," he said. "I'm pretty sure my life has peaked at 30 years old and I'm completely fine with that."

When Dixon responded to him that he still has a lot of years in the sport ahead of him, Brenneman said he felt nothing would top this win, under these circumstances and in front of his hometown crowd.

"I do [have a lot of years left]," he conceded. "But nothing's going to top tonight. I almost guarantee it."

Penick's Analysis: It was a career high, for sure, and he's definitely going to be hard-pressed to ever be in a situation to top what happened on Sunday night. He took the opportunity of his career and absolutely made the most of it in an extremely smart performance against a very tough opponent in Story. Brenneman will remember Sunday night for the rest of his life, and rightfully so. He may not climb all the way up the ladder in the welterweight division, but no one will ever be able to take this performance and this win after such a crazy week away from him.