Author: Steve Cofield

It was another one of those nights for the officials in the UFC. Referee Josh Rosenthal got it right in the James Irvin fight but Colorado officials and ref Herb Dean made a judgment error in the Paul Buentello-Cheick Kongo fight, according to UFC president Dana White.

In the second round, Buentello appeared to injure a finger. The fight was stopped while doctors looked at the hand. Then they appeared to pop the finger back into place. 

"If he couldn’t continue right there, you can’t come in [and call timeout]," said White, who thought Buentello broke the finger. "It actually appeared to be a dislocation. Dean paused the fight because he thought there was an equipment malfunction with the glove. He was wrong. If Buentello had a dislocated finger and needed medical care, the fight should’ve been given to Kongo with a TKO victory."

White also talked about the futures of Duane Ludwig and Irvin. He was unsure on Ludwig, who reportedly suffered a severe ankle break. He was positive with Irvin, that he wouldn’t be at middleweight again.

"He looked terrible at the weigh-ins. There was [expletive] coming out of his face. I didn’t know if it was skull or scar tissue or what it was." 

White said it was reflected in his performance against Alessio Sakara.

"Tonight it looked like the 85 cut killed him. He couldn’t get off. He was basically getting lit up by Sakara. That’s not James Irvin. That’s not who he is as a fighter."

Josh Barnett waited a long time to get in less than five minutes of fighting in his return to MMA. The American heavyweight has been inactive since January of 2009. He was suspended by California for a positive drug test during the summer.

He made his return Monday morning in Japan at DREAM 13 against Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga. The fight ended in unfortunate fashion when Barnett drilled Mo with an errant kick. After a long delay, Siliga had little left in the tank as he was slammed by Barnett and tapped via kimura.

Frankly, the Japanese promoters on hand embarrassed themselves. Mo laid on the ground groining and moaning for over five minutes. He eventually rose to sit on the stool where he repeatedly said that he couldn’t fight. For some reason, DREAM officials needed to conference about what to do and gave Mo three more minutes to recover. In the United States, a fighter is given five minutes to recover. If they can’t do so the fight is ended. Apparently Siliga didn’t have that option.

The circus spoiled what was developing into a decent fight. Mo actually floored Barnett with a left hook 51 seconds into the fight. Barnett turned to his clinch game to slow the pace. After a few minutes he unloaded the kick into Siliga’s groin. Siliga deserves a bonus. He took the fight on extremely short notice after several fighters, including Tim Sylvia, turned down the fight. Barnett (25-5) hopes to fight Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem next. Overeem does have a fight booked for May in the U.S. against Brett Rogers. 

Noons returns with a win

K.J. Noons, a recent signee with Strikeforce, made his return to MMA to the ring for the first time since the middle of 2008. He took out Andre Dida to mixed results. Noons boxed for the entire 15 minutes controlling Dida with a solid jab. The fight never went to the ground as Noons was awarded the unanimous decision victory.

Staph infection is no joke. We saw several fighters have to pull out of big UFC bouts in the second half of 2009 because they were struggling with the ailment. As bad as it may have gotten for guys like Gabriel Gonzaga, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Diego Sanchez and even Kevin Randleman over the last few years, but no one has a story quite like Cole Escovedo. The former WEC featherweight champ’s case of staph was so bad that it left him paralyzed from the waist down in 2007. Escovedo (16-4) added to one of the best comeback stories in MMA history by picking up his fifth straight win. He did so in a Japanese ring at DREAM 13 where he scored a dynamite head kick knockout of fellow WEC veteran Yoshiro Maeda.

Maeda, who lost a WEC bantamweight title shot against Miguel Torres at WEC 34, looked sluggish throughout the fight. Maeda (26-8-2) essentially ducked into the finishing kick by Escovedo.

MMAWeekly told the inital story of Escovedo’s struggles with staph:

According to a post by Laura Escovedo on MMA.tv and confirmed by Reed Harris of the WEC, Cole contracted a staph infection back in December that went unchecked because he just thought it was a spider bite or something of that sort. By the time he was diagnosed in January with staph, the infection made its way into his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down.

Cole was hospitalized and underwent an operation to alleviate some of the fluid that had built up on his spine due to the infection. He has since been released from the hospital and is now at home with a walker and is set to begin therapy.

At the time of publication, it was unknown whether Cole’s paralysis is a permanent or, hopefully, a temporary condition.

SI.com’s Josh Gross expanded on the story and the horrors of Escovedo’s type of staph, MRSA.

Just when you think the war has calmed down, Dana White fires off another missile at his favorite guys from Strikeforce/Showtime. During the postfight for UFC on Versus 1, White told the media that he was just toying with Showtime/CBS and playing games with Strikeforce when rumors emerged that his promotion was going to counterprogram the Dan Henderson-Jake Shields card with a card of its own the same night in the same city!

White claims there was no truth to the rumors of an Ultimate Fight Night in Nashville. He simply allowed the media to run with it. It’s funny though, Mike Swick reported that he was offered a fight for that date against Matt Serra. White also confirmed to Yahoo! Sports’ Dave Meltzer that he was considering a card that night. Gamesmanship aside, White admits it’s all driven by his hatred for Showtime and one executive in particular. Then he tore into the April 17 CBS card calling the main event a joke.

""Dan Henderson is fighting [expletive] Jake Shields," White told the media. "Come on. Are you serious? Jake Shields is 170 pounds, and he’s their [185-pound] champion?"

White claims Showtime is employing dirty tactics.

"Jake Shields is on the last fight of his contract, so they’re feeding him to Dan Henderson right now because they want to get rid of him because he’s going to go away, or they’re going to have to pay him some big money to stick around or whatever the deal is," said White. "’We’re paying more money to Dan Henderson than we can afford already, so let’s get Jake’s ass kicked by Dan Henderson and get rid of Jake Shields.’"

White said it’s why Showtime has a bad reputation amongst some in the fight business.

"It’s such [expletive] bush-league [expletive], and you guys know it. They’re a [expletive] joke," said White. "Showtime’s always been a joke with all their sports programming, and this is no different."

White is rooting for Shields to win but if he doesn’t he’s still interested in grabbing the 30-year-old for his welteweight division.

"If Jake Shields could pull that off, that would be incredible, and good for him," White said. "He’s going to get paid because what’s going to happen is we would love to take him from there, and I’m sure they’d love him to stick around."

Either way, White feels his wins. 

"I will help drive that [expletive] number right up through the roof and let the Showtime boys pay him a lot of money so that Jake can stick it right up their ass. ‘I just choked out Dan Henderson, and now you [expletives] are going to pay me for trying to stick it up my ass. I’m going to stick it up yours.’ "

When asked about Fedor Emelianenko and his absence from the next two Strikeforce cards, White got tight-lipped. 

The bigger, the better for blown up middleweight Ikuhisa Minowa. The 196-pound Minowaman was given another huge opponent in 275-pound Jimmy Ambriz. After Ambriz took him down in the first, sat on him and punched him in the side of the head for the better part of six minutes, Minowa showed patience and toughness. He pulled off a submission via heel hook with 2:18 left in the fight to open DREAM 13 in Japan.

Minowa (45-30-8) is coming off a nice run in DREAM’s 2009 Super Hulk tournament. He ripped off three wins giving away an average of 125 pounds in his victories over 7-feet-2 Hong Man Choi and the massive Bob Sapp. He took the title by downing the much bigger Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the finale.

Ambriz (14-13) looked like he could stand to lose about 20 pounds. His performance was pretty solid especially considering he was one of the guys the Florida Boxing Commission turned down as a possible opponent for Bobby Lashley back in January on a Strikeforce card. 

Kikuno scores a highlight reel knockout

DREAM 13 heated up big time with brutal knockout on a nice kick-punch combination from Katsunori Kikuno against Kuniyoshi Hironaka. The trouble started for Hironaka when he got booted in the gut with a nice front kick. As he dropped his hands, Kikuno belted him with a right cross. Hironaka went down hard. Kikuno, making the transition from the world of karate, is now 13-2-1. Kikuno’s only loss since 2006 came in his last fight against top five lightweight Eddie Alvarez.  

Dana White must’ve really enjoyed UFC’s debut card on Versus. UFC on Versus 1 did well in the Denver area drawing a crowd of 6,443 with a gate of $568,125. The UFC has grown accustomed to gates of $1.8-$3 million. Those are pay-per-view cards and the fighters are generally handed bonuses in the range of $50,000-$65,000. Free television cards like this, the bonuses have been a bit more conservative around $20,000-$25,000. Tonight, Junior Dos Santos, Jon Jones, Clay Guida and John Howard were treated like kings each receiving $50,000. Dos Santos, Jones and Howard for knockout of the night and Guida was handed a submission of the night check. That’s $200,000 or nearly 40 percent of the gate.

Amazingly there was one other guy who could probably say, "what about me?" Brendan Schaub scored a devasting finish against Chase Gormley. He picked the wrong night for a big KO.

Dos Santos destroyed Gabriel Gonzaga with a left hook and finished his fellow countryman on the ground. Jones was unbelievable in crushing Brandon Vera. The elbow was his weapon of choice. Howard pounded out Daniel Roberts with a huge left as he stood over the downed fighter. Guida closed out Shannon Gugerty with an arm-triangle choke.

The promotion also released an interesting nugget about its deal with Versus. The UFC’s Craig Borsari confirmed an earlier mention by Versus president Jamie Davis that UFC on Versus 2 will be on Aug. 1 in Oakland. August will be busy with a PPV event tentatively slated for the final week of the month in Boston.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – No one has ever dominated Brandon "The Truth" Vera. Until Sunday night, that is.

Light heavyweight phenom Jon "Bones" Jones’ meteoric rise
continued. He tossed around Vera, a former heavyweight, like a rag doll, and
appeared to have broken something on Vera’s grill. Jones blasted Vera
with a left elbow that forced the Filipino-American to give up almost
immediately. Jones (10-1, 5-1 UFC) won at 3:19 of the first round in the main event of UFC on Versus at the 1stBank Center.

"I think it was a really good test. To be the best student, you have to study, study, study," Jones told UFC.com. "I feel as if I got an A on this test. It’s just a testament to studying and hard work."

Jones, a 22-year old from upstate New York, set the tone early. Vera, who has a very good freestyle and Greco-Roman
wrestling background, was dumped on his rear end less than 15 seconds
into the fight. Jones clinched and used an elementary hip toss to score that first takedown. Well, elementary in theory, but when you’ve got freakish strength
like Jones, it looks easy.

It all looked like it was part of the plan but Jones said he bailed on the original plan early in the fight. 

"My gameplan was to strike with him," said Jones. "I just kind of sense that he didn’t want the takedowns to go down. In a lot of his interview he said ‘I don’t care if I get taken down.’ That kind of let me know that was in the back of his mind. My core is wrestling and you can always go back to your core." 

Vera (11-5) eventually got himself back up but then
fell victim to a double-leg takedown via huge slam. That’s when the
trouble began. After a stoppage because of an illegal Vera kick to the
face, Jones went to work. He landed a left elbow that had Vera
immediately grabbing the side of his face. Jones threw one more elbow
that landed on the Vera’s arm. He was clearly in quitting mode. Three more
punches and Vera turned away from Jones where the referee stepped in to stop it. 

"That elbow is all Greg Jackson," said Jones. "He has a very distinct ground and pound system. If you realize Georges St. Pierre does the same style elbow. I found my home. Everything is working," said Jones of his new training home at Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, NM. 

The win is impressive on a couple of fronts. Jones has been with the UFC for less than two years and he had less than two years mixed martial arts experience when the promotion gave him a try. Secondly, this was the same Vera who gave the legendary Randy Couture a boatload of trouble back in November. Couture, one of the best takedown artists in the history of MMA, could barely get Vera to the ground. Jones made it look easy.

Is Jones, whose only loss was a disqualification to Matt Hamill in a match he was dominating, ready for a Couture, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans or Quinton Jackson? The better question is, can any of those guys those stay off the deck if they fight Jones? 

In a division filled with behemoths who like to ground and pound, Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos prefers to do his pounding with both feet on the ground. Tonight was another warning, you’d better not stand with the young Brazilian unless you want to leave the Octagon on your back.

Gabriel Gonzaga, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, had difficulty getting Dos Santos down so he turned to his kicks. Unfortunately, he began to use the same pattern of right leg kicks and Dos Santos figured it out. After narrowly missing, on two prior counterpunching attempts, Dos Santos perfectly timed a left hook in response to another Gonzaga leg kick. Gonzaga went down in a heap. That’s where Dos Santos pounced on him, unleashed a half dozen vicious punches and Gonzaga went limp. Dos Santos picks up his fifth straight UFC win at 3:53 of the first.

"We hoped to win by knockout. I’m looking for the knockout in all my fights," Dos Santos told UFC.com. He said he trained a lot on countering Gonzaga’s kicks. "I just waited for the right moment."

Gonzaga (11-5, 7-4 UFC) paid for a lack of patience.

"I tried a kick when I should’ve waited," Gonzaga told UFC.com.

Gonzaga said his gameplan was to draw Dos Santos in and when he tried combinations, put him on his back. 

Dos Santos, who has knocked out all five of his UFC opponents, four coming in the first round, said he thinks he can knockout anyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Suddenly, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic’s third round loss against Dos Santos isn’t looking so bad. With Dos Santos, 25, and Cain Velasquez, 27, the UFC has some tremendous prospects to pair with experienced big boys like Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.

Dos Santos (11-1, 5-0 UFC) also showed solid ground skills even if only for a moment. Gonzaga secured a takedown 90 seconds into the fight, but Dos Santos showed excellent speed and athleticism in getting to his feet in a matter of seconds.

For anyone wondering what Cigano means. Dos Santos was given the nickname as a young guy in the gyms back home in Brazil. It is Portuguese for gypsy. 

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – If something can go wrong it will go wrong for James Irvin. It couldn’t happen again, right? Wrong. Irvin suffered another odd loss at the hands of Alessio Sakara in the opening bout of the television portion of UFC on Versus 1.

What really happened? It depends on who you speak with. Irvin seemed to suggest in the cage that he was the victim of an eye poke. Referee Josh Rosenthal jumped in to stop the fight thinking it was simply a punch that made Irvin turn his back and drop to a knee. Video replays and the photo above seem to indicate it was a clean punch. The fight was stopped at 3:01 of the first round giving Sakara (15-7-1, 6-4-1) his third straight UFC victory.

Sakara looked better than he has in a while. His punches were crisp and he showed extra power. The former boxer pointed to a change in training. He’s longer training with eight or 10-oz. boxing gloves. He only trains with the smaller gloves.

UFC president Dana White admitted during the postfight that he’s a huge fan of Irvin (14-6, 4-5 UFC), but that the fighter just didn’t look right down at middleweight. He did look sluggish at times and was an easy target for Sakara’s combinations. 

Irvin, who was returning from a brutal loss at the hands of Anderson Silva, a drug suspension and visit to drug rehab, has had a star-crossed UFC career. He was probably glad to return to Colorado, the scene of one of his best victories, an eight second KO of Houston Alexander. But with his luck, Irvin couldn’t produce another sterling performance. This is a guy who blew out his knee in a loss to Thiago Silva at UFC 71. He also had to pull out of several matches during 2007, 2008 and 2009 because of lingering knee issues. 

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Clay "The Carpenter" Guida is a solid back end of the top 10 lightweight but you would never know it by seeing his fan following and the greeting he got tonight at the 1st Bank Center. He’s about as blue collar as it gets in mixed martial arts and the fans love it. Shannon Gugerty felt what it was like to keep up with a guy who’s a card carrying union carpenter who works his opponent every second of the fight. 

Guida took down Gugerty early in the first and made the San Diegan work hard for four minutes to avoid getting into a worse position. In the second, Guida’s grinding style paid off. Less than a minute into the round, using a whizzer, Guida got Gugerty to the mat. Gugerty didn’t have as much fight this time around. Working out of half guard, Guida slapped on an arm-triangle choke. Once he jumped to side control, it was over. Gugerty tapped at 3:42 of the second giving Guida his first win in 13 months.

"My back was to the wall," Guida told UFC.com. "You cage a guy like me, I’m just gonna come back furious."

Guida (26-11, 6-5 UFC) had dropped two straight entertaining fights against top lightweight contenders Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. He said it was important to fight his fight.

"I got out there and went after it. I got back to the old ground and pound style. I’m not known for submitting people in the UFC but I’ve got something 15 submission wins."

Guida thought he broke Gugerty early in the second but admitted that he was a handful in the first. He pointed out that Gugerty had him in two tight guillotine chokes and he was also in jeopardy for a split second when his opponent came close to locking on a triangle choke. 

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – During Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" Eliot Marshall appeared to have all the goods to become a solid UFC fighter in the light heavyweight division. But you walked away thinking is the guy aggressive enough to take advantage of a very solid skill set? Again tonight we got the answer, it doesn’t look like it. Marshall fighting 39-year-old Vladimir Matyushenko, never went on the attack and never attempted a takedown, allowing "The Janitor" to pull out a split decision victory, 30-27, 30-27 and 28-29.

Marshall’s approach was shocking considering he was given the opportunity to fight close to his hometown of Boulder, Colo. Marshall even crowed about fighting less than a mile from his home and that this was going to be the best night of his life. Instead he allowed Matyushenko to stand flat-footed in front of him and walk straight forward for 15 minutes.  

This was the second time Marshall produced a fight that infuriated the fans in attendance. He had a real stinker against fellow TUF 8 cast member Vinny Magalhaes at UFC 97.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Duane Ludwig can’t get a break. The journeyman finally got his chance to comeback with the world’s biggest promotion and lasted just 44 seconds with Darren Elkins. This was on the heels of getting submitted in less than three minutes by Jim Miller at UFC 108 in early January.

Elkins went for a double-leg takedown. Ludwig tried to brace his fall with his left leg but his ankle got pinned underneath the two fighters. The finish was anticlimactic as Ludwig tapped immediately. When Elkins rose to his feet, it appeared the left ankle was facing in the wrong direction.

It may have been a dislocation but UFC sources suggested the ankle injury could be career threatening for the 31-year-old Ludwig (19-10, 2-2 UFC). Ludwig won UFC fights in 2003 and 2006. It was Elkins’ UFC debut.

UPDATE: Several reports have come in via Twitter that
Ludwig’s ankle was popped back into place. We’ll get more updates
during the postfight. 

UPDATE II: After speaking with member of Ludwig’s camp, MMAWeekly is reporting that Ludwig did suffer a bad ankle break:

His camp later confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Ludwig suffered a severe break to
his ankle. The full extent of the injury isn’t clear at this time, but he will
visit a specialist on Monday to verify the severity of the injury and determine
the appropriate steps for recovery.

The members of his camp are fairly
certain that he will require surgery, but will await Monday’s examination to
determine the next course of action

"I felt him tap so I knew something was wrong. Then I seen on the big screen that his leg was snapped" Elkins told UFC.com. "It sucks to win a fight like this. I wanted to put on a show. It’s an unfortunate event but these things happen in fighting all the time."  

It’s a safe guess that the fight won’t be shown as a filler match during the Versus telecast set to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – John Howard and Brendan Schaub just matched brutal finishes in what are probably going to be the two strongest candidates for the UFC’s bonus, knockout of the night. It took Schaub just 47 seconds to turn in his spectacular finish but it was Howard who put a bigger hurting on his opponent. 

UPDATE: Howard did receive one of the three $50,000 KO of the night bonuses. Schaub was passed over for Junior Dos Santos and Jon Jones.

Howard may struggle a bit with ground artists but he possesses one
thing all fighters thirst for — finishing power. Daniel Roberts was
doing a nice job of outgrappling Howard in the early going but made one mistake and it
cost him. After struggling on the bottom for the first 90 seconds of
the fight, Howard finally gained top control. Roberts tried to kick off
Howard but whiffed and the Bostonian responded with a thudding left. It
appeared to knock Roberts stiff. Referee Tom Johnson was slow to jump
in and Howard landed two more huge lefts before the stoppage.

"He
was waiting for me to pass and I saw his face open," Howard told
UFC.com. "My left hook, it’s my baby and boom. Hit him in the chin, he
was out. I just going until the ref pulled me off." 

After a long delay, Howard finally spoke with UFC analyst Joe
Rogan, as Roberts was still being tended to in the cage. It was still
another four minutes after everyone left the Octagon that Roberts got
to his feet and walked back to the locker rooms. He still had a dazed
look on his face and was assisted by two people as he walked gingerly.

Schaub fell short in the Season 10 finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" so he definitely had a point to prove fighting in front of the hometown fans. Any questions about his status as a prospect were answered quickly against fellow prospect Chase Gormley. Schaub, giving away a little size at 6-feet-4, 245 pounds, gave Gormley zero breathing room from the get go. He stormed across the cage and let his hands go. Schaub got off dozens of punches and it seemed like he landed all of them. The final flurry started with a upper cut as Schaub held Gormley’s head. Then a right floored the big guy. Five more shots on the ground and referee Adam Martinez jumped in to stop at 0:47 of the first. 

"I felt like I needed to jump on him early. He’s a grinder," the 27-year-old Schaub told UFC.com. "He’s won three or four fights by decision. That’s not my style. I will never go to decision. When I saw that he was hurt, I just stayed on him." 

Schaub, a former fullback at Colorado, and a native of nearby Aurora wasn’t going to lose in front of his friends and family.

"I didn’t matter who Dana White and [matchmaker] Joe Silva matched me up with. My hometown in Denver, wow that’s a lot to handle. I was coming firing on all cylinders. I know I’e got the power in my hands. I feel like I can compete with anyone in the world." 

Schaub tried to fight in a more calculated fashion against Roy Nelson in that TUF 10 Finale and paid for it when he got caught with a punch behind the right ear. He didn’t make that mistake on this night. It’s clear his work with top heavyweight Shane Carwin is paying off. It didn’t appear Schaub was giving away anything in the strength department against Gormley, who’s walk around weight is 290.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Maybe the altitude will be a huge factor tonight. Jason Brilz and Eric Schafer are way too experienced to suffer the stamina issues they did in the opening fight of UFC on Versus 1. Brilz had a little more in the gas tank and won via unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards.

"I knew it would be tough up here in the altitude so my conditioning was top notch. and I think his was too it was just that we went at it that first round. I just had a little more in the tank, I guess," Brilz told UFC.com. 

Schafer’s pedigree and resume is better than Brilz but it appeared he punched himself out in the opening round. The Wisconsinite really had Brilz hurt after he landed an uppercut with two minutes left in the round. Schafer wailed away with slow but effective punches and got it to the ground but he never got into a dominant position where he could show off his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In the final two rounds, Brilz (18-2-1, 3-1 UFC) simply had more energy and when it went to the ground, he usually had top control.

Schafer (11-5-2, 3-4 UFC) has now lost two straight. Will he get another chance in the UFC? This is already his second chance with the promotion. 

Pierce slams his way to second UFC win

Julio Paulino made the trek from his Alaska fighting roots but it wasn’t productive on this night in the second bout at UFC on Versus 1. Mike Pierce landed the heavier shots on the feet and then double-legged Paulino whenever he wanted on his way to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three cards.

Paulino looked to have good size at welterweight but his takedown defense was shaky. His standup was also slow. Pierce’s best shot of the fight came with three minutes left in the second when he stopped Paulino in his tracks. He elected to take the fight back to the ground instead of going for the kill via standup.  

Pierce (11-3, 2-1 UFC) was close to pulling off a huge upset in his last fight against Jon Fitch at UFC 107. He looks like another nice prospect in a stacked division.

Cagewriter’s got you covered for all the MMA tonight and Monday morning. UFC debuts on Versus from Broomfield, Co. The card is headlined by Jon Jones and Brandon Vera. We’re cageside from bout No. 1 through the main event.

In the middle of the morning DREAM rolls out another card featuring Joachim Hansen against Bibiano Fernandes along with Josh Barnett and K.J. Noons.

DREAM 13 lineup (Courtesy Bloody Elbow):
Bibiano
Fernandes (7-2) vs. Joachim Hansen
(19-8-1) -DREAM featherweight title
Josh
Barnett (24-5) vs. Siala "Mighty Mo"
Siliga (3-1) -Heavyweight
K.J. Noons (7-2)
vs. Andre "Dida"
Amado (6-3-1) – Lightweight
Ryo Chonan (16-10) vs.
Andrews
Nakahara (2-1) – Welterweight
Yoshiro Maeda
(26-7-2) vs. Cole
Escovedo (15-4) – Featherweight
Katsunori
Kikuno (12-2-2) vs. Kuniyoshi
Hironaka (16-6) – Lightweight
Ikuhisa Minowa
(44-30-8) vs. Jimmy
Ambriz (14-12-1)

The UFC definitely put together a fight fans’ card tonight on Versus. The top three  fights shouldn’t have any stalling or attempts to grind out a victory. There’s always a chance, in spite of what he says before the fight, that Brandon Vera will take a methodical approach. That probably won’t be allowed now that it appears Jon Jones has some extra motivation. Jones lost his cool a bit during yesterday’s weigh-in, saying he doesn’t like Vera. There’s little chance the two big heavyweight fights are grinders. If the Gabriel Gonzaga-Junior Dos Santos fight does hit the deck, "Napao" has been a guy who works for nasty submissions. 

UFC on Versus 1 betting odds (Courtesy Venetian Resort Hotel Casino): 

Brandon Vera (+210) v. Jon Jones (-270) – Light heavyweight
Every one respects Jones and his upside but this number is ridiculous. Vera has the complete package and has never been dominated in the cage. Randy Couture couldn’t throw him around so there’s little chance Jones will. On the feet, the more composed Vera should have the advantage. Based on how dominant he’s been, Jones should be the favorite, but there’s too much value on the side of Vera to pass up. Las Vegas bettors agree. The line has come down 70 cents.
PICK: VERA +210

Gabriel Gonzaga (+220) v. Junior Dos Santos (-300) – Heavyweight

Here’s another case where the price is too rich. Dos Santos is the pick because of his power. Gonzaga was KO’d by Shane Carwin so his chin can be had. He’s also had cases in the past of bailing on fights once he got into trouble. If Gonzaga fights with a smart approach he can pull off the upset but when have we seen Gonzaga do anything but slug in the past?
PICK: DOS SANTOS -300

Paul Buentello (+325) v. Cheick Kongo (-450) – Heavyweight

Don’t judge the books by their covers. Kongo always looks like a beast but he’s coming off a bad loss against Frank Mir. And the problem wasn’t on the ground. It started on the feet where Mir launched Kongo across the cage with a big left. I get the feeling Kongo will avoid banging it out with Buentello and get it to the ground. That would be the wise approach since Buentello’s best chance is to land a huge bomb. With the four-ounce gloves I’ll take my chances on the big price on Buentello.
PICK: BUENTELLO +325

Alessio Sakara (+125) v. James Irvin (-155) – Middleweight
Someone is getting knocked out here. Irvin has never had a UFC match go to a decision and it’s only happened twice in 20 career fights. Sakara is 4-4 with the promotion with just two fights going the distance. Sakara is the side for a couple of reasons. Irvin hasn’t fought in nearly two years, more importantly where will his stamina be? Irvin is dropping to 185 for the first time and looked very gaunt during yesterday’s weigh-in.
PICK: SAKARA +125

Shannon Gugerty (+210) v. Clay Guida (-270) – Lightweight
Gugerty’s UFC streak should be snapped here. The San Diegan has had all four of his UFC fights end via submission. Guida really isn’t a submission guy so that means Gugerty will have to pull the big upset to keep the streak alive. Unless you’re talking about him facing a top five lightweight it’s tough to pick against Guida. His pace is too high and his ability to get the fight to the ground scores with judges.
PICK: GUIDA -270

Eliot Marshall (+130) v. Vladimir Matyushenko (-160) – Light Heavyweight
Can someone pull Eliot Marshall out of his shell? The kid has a well-rounded game capped by a nasty submission game but he always seems concerned about pacing himself. We’re not sure "The Janitor" is the guy to do it. Matyushenko can be pretty calculating as well. We’ll roll with the mild upset hoping that Marshall pushes the pace and gets it to the ground.
PICK: MARSHALL +130

Daniel Roberts (+220) v. John Howard (-300) – Welterweight

Chase Gormley (Even) v. Brendan Schaub (-130) – Heavyweight
Julio Paulino (+280) v. Mike Pierce (-360) – Welterweight

Eric Schafer (+130) v. Jason Brilz (-160) – Light heavyweight

Duane Ludwig (-115) v. Darren Elkins (-115) -Welterweight

Check out Bloody Elbow for selections on all the fights. 

Jon Jones has been unflappable to this point in his young UFC career. The kid is only 22 years old and carries himself in and out of the cage like he’s had 15 fights with the promotion. There’s always a calm about him. That was until today when showed a little too much emotion during the weigh-in for his fight against Brandon Vera. Jones got in Vera’s face prompting UFC president Dana White to separate the fighters. Jones was still bouncing off the walls during a quickie interview with UFC analyst Joe Rogan.

Is there reason to worry about Jones? Is the pressure finally getting him? Jones said he’s fine, it’s just that Vera rubs him the wrong way. 

"I’m not overwhelmed. I just really don’t like Brandon as a person," Jones told Cagewriter shortly after the weigh-inl. "I just think he’s disrespectful. I think he’s arrogant. I think he’s full of himself."

Jones (9-1, 4-1 UFC) admitted it was a good lesson to learn. 

"I guess I let his arrogance get under my skin a little bit. It’s just a learning experience. In the future I’ll deal with talkers better."

Jones said a lot of the anger stems from the way Vera has spoken during the prefight. 

"I’m finding a lot with Brandon, he has a lot to say with Mr. Jones. ‘Mr. jones is the second coming of Jesus Christ’ or ‘he hasn’t been kicked by me.’"

Vera (11-4, 7-4 UFC) does have a point. Jones was barely touched by guys like Matt Hamill, Stephan Bonnar and Jake O’Brien. Maybe that’s a sign of how good Jones is? 

"I’m sure every opponent I’ve ever fought wanted to hit me. To say that I haven’t been yet that’s not my problem. All these guys really wanted to hit me and they weren’t able to land anything real devastating." 

Jones admitted the weigh-in was probably a good test run for some of the emotions he feel tomorrow night just before the bout starts at UFC on Versus 1 in Broomfield, Co. 

The UFC is calling its debut card on Versus, "the best event in free television history." That’s an argument for after the card. One thing for sure, there’s a lot at stake in several fights and you could feel the energy during the weigh-in at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Co.

The normally reserved Jon Jones was fired up, got in Brandon Vera’s face and forced UFC president Dana White to play the role of security guard (1:33 mark). Jones was so fired up as he leered at Vera that he could barely put a sentence together with UFC analyst Joe Rogan. A Jones win and he vaults himself into the top six or seven at light heavyweight. A victory by Vera moves him right back into the mix for a shot at the title.

The same goes at heavyweight where the red hot Junior Dos Santos tries to keep his pain train rolling against Gabriel Gonzaga. Gonzaga (pictured with a mean stare in the middle) was the bigger fighter at 255 while Dos Santos looked trim at 238.

The oddest site of the day was James Irvin (pictured on the right). He was a big light heavyweight, now he’s trying middleweight. He was 198 pounds on Friday, today he made weight but he looked very thin in his face. We’ll have to see if it affects his stamina or power against Alessio Sakara. Speaking of skinny, Paul Buentello (pictured on the left) looked much thinner down at 246 instead of the 255 he fought at durign UFC 107. 

UFC on Versus weigh-in (weights courtesy MMA Junkie):

Televised card:
Jon Jones (206) vs. Brandon Vera (204)
Junior Dos Santos (238) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (255)
Paul Buentello (246) vs. Cheick Kongo (237)
James Irvin (185) vs. Alessio Sakara (185)

Non-televised card:
Shannon Gugerty (155) vs. Clay Guida (155)
Eliot Marshall (204) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (205)
Darren Elkins (155) vs. Duane Ludwig (155)
John Howard (170) vs. Daniel Roberts (169)
Chase Gormley (265) vs. Brendan Schaub (245)
Julio Paulino (170) vs. Mike Pierce (170)
Jason Brilz (205) vs. Eric Schafer (205)

He’s been labeled by some as the most cursed fighter in UFC history. James Irvin probably wouldn’t argue after dealing multiple freak injuries in and out of the Octagon. The injuries became the least of his worries when he got hooked on prescription pain killers. That’s a big problem. Those pain killers aren’t allowed by state commissions. Adding insult to injury, Irvin was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, when he was nabbed after a 2008 loss to Anderson Silva. It all served as a wakeup call for Irvin, who quietly checked himself into rehab.

Irvin says he clean now and the UFC obviously holds the banger in high regard. Attempting a return at middleweight, he’s been matched nicely against fellow slugger Alessio Sakara. Plus Irvin is on the televised portion of the card in Broomfield, Colorado. That’s pretty impressive considering Clay Guida, who just lost a fight that may have gotten him a title shot at lightweight, is on the non-televised portion of the card. 

If there ever was trap fight, this is it for John Howard. The UFC welterweight was primed to face Anthony Johnson in Denver at UFC of Versus 1. Even three months out, the trash talk was reaching awesome levels. Then Johnson injured his knee and in stepped the unknown Daniel Roberts. Cagewriter caught up with Howard on the day before he weighs in. He says he’s focused on Roberts but there was still plenty of Johnson talk