UFC’s first event televised on the Versus network took place in Broomfield, Colorado – the home state of the first UFC event held back in 1993. Zuffa – UFC’s parent company – has been frequently using the Versus network to broadcast WEC events. For a period of time, a dispute between DirecTV and Comcast (the owners of Versus) kept the network off the screens of DirecTV subscribers. The dispute was resolved just in time for this event, allowing the first UFC on Versus to be broadcast to a wider audience.
Besides the network change, the other notable theme of this event was a reunion of the previous class of UFC’s heavyweights: Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheik Kongo, and the presently light-heavyweight Brandon Vera. All three fighters began their UFC careers within a year of each other, and all have received a varying degree of hype early in their careers, but consistently underachieved. All three had a pivotal matchup lined up for them on this card.
Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin (185 lbs)
Round 1: Sakara is the aggressor early on, interchanging punch combinations with leg kicks. Irvin is tentative, defending and firing off an occasional leg kick. Sakara trips and falls while throwing a leg kick but gets up before Irvin has a chance to capitalize. Sakara lands a left hook and Irvin collapses, clutching his eye. Referee Josh Rosenthal pulls Sakara off before any more damage is done. Irvin complains about an eye poke but replay shows it was a clean punch that landed to the eye. After some hesitation, Rosenthal declares the bout a TKO victory for Sakara – the right call.
Aftermath: Alessio Sakara earns three consecutive wins for the first time in his UFC career. He should next take on the winner of the upcoming bout between Patrick Cote and Alan Belcher, or Vitor Belfort if he returns to action soon.
James Irvin looked completely flat in his first fight after a long layoff. Whether the cause was ring rust, a difficult cut for his first fight at 185 lbs, being gun-shy after his destruction at the hands of Anderson Silva, or a combination of all these factors, Irvin’s UFC career may be in jeopardy. Post-fight, the UFC President Dana White mentioned that if Irvin gets another chance, it will not be in the middleweight division.
Fight Grade: 2/5
Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello (HW)
Round 1: Buentello throws big punches after initial circling. Kongo backs Paul up with a combination, then takes him down next to the cage. Buentello uses the cage to scramble up but is taken down again immediately. Buentello with a kimura attempt from the bottom. Kongo knees to the body. Buentello escapes the ground and is holding his hand in pain. Referee Herb Dean halts the fight. It appears that Buentello either dislocated his pinkie finger, or the finger has become stuck inside the glove. After some fiddling with the finger and glove, Buentello and the ringside doctor proclaim that Paul is good to go and the fight is allowed to continue. Kongo takes him down again. They stall on the ground and Dean stands them up. Kongo stuns Buentello with punches and takes him down again as the round ends. Round 10-9 Kongo
Round 2: Kongo leads with leg kicks then trades punches with Buentello. Buentello fires back and gets taken down easily. Kongo works knees and punches to the body. Buentello figths his way back to the feet. Kongo lands knees, one of which connects to the head of Buentello, who still has one knee on the ground. It’s a foul and Herb Dean deducts a point from Kongo and gives Buentello time to recover from the illegal blow. They start back up and Buentello once again finds himself on the ground. Buentello turtles and attempts to stand up as Kongo punishes him with knees and elbows to the body. They clinch and Kongo lands several knees to the head. Buentello’s hand was touching the ground for at least one of the knees, but Dean rules that Buentello intentionally put his hand down to avoid strikes to the head, and does not deduct any points from Kongo this time around. Round 9-9 draw
Round 3: More of the same as Kongo gets an early takedown and hammers at the body and thighs of Buentello with elbow strikes. Buentello has had enough, and taps out.
Aftermath: Cheick Kongo reasserts his position in the UFC as a heavyweight gatekeeper who can put away mid-level fighters like Buentello but struggles with elite opponents. He should next take on Gabriel Gonzaga – a matchup that should have been long in the making. Paul Buentello falls to 0-2 since his return to the UFC, and is in danger of being cut from the organization.
Fight Grade: 3 2/5 1 point deduction for fouls and Buentello’s finger/glove issues.
Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (HW)
Round 1:The fighters circle each other tentatively, with no offense from either man in the first minute. Gonzaga finally scores with a leg kick and Dos Santos steps in with a punch to the body. Gonzaga takes Junior down but is unable to hold him there. Dos Santos with more body shots. They trade punches and high kicks, both fighters barely missing. Dos Santos’ punches are starting to find their target. Dos Santos counters a kick with a left hook that floors Gonzaga. Dos Santos stands over the fallen Gonzaga and tees off with both hands until Gabriel loses consciousness.
Aftermath: Junior Dos Santos is now 5-0 in the UFC, stopping every opponent on strikes. With this impressive record he is on the short list of heavyweight contenders. The next step would be an eliminator matchup between Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, with the winner to face the unified champion (Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, or Shane Carwin).
Gabriel Gonzaga lost what was most likely his final chance for title contention, and is now firmly stuck in the gatekeeper category. His next matchup should be against Cheick Kongo: both heavyweights are currently in the same unenviable position. It’s surprising that they haven’t yet met in the Octagon, considering that they have started their UFC careers around the same time and at times competed in a very shallow division.
Fight Grade: 4/5
John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts (170 lbs)
Round 1: Howard opens up with strikes and gets taken down quickly. He scrambles to his feet but Howard drags him down again, and looks to land strikes from the top. Howard pushes Roberts off and stands up, then takes Roberts down with a big slam. Howard stands up out of Roberts’ guard and delivers a huge flying punch that knocks Roberts unconscious. Referee is a bit slow to stop the fight and Roberts takes two unnecessary heavy punches in the meanwhile.
Aftermath: Previously undefeated UFC newcomer Daniel Roberts was a late replacement for the injured Anthony Johnson. Roberts fails to impress in his debut, landing near the bottom of the UFC’s welterweight division, and will likely have to face another newcomer or a lower-level welterweight next.
John Howard moves up to 4-0 in the Octagon, and earns the Knockout of the Night bonus (one of the three awarded in this event) in his first televised bout. Another big win may propel him towards a title shot. As there has been a lot of animosity and trash-talking between Howard and Anthony Johnson, it makes sense for the UFC to once again attempt to schedule a bout between the two.
Fight Grade: 4/5
Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera (205 lbs)
Round 1:Jones takes Vera down right off the bat. Vera plays wrist control from his guard, then pushes Jones off and pops up. Vera attempts to work in a few strikes but Jones slams him right back down to the mat. Vera lands an upkick to the mouth of Jones. Jones had one knee on the ground and so a foul is called and a point is deducted from Vera. Referee Herb Dean asks Jones if he would like to restart in the same position, and Jones eagerly agrees. Vera threatens from his guard but Jones lands a huge elbow to Vera’s eye socket that takes all the fight out of Brandon. Vera rolls over holding his eye, and Jones lands a few more strikes for the finish as Dean pulls him off Vera.
Aftermath: Jon Jones delivers his most impressive UFC performance to date, and still looks unstoppable. He should only be one win away from a title shot; however the light-heavyweight title picture is rather crowded at the moment. Rumor has it that Jones will take on Thiago Silva next while the top of the division sorts itself out as the champion Lyoto Machida rematches Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, and former champs Rashad Evans and Quinton ‘Rampage’ resolve their long-standing grudge.
Brandon Vera suffered multiple facial fractures from the elbow that ended the fight. It is not clear how soon he will be ready to return.
Fight Grade: 4/5
UFC’s debut on Versus had an excellent line-up and delivered decisive though one-side fights. Questionable refereeing in some of the fights was a mark on an otherwise solid event.