Top prospects Jon Jones and Junior dos Santos continued to climb up their respective divisions on Sunday, each scoring first round knockouts at “UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones.”
Jones dominated fellow light heavyweight Brandon Vera in the main event of the UFC’s Versus debut in Broomfield, Colorado, tossing the former heavyweight standout to the ground before going on the offensive from the top position and ultimately connecting with a hard elbow near Vera’s eye that was the beginning of the end.
With a likely facial fracture, Vera immediately covered up and Jones landed several more strikes before the referee stepped in to stop the contest.
The 22-year-old Jones improves to 9-1 with the most-impressive victory of his young career, rebounding from a controversial DQ loss to Matt Hamill, while Vera, who lost a point due to an illegal upkick earlier in the first, falls to 11-5 after suffering his second straight loss.
In the UFC on Versus 1 co-headliner, the upcoming knockout artist dos Santos continued his run of impressive victories, earning a first-round KO of fellow heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga. After a tentative start, dos Santos countered a Gonzaga kick, flooring the fellow Brazilian before followed him to the ground and finishing him with powerful ground and pound.
With the win, dos Santos improved to 11-1, with stoppages in all five of his UFC bouts, and a showdown with fellow contender Cain Velasquez is likely ahead, while Gonzaga will look to bounce back after dropping two of his last three fights.
Also on the main card, Cheick Kongo roughed up Paul Buentello, eventually forcing the veteran heavyweight to submit to the punishment early in the third, while Alessio Sakara spoiled James Irvin’s middleweight debut, connecting with a punch to the eye in the first that ended Irvin’s night early.
Relegated to the evening’s preliminary card, popular lightweight Clay Guida rebounded from back-to-back losses with an arm triangle submission of Shannon Gugerty, while first-round knockouts by John Howard and Brendan Schaub also highlighted the prelims.
The undercard also included decision win for Vladimir Matyushenko, Mike Pierce, and Jason Brilz, while an ankle injury ended Duane “Bang” Ludwig’s night early, giving Darren Elkins a victory in his UFC debut.
The complete results for “UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones” were:
MAIN CARD
- Jon Jones def. Brandon Vera via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:19
- Junior Dos Santos def. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:53
- Cheick Kongo def. Paul Buentello via submission (strikes) – Round 3, 1:16
- Alessio Sakara def. James Irvin via TKO (punch to eye) – Round 1, 3:01
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Clay Guida def. Shannon Gugerty via submission (arm triangle) – Round 2, 3:42
- Vladimir Matyushenko def. Eliot Marshall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Darren Elkins def. Duane “Bang” Ludwig via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 0:44
- John Howard def. Daniel Roberts via KO (punch) – Round 1, 2:01
- Brendan Schaub def. Chase Gormley via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:47
- Mike Pierce def. Julio Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jason Brilz def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Pictured: Jon Jones
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That Jon Jones has some bad bad elbows, overall it was a good night of fights for FREE…
Probably the strangest night of fights … Irvin quits? Buentello did somethin to his finger? john howard got like 5 hits on an unconscious opponent? and bandon vera got hit in the eye? I thought fighters knew beforehand that getting hit in the face was part of the gig !
Definitely some odd happenings:
- Irvin had to quit because of the eye injury, which he likely thought was from a poke. The call was right, but had he known it was legal he might have tried to continue fighting.
- If Buentello dislocated his finger, the fight should have been called then. It seemed like a dislocation, but perhaps it was caused by equipment, which is why it was re-started.
- Howard definitely got in some unnecessary shots, and it just shows why refs need to be able to be in proper position and react quickly.
- Vera got his by his eye, and likely suffered a fractured orbital, but everything was perfectly legal w/ the finish.
And I’m thinking that these “odd happenings” aren’t exactly what either the UFC or Versus had in mind for their first event…
- I agree that if Irvin had realized it was a punch he may have tried to continue.
-Buentello dislocated his finger, but then relocated it himself. The doctors checked it and said it was back in. Had the doc been the one to relocate it, the fight would have ended, but because Buentello did it himself it was allowed to continue. Definitely a strange series of events, though.
-Jones his Vera’s “quit” button, and most likely did fracture his orbital with a clearly legal blow.
I agree with one person I read on Twitter (sorry for not correctly assigning this quote, I don’t remember who said it) the real stars tonight were Herb Dean and Josh Rosenthall, who had a tough night but did an excellent job of officiating, overall.
Justin: It was Ariel Helwani.
bsbiz,
Yes, that’s the tweet, thank you. I couldn’t remember if it was him or m3mma. I thought it better to say I couldn’t remember than wrongly attribute it, and I was tired so I lacked the motivation to do the research to find out who it was.
the ufc has definately been good to mma fans, got a ppv next week then a fight night a few days after.
dont forget about the new TUF season starting after the florian fight
The fights were ok. The problem was that they were all one sided. There was no close fight. Closes fight was Dos Santos but even then you knew Dos Santos was in command.
Gonzaga’s kick attempt was not smart enough! In fact very stupid for a pro fighter.
Guess you scored perfect on the UFC Fantasy and the MMAPlayground sites???
Jk, but yeah they definitely were mostly lopsided, with only a few upsets. Seems like i over analyzed and didn’t do too well on my picks.
Do you all think Vera will be let go? or will they Give him Matt Hammil then fire who ever loses that fight?
Even Hammil lose, he is not gonna be cut coz he had win over Jon jones anyway.
That’s a joke, right? He drops a very close decision to Randy and a fight with the hottest LHW in the UFC and you want him dropped? And Hamill? His last loss was to Rich Franklin in September ’08. Do you even know how to type names into Google?
Why should they type names into Google when they have you to gently and compassionately guide them in the ways of the MMA force??
:)
Vera hasnt put together any wins. As for Hamil i like him a lot but he hasnt improved his game.. And was stupid in the Franklin fight trying to stand up and bang with him. So Dbiz u can say what u want about my spelling it dont make u good at MMA Science.
@ jdubb – just as an f y i, from my experience dbiz is actually pretty decent at “MMA science”…
;)
jcohl lets look at facts for Brandon Vera… He lost to Tim Sylvia also got his butt kicked by Werdum (both r no longer in the UFC). Then inches by Reese Andy (also no longer in the UFC). Then a loss to K. Jardine. Then the ufc gives him spoon fed win Michael Patt (fights once in UFC then gone). And the fight with Krzysztof Soszynski both of them didnt not look that good..
If Sos would have faught the way he did with bonner i think Vera would have lost. Then you add the fact he lost to Randy who we all know is the badest man on the planet and if you dont prepare for him you will lose.
Last point Vera has has faught 8 times since 2007 and has lost 5 of them 3 – 5 and we have to agree that most the fights were not against the best the UFC has to offer. thus my reasoning with Vera.
very nice night of fights got to see 3 dominant finishes in dos santos, jones, and howard. and also got to see 2 wierd stoppages wit buentello tapping out after getting worked over for 10+ mins(i saw it happen but even now saying it feels wierd…) and irvin getting his eye poked by a fist. irvin may have looked like a crackhead on sat but he sure didnt fight like one tonight. i cant remember the katt williams joke that went wit that but it had something to do wit a crackhead not staying down when u hit him
Interesting that no one mention when Jon Jones got illegally kicked by Vera, Herb put them back in the position that they were in prior to the kick. That is something you rarely see in US MMA. I’m very glad it happen and hopefully it will continue.
I was surprised that Herb Dean gave him the option by asking him if he wanted to go back to the same position. I don’t know if this was the rule or not but thought it was good. And I have to echo others sentiments that the refs were outstanding last night (other than the Howard fight were he got in one more punch than he should have. But the ref may have had a bad angle and didn’t see he was out).
Vera should have attempted the armbar fedor style when he had the chance. Irvin looked terrible and had no chance even if he wanted to continue in that fight. Very poor officiating in the Howard fight. I feel sorry for the guy he fought. Dos santos looked awewsome n his fight and I believe will maul valesquez if they fight. Congo came in with a perfect gameplan.
The utter faulire of Vera’s BJJ is being discussed on multiple threads both here at the main page and over at the forum. There seems to be no explanation, other than that Vera was overwhelmed by Jones’ superior speed and strength, not to mention his unique skillset.
Its a shame that it would be wholly inappropriate for Dana White to cut a check for “Ref of the Night”, but both Herb Dean Josh Rosenthal did an exemplary job of keeping the lid on what was a night of in-cage oddities…
I dont believe the UFC pays the Refs. I think they get paid by the Athletic Commissions
I know, Brent, I was just goofing that guys like Dean and Rosenthal really did a standout job Sunday night…
I agress 100%. If only Steve and Yves and Cecil could learn from them ;)
dos santos vs velasquez
this fight has to happen. if either of these 2 fighters fought anyone else besides eachother it would be a step down in competition. i hope this fight happens at 116 on the same card as lesnar vs mir/carwin
Dos santos proved like he has for awhile he needs bigger fights. dos santos vs valasquez would be a great fight because the winner could face the winner of lesnar vs (mir vs carwin),Vera got destroyed 3 facial bones dang. Jones needs to face someone big next too maybe bisping
bisping is rumored to be fighting miller. but i havent heard of anything about thiago silva and that would be a big stepup for mr jones. i think very possible as well with silvas loss to evans. that fight would be sick.
also bisping is at 185 derrrrr