Jones, dos Santos dominate in UFC’s debut on Versus

Results

The belief that Jon “Bones” Jones is the future of the UFC light heavyweight division may not yet have been entirely confirmed, but his first round technical knockout victory over Brandon Vera at “UFC on Versus 1″ was certainly another step towards achieving the lofty expectations set before him.

Vera was matched up against Jones in the evening’s main event and was billed as the dynamic 205-pounder’s first big test against a fighter with name recognition. However, the only damage “The Truth” managed to put on his opponent was an illegal upkick to a downed Jones when “Bones” was in his guard.

A point was deducted, the fighters retook their respective positions, and just moments later Jones landed a vicious elbow that severely hurt Vera, who attempted to cover up and avoid any more damage. Herb Dean stepped in when Vera’s defense could no longer handle Jones, and the Greg Jackson student officially passed his biggest test to date with the first round technical knockout.

Jones’ knockout was brutal to say the least, but Junior dos Santos had a first round knockout of his own that was downright vicious. Countering a leg kick from jiu-jitsu ace Gabriel Gonzaga, who is a good striker in his own right, dos Santos landed a vicious left hand that floored his opponent. Gonzaga went to cover up and defend, but punch after punch got through during dos Santos’ display of hefty ground and pound. And that’s when everything went dark for Gonzaga, as “Cigano” picked up yet another knockout victory to add to his already devastating campaign through the UFC heavyweight division

In an earlier heavyweight affair, Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello faced the devastating kickboxer Cheick Kongo. However, Kongo did not utilize his striking background, taking the fight to the ground early and often.

After several stoppages, including a strange incident with Buentello’s pinky and an illegal knee courtesy of Kongo, the fight was over in the third round when “The Headhunter” tapped due to elbows, ending Kongo’s two-fight losing streak.

At the beginning of the evening’s live Versus broadcast, James “The Sandman” Irvin returned to the Octagon against Alessio Sakara. Irvin’s first fight at 185-pounds ended poorly when he fell to the ground after getting caught with a nice hook. He claimed to being poked in the eye, and while his eye did take a hit, the punch thrown by Sakara was completely legal. Instead of resuming the fight, referee Josh Rosenthal called the fight due to technical knockout in the very first round, giving Sakara another big victory.