UFC on Versus 1 is on this Sunday, a questionable move by the UFC considering how few people subscribe to Versus as compared to a network like CBS. In Canda this event will also be shown on SportsNet and TheScore. This card seems irrelevant, and it is, but there’s some great fights here which will provide the standing wars that so many fans love.
Brandon Vera vs Jon Jones : Great job by Joe Silva making this fight happen, these guys are more evenly matched than the betting lines might suggest. Jon Jones is almost a 3-1 favorite to win this fight even though Vera is the more experienced fighter. It will be interesting to see exactly how this fight plays out because Vera is the more technical striker while Jones is more unorthodox and unpredictable. Either style could trump the other but I tend to lean toward the cleaner and more disciplined technique in the end. Jones has the wrestling and Judo advantages while Vera has the more dangerous clinch and submission game. It could be argued that Vera has the advantage because of his experience but Jones has incredible speed and athleticism to counter balance that. This is such a tough call because anywhere this fight goes it will be close and anything can happen. I like both these guys but I think Vera pulls off the upset by split decision.
Winner : Brandon Vera
Junior dos Santos vs Gabriel Gonzaga : dos Santos has looked great lately but he’s been facing nothing but strikers, most of which are past their prime. Gonzaga has been hit-and-miss of late and his conditioning could be suspect considering we haven’t seen him go past the 1st round in his past 4 fights. Gonzaga needs to get the top position to work his strikes and submissions if he stands any chance of winning this fight. Other than being on his back underneath Gabe Gonzaga, anywhere else this fight takes place will favor dos Santos who will be looking to sprawl and brawl his way to victory. I’m picking dos Santos by KO.
Winner : Junior dos Santos
Cheick Kongo vs Paul Buentello : This is Kongo’s fight to lose and he always looks strongest when facing another striker. Coming off 2 straight losses to Velasquez and Mir, Kongo needs a win here and he won’t get a better chance than this from the UFC. Buentello didn’t look great in his first fight back with the UFC, but he demonstrated that he’s still dangerous on his feet. Conditioning is something that plagues both the fighters and we will likely see this fight go to the score cards. I suspect Kongo will land more strikes while Buentello will land the harder strikes which will lead “the Headhunter” to another decision loss.
Winner : Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara vs James Irvin : This one shouldn’t last too long considering both these guys like to throw down and neither has a great chin. Sakara has an accomplished boxing game but it’s worked against him during his MMA career considering he’s not exactly the toughest guy in the division. He’s been knocked out in the 1st round by Chris Leben, Houston Alexander and Drew McFedries. James Irvin has been out of action for almost 2 years since his brutal KO loss to Anderson Silva with a recurring knee injury which forced him out of 2 scheduled UFC bouts so far. Even with his ring rust, I believe that Irvin’s power and Muay Thai will be too much for Sakara and his Boxing to overcome. If all else fails Irvin could still take the fight to the mat to score points and control position using his superior wrestling. Although I have a feeling Sakara is going to sleep withing the 1st round.
Winner : James Irvin
So lets hear it, who are you picking? Also, dont forget to get your picks in at the playground.
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Amber
eric
capt.ADK'er
Yael Grauer
itzFORT
Singh is King
Fizzlesticks
WTFH
Studog
GUYS
dos santos is done for.1st round ko GONZAGA
jon jones 2nd round ko
kongo 1st round ko
irvin 1st round ko
Richard, don’t get your hopes up about Gonzaga just yet. After this fight dos Santos will likely be facing a strong wrestler next and all your dreams will come true hehe.
Brandon Vera vs Jon Jones : Brandon is too cautious, he doesn’t land enough strikes cleanly these days, and when pressured shrinks back. Jon Jones has handled other “seasoned” veteran fighters recently, Hamill and Bonner come to mind. I believe this will be a nasty UD if not TKO in favor of Jon Jones.
Winner: Jon Jones
Junior dos Santos vs Gabriel Gonzaga : Gabriel Gonzaga is the more seasoned fighter here, but Santos has a better corner and camp, and is looking confident and nearly indestructable right now. Gonzaga could take this via submission if he can get Santos to the ground, but I don’t see that happening, but rather another KO loss for Gabriel, ending in the second round.
Winner: Junior do Santos
Cheick Kongo vs Paul Buentello: This is a decent matchup, I see it going to unanimous decision and Cheick is the more fluid and cardio prone fighter so I believe he takes the UD.
Winner: Cheick Kongo
Alessio Sakara vs James Irvin: Alessio Sakara has looked less than impressive lately however James Irvin, (I think I remember that guy) hasn’t exactly been in a cage lately.. much less competed. Ring rust effects EVERYONE, looks at what happened with Shogun V Forrest, which I attribute to knee injury, (sound familiar here) and ring rust cardio, (another familiar undertone here)? So Alessio Sakara takes this via UD.
Winner: Alessio Sakara
That’s a good point about Irvin Kansas. It’s not exactly the same scenario as Shogun but it’s pretty damn close. Shogun was out of competition for about 11 months and Irvin has been out for 20 months. I think the main difference is that Irvin has had enough time to heal up in this case so hopefully his knee wont be a problem, especially considering this will probably be a standing fight. But I agree there could very well be an upset brewing here considering how long he’s been out.
BV
i was 100% right on this card .. you were at 50% .. :) maybe you should enlist help next time or use common sense.. who actually thought that Alessio would lose to Irvin? Or Vera would beat Jon Jones?
KANSAS u might of got every one correct but i got 75 points putting me in first place for this event…….
lol Kansas, actually i went 7-4 on this card, came in 3rd in our camp at the playground hehe. Also, everyone in the fight camp picked Irvin except 2 people so I don’t think it was a ridiculous pick. As for Vera, you never picked an underdog before? I just saw the fight playing out differently.
Oh and I dont think you can say your 100% until you start making picks at the playground man hehe. Because I’ve had many events that actually were 100% for picking the winning fighter, I dont think you ever have KanMan ;)
Im talking about your post on this site.. you know that.. but I will let you talk your stuff man because you need to save face .. lol ..
Mark my words.. Jon Jones will be LHW champ within 24 months .. Guaranteed ..
Richard, I gotta give you props man, you KILLED this event, how the hell did you pick Elkins?? lol
By the way Kansas, how was your training this weekend?
Terrible, the weather was aweful, it snowed and iced so it was cancelled .. I went down and almost didn’t make it back Sunday … thanks for asking anyways .. lol .. oh and my government passed a bill with unfunded mandates so my taxes just got hiked by about 10% and I am still paying top premiums for healthcare .. but the good news is my welfare receipiant neighbor just got healthcare vouchers courtesy of me .. now I am broke and he has everything he needs.. life couldn’t be better :)
Should be a good event. I’ll be there live so it will be that much better. Jones should handle Vera pretty easily. JDS will KO Gonzaga as he thinks he’s a stand up fighter lately. I’ll take Kongo over Paul and I think Irvin and Sakara will end in a first round KO in favor of Irvin. I’m alredy pumped can’t wait till this Sunday.
Mad, how do you see Vera vs Jones ending? have fun at the event man, there’s also a few good undercard fights for you to enjoy that night.
I’ll try and send in some more pics from the event. The fighter are pretty cool and the venue’s not that big so I should be able to get some more good ones.
Talking about the undercard, how is Guida fighting Shannon Gugerty? after Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, how do they figure that he should fight Gugerty? Huge step down in competition, I think it’s just to stop Guida from getting 3 losses in a row so they don’t have to cut him from the roster. Everyone likes Guida and he deserves to stick around but he seems to be getting special treatment unlike many other good fighters (better than Guida) who get cut, like Neer.
i never know why they cut guys like neer but pick up guys like baroni?????????
I think Jones will try his luck on the feet for a bit then take Vera down and outclass him on the mat. Vera has lost his killer instinct lately and Jones in on a tear. Yea, I’ll be there for all the undercard fights sometimes they are the best ones plus I have a couple friends fighting. I’ll send some pictures like I did from the last event here in Colorado. Elliot Marshall is one of my BJJ coaches and Ludwig teaches kick boxing at my academy so it will be cool to see some friend go to war. All the guys from the gym will be there to cheer them on.
MAD, you gotta throw up some pics man, I want to go so bad to a UFC event, they are never close enough to make a trek without $600 worth of plane tickets involved .. lol .. I need to move and be MMAVegas.. lol
It’s not that far of a drive from Kansas to Colorado. I have a big house so you would be welcome to stay there and attend the fight if you want. Tickets are still available.
Thanks MAD – really dude – I will be training at West Side MMA this weekend so no can do, but again man, that’s a really nice offer.
No problem Kansas, we’ve all been on this site a long time and would consider you all my friends even though we have never met. Have fun training
Hey guys, Q & A today at 4pm est, then the weigh ins at 6. Both on the UFC silverlight player.
http://www.ufc.com/live/
Good night of fights. I know it probably didn’t make the live broadcast but Brendan threw a beating on Chase, it was probably the best fight of the night. I feel bad for Bang Ludwig man, I’m sure they won’t show it but he was defending a takedown in the first minute of the fight and fell back with his opponent on him and snapped his ankle bad. The reply was painful to watch. He’s probably done fighting in the UFC and maybe completely. Junior hits like a truck, the heavy weight division better watch out. With that kind of power if he connects clean he can KO anyone in the division. Good to see Guida get back on track. He was stuck in a couple bad spots but fought his way out. Ended up getting a nice head and arm choke for the win. Jones is a bad man. He took Vera down with ease. You could hear the elbow he connected on Vera throughout the arena. The guys a tough match up for anyone right now. At the rate he is developing he’s going to be hard to beat. He should get increasingly tougher fights from here on out.