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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Plenty of trash talk opens up the black and white sitdown interview clips, as Gabriel Gonzaga says "with small gloves and big guys, somebody's going out, and it's not going to be me." Then Jon Jones and Brandon Vera spouted off, with Vera warning Jones that if he continues to talk like he has been he'll be ending his career early.
Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan open up the broadcast to talk about the main event between Vera and Jones. They then run down the rest of the fights set for tonight's card.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT ONE: JAMES IRVIN VS. ALESSIO SAKARA (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Irvin said everyone's looking for this fight to be a bloodbath and everyone's expecting someone to get knocked out. But he says it won't be him. Sakara said he knows the UFC and the fans love a great knockout so that's what he wants to give them.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: Sakara takes the center and takes the first strike with a two punch combo. Sakara threw a kick and slipped, but Irvin didn't go after him and let him right back up. Irvin landed a leg kick. Sakara got in with a quick combo and then a spinning back fist. Nice left to a leg kick combo from Sakara. Irvin starts to walk Sakara down but he's not attacking. Sakara pushed him back. Sakara with a right. Irvin lands a good kick as he eats a punch. Sakara lands a couple of good body punches and then a really good left to Irvin's chin. Sakara gets in with an overhand right. Sakara with a body punch again. Irvin is moving slowly and getting picked apart. Sakara gets in and punches Irvin in the face and it hits Irvin right in the eye and he is hurting. He's struggling in the corner and says that he can't open his eye. That was a punch from Sakara and it just happened to hit Irvin in the eye, nothing illegal about that. Irvin's getting time that he shouldn't be allowed at this time because of the punch. The fight is being stopped and Sakara is getting the TKO win, as he should, but the crowd isn't happy with the finish of the fight. Josh Rosenthal was right on top of it and made the right call.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Sakara via TKO at 3:01 of the first round
STAR RATING: (*) It was an unfortunate way for the fight to finish, as it seemed tainted because Irvin thought he was poked, but it was a perfectly legal punch from Sakara that just happened to catch Irvin in the eye. Sakara was the only one doing anything in the fight to that point anyway.
RAMIFICATIONS: Irvin needs to stay at light heavyweight. He was drained from the weight cut and was moving very slowly until getting hit right in the eye by that punch from Sakara. Sakara has now won three straight fights, which is something he hasn't ever done in the UFC, so he'll be sticking around for awhile.
[Commercial Break]
-Joe Rogan interviews Shane Carwin cageside. Carwin said everyone dreams about getting the Title shot and his heart sinking when the fight with Lesnar was called off. He said he's excited about fighting Mir. He said he's a legend and he's excited for the opportunity.
FIGHT TWO: CHEICK KONGO VS. PAUL BUENTELLO (HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Kongo said he needs to give no mercy in this fight. Buentello says he learned a long time ago not to let a fight get to the judges. Kongo said he's going to kick Buentello's butt and that's it.
[Commercial Break]
-Mike Goldberg gives a promo for the NHL on Versus tomorrow night, and it takes me back to when Goldberg was the play-by-play voice of the Minnesota Wild here in Minnesota. Like him or not in the UFC, he was excellent in that job.
ROUND ONE: Buentello tries to shake and move up to Kongo and they trade a punch each. Kongo gets in close and pushes Buentello to the cage and tries to go for a double leg takedown. He stays on it and gets Buentello to the ground. Kongo tries to keep Buentello down and lands a couple of elbows to the body. Buentello gets back to his feet but Kongo picks him up and slams him. Kongo throws some short punches to the face. Buentello tries to work back up the cage again. Buentello tries to go for a kimura but then lets it go. Kongo stays on Buentello against the cage and lands a knee to the body while throwing some punches to the turtled Kongo. Buentello broke free but it appeared he injured a finger. The doctor's check on his finger and then he gets out and they restart the fight. Kongo lands a left. Kongo stalks Buentello to the cage. He lands a couple of shots and then drops for a double leg and gets the takedown. Kongo lands some body shots. Kongo is just controlling Buentello and then Herb Dean stands them up. Buentello slips as he comes in and Kongo ends the round with a flurry on the ground.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kongo. Not a whole lot to that round. Kongo got the takedowns but wasn't able to do much there.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Buentello lands a jab early and Kongo lands some kicks. Kongo pushes him to the cage and lands a flurry before dropping and getting Buentello to the ground again. He started landing punch after punch to the side of Buentello's head. Kongo lands some straight up and down elbows to the backside and gets a warning. Kongo lands a knee to the body and then lands one to the head before Buentello got back up and Kongo was given a warning as Buentello was allowed to recover. Buentello wants to keep going and they start things back up after Herb Dean takes a point from Kongo. Kongo goes back to pushing Buentello to the cage and he takes Buentello down again. He lands some knees to the body. Buentello gets to his feet and Kongo tagged him with a number of punches. He drops down again and gets another takedown. He works a little more on the ground and Buentello gets to his feet. Kongo's still got control and lands a few knees. Buentello drops a hand and Kongo hits him with a knee which causes another warning from Dean. Kongo gets him to the cage and he lands a bunch more shots and he's beating the hell out of Buentello. Joe Rogan just said Buentello's getting molested. Excellent. Kongo is beating Buentello, who is turtled now. Dean stands them up again. Kongo comes right back and lands a couple of shots and Buentello lands a right. Kongo lands some more shots against the cage as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 9-8 Kongo. Despite the point deduction Buentello's doing nothing in this fight.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: Kongo feints and lands a punch and then gets Buentello to the cage again and takes him down. He pulls him to the ground and lands some elbows to the thigh. He keeps landing the elbows as Buentello turtles up. He lands a few elbows to the thigh and Buentello taps to the strikes. He got his ass kicked tonight and had enough.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Kongo via submission (strikes) at 1:16 of the third round
STAR RATING: (**) That was just a one-sided beating from Kongo. Buentello had no answer for the takedowns and gave up after taking so much punishment.
RAMIFICATIONS: That was the type of performance that will likely end with Buentello out of the UFC, because he didn't look good at all. Kongo's not going to do anything against the top guys in the division in the UFC, but he's still right there in the next tier of heavyweights. He's just not well rounded enough to hang with the elite heavyweights that the UFC has to offer.
[Commercial Break]
-Joe Rogan is joined via satellite by Georges St. Pierre to discuss next weekend's main event fight. He calls it the toughest fight of his career. He says he's better, stronger and more powerful than he's ever been and he's the most prepared he's ever been. He says he has a specific strategy for the fight but he doesn't want to show his hand. He said he's ready for everything Dan Hardy will bring, and the fight will end when Hardy makes his first mistake. He said he's not afraid of Hardy. He said he hears the same song all the time and he's ready for a five round war.
FIGHT THREE: JUNIOR DOS SANTOS VS. GABRIEL GONZAGA (HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Gonzaga said this fight is important as he wants the Title shot. Dos Santos said he feels he has the advantage on the feet.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: They both come out to the center and feel each other out a bit. Gonzaga throws the first leg kick. Dos Santos gets in with a punch to the body. Dos Santos again with a good body punch. Gonzaga lands a leg kick that trips Dos Santos up. He pounces and tries to get Dos Santos down but Dos Santos scrambles and gets right back to his feet and gets separation. Gonzaga lands a leg kick. Dos Santos with a short combo. Dos Santos lands a couple of body punches. Left from Dos Santos lands and Gonzaga gets in a leg kick. Dos Santos again with a body punch. Dos Santos throws a high kick and it's blocked. He throws another combo. Dos Santos lands a good right and pushes Gonzaga back with another. Gonzaga tries the high kick. Dos Santos drops Gonzaga with a left hook and then pounces. He lands a number of punches on the ground and Gonzaga is out cold. There it is. Those shots on the ground were brutal.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Dos Santos via KO at 3:53 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Dos Santos said he feels very good and his training was good again and he's here to give the fans good knockouts. He said he punched him when Gonzaga kicked him and that was it. He said he wants to fight with the best and he's ready.
STAR RATING: (***-) Excellent KO performance from Dos Santos. Gonzaga wasn't able to do much here so it wasn't a classic back and forth type of fight, but that was a very good win by Dos Santos.
RAMIFICATIONS: Dos Santos is absolutely ready to be a Title challenger. He's done nothing but roll through every opponent he's faced and it's time for him to get into the Title picture. Gonzaga remains a gatekeeper heavyweight.
[Commercial Break]
PRELIM FIGHT A: JOHN HOWARD VS. DANIEL ROBERTS (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Roberts pushes forward early. Howard lands an inside leg kick but Roberts comes in and takes Howard down. Howard scrambles and gets up. He tries to drop down and Roberts grabs an arm and rolls through almost into the mount. He lands a bunch of punches and then goes for a guillotine as Howard gets to a knee. Howard gets up and picks up Roberts and drops him down really hard. Howard stood up in the guard and then dropped down with a huge left that knocked Roberts out cold! He landed another one and another one that are unnecessary and that's all she wrote. Wow, what a finish.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Howard via KO at 2:01 of the first round
POST FIGHT: Howard gave Roberts credit for being a tough test. He said his left hand has the power. He gave his trainers props for this one.
STAR RATING: (***-) That was short but it was exciting. It was another fight where he was almost reeling but then he had a huge slam and then a vicious KO left.
[Commercial Break]
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: BRANDON VERA VS. JON JONES (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Vera said his job is to show that Jones isn't ready to be in there with him yet. Jones said this is his Title fight right now and he wants to be considered the number one light heavyweight in the world. Vera said Jones hasn't been hit and we'll find out what he's made of when that happens tonight.
ROUND ONE: Jones comes right out and they clinch early. Jones gets a trip takedown right away and gets into Vera's guard. Jones lands a left but Vera kicks him off and gets back to his feet. Jones catches a kick from Vera and gets in for a clinch on the cage again. He stays on Vera and gets another takedown. Nice pace to start this fight. Jones is in the full guard of Vera. Jones lands a big left in the guard and then a short forearm as Vera is trying sneak in with a shot. Vera lands an upkick with Jones on his knees and that is an illegal blow. Dean gives Jones the option of getting his position back and he takes a point from Vera. Dean restarts them in the same position. Jones tries to posture up and Vera landed another upkick but it hit Jones in the shoulder. Vera threw his legs up high but Jones stayed over him in the guard. Jones landed a couple of short elbows and then a big elbow to the jaw and that's it and it's all over. Wow. Big elbow to Vera and that finished it off. The elbow hit Vera right in the eye socket, and like Rogan pointed out it might be a broken orbital bone. The was a hell of a performance by Jones. The hype is justified right there.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Jones via TKO at 3:19 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Jones said the fight was good and he didn't take Vera lightly at all. He felt he won the fight before he came in there. He said he tries not to pay attention to the hype but he knows it's there. He said potential is the worst thing to waste.
STAR RATING: (***) Another excellent performance from Jones, and he dominated Vera in this one. What a finish with that vicious elbow as well. Vera was done after that landed.
RAMIFICATIONS: Jones continues his quick ascent up the light heavyweight ladder, and I really don't know what happens with Vera now. That was quicker and more one sided than anyone expected that fight to be, and I just don't know if the UFC is going to keep him around. But the story of that fight is Jones and the fact that he's absolutely an unbelievably talented up and comer just means he's going to get better from here. That's a scary thought.
UNAIRED PRELIM RESULTS:
-Jason Brilz def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-Mike Pierce def. Julio Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Brendan Schaub def. Chase Gormley via TKO (punches) at :47 of the first round
-Darren Elkins def. Duane Ludwig via TKO (ankle injury) at :44 of the first round
-Vladimir Matyushenko def. Eliot Marshall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
-Clay Guida def. Shannon Gugerty via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:40 of the second round
Thanks for joining us again tonight for our round by round coverage. Stay tuned throughout the week for fallout from this event as well as our hype train heading into next weekend's UFC 111 event on pay-per-view!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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