UFC 1 on VERSUS took place at the 1st Bank Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado March 21, 2010.  After the event Dana White announced that the UFC will again be on VS August 01, 2010.

The two main event fighters in the light heavyweight division, Jon Jones and Brandon Vera were both coming off  losses and looking to become reestablished as contenders in the light heavyweight division.

Jones scored an early hip toss takedown but Vera scrambled back to his feet.  The fighters exchanged strikes and Jones scored with a double leg takedown.  From his back Vera landed an illegal up kick to the face of Jones that seemed to hurt Jones.

The referee took a penalty point from Vera and the fight resumed on the ground with Jones in the guard of Vera.  Jones postured up and landed a strong elbow that hurt Vera.  Jones followed with several punches that made Vera roll away to escape the strikes and Jones landed more punches until the referee stopped the bout giving the TKO win to Jon Jones at 3:19 of round one.

After the bout Jones remarked that the illegal up kick did not hurt him, he was just surprised because it seemed to him to be intentional.  Asked why he focused so much on his throws Jones said, “Why have a Thai match against someone who may be better than me at it?“.  UFC president Dana White remarked that he has never seen a fighter develop as fast as Jones.

In the Co-Main event, a heavyweight bout,  Gabrielle Gonzaga faced Junior Dos Santos with the winner looking to solidify their name on the short list of contenders in the heavyweight division.

There was a long feeling out process before Gonzaga landed a solid leg kick to set up a takedown. Dos Santos quickly scrambled back to his feet and both fighters worked striking from outside.

Dos Santos eventually timed his counterpunch off of a Gonzaga kick and landed a left hook that dropped Gonzaga to the mat.  Dos Santos followed with a strong Ground-And-Pound (GNP) flurry while standing over his opponent and the referee stopped the bout giving Junior Dos Santos the Knock Out victory at 3:53 of round one.

After the fight Dos Santos said he had trained specifically to counter Gonzaga’s kicks with punches and that he was ready to fight whomever the UFC thought was best for him.

Also, in a heavyweight bout Paul Buentello took on Cheick Kongo.

After a punch exchange Kongo pushed Buentello into the cage to set up a takedown but Buentello was able to quickly scramble to standing, however, Kongo countered with another slam and he worked GNP until Buentello again worked to standing.  Upon rising Buentello threw a punch combination then stepped away signaling that he had a problem with his hand.

The referee stopped the bout and called for the doctor to attend to Buentello’s dislocated finger.  Normally, a fighter could not get a stoppage due to an injury, have the injury fixed then continue, but Buentello’s finger had come out of his glove so it was ruled an equipment malfunction that had to be fixed by way of putting his finger back into joint then adjusting the glove.

The action resumed and Kongo got another takedown to work more GNP until the referee stood the fighters.  Buentello slipped and fell to the mat and Kongo closed in and worked GNP to end the round.  Round two had Kongo follow his strategy of takedown to work GNP but he threw a knee strike that illegally hit Buentello in the face when he was on the ground.

Kongo was assessed a penalty of one point and the action continued.  Three times Kongo scored takedowns for GNP but each time Buentello was able to come to standing.  The action again stopped after Kongo landed another illegal knee but no penalty was given and the action restarted from standing.   Upon restarting each fighter landed solid punches before Kongo went to his takedown and GNP game plan but Buentello again worked to standing and the round ended with the fighters working in the clinch.  Round three had Kongo stick to the formula and after taking Buentello to the ground he flurried with GNP including a barrage of elbow strikes to the body until Buentello tapped out.  Cheick Kongo got the tapout victory at 1:16 of round three.

When asked why he focused so much on taking the fight to the ground Kongo stated that he was ill and he felt he could push the pace more on the ground.

James Irvin vs Alessio Sakara in the middleweight division.

Both fighters came looking to land strikes and it was Alessio that had the more accurate and more powerful punches.

Sakara threw a left hook that visibly hurt Irvin and Irvin turned away and took a knee.

Sakara followed with several strikes until the referee stopped the bout giving Alessio Sakara the win by TKO at 3:01 of round one.

The rest of the bouts were preliminary matches.

Shannon Gugerty vs Clay Guida in the lightweight division.

Round one had Guida scoring a takedown then working GNP and avoiding the submission attempts of Gugerty.

Round two saw the fight again hit the mat early and Guida utilized several strong GNP flurries to set up a head and arm triangle choke.  By way of tapout Clay Guida got the victory at 3:42 of round two.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs Eliot Marshall in a light heavyweight bout.

Round one was all kickboxing with neither fighter taking a decided advantage.

Round two was mostly more kickboxing other than Matyushenko trapping a kick and taking Marshall down, but he was able to get back to standing quickly.

Round three was again punctuated by standing striking, however, this round Matyushenko scored twice with takedowns and Marshall again scrambled to standing.

The scorecards were announced and it was a split decision for Vladimir Matyushenko with the scores being 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

Darren Elkins vs Duane Ludwig in a welterweight bout.

Ludwig scored an early left hook that hurt Elkins, but Elkins pressed forward for a takedown.

During the takedown Ludwig’s leg folded under him and he sustained what looked to be a dislocated ankle.

The bout was stopped and Darren Elkins got the TKO victory at :44 of round one.

John Howard vs Daniel Roberts in a welterweight bout.

Roberts shot a fast takedown but Howard got back to standing.  Roberts again scored a takedown to set up his GNP.

Howard worked his way up and scored a scoop slam.

Roberts worked for an omoplata shoulder lock submission but Howard escaped and landed three punches from standing to get the Knock Out win at 2:01 of round one.

Brendan Schaub vs Chase Gormley in a heavyweight bout.

Three times Schaub used his striking to drop Gormley.

After the third time Schaub closed in with a flurry of GNP to get the TKO win at :47 of round one.

Mike Pierce vs Julio Paulino in a welterweight bout.

This bout went all three rounds and in each round it was Pierce using his strikes to set up takedowns and working to improve his position and landing good GNP while Paulino worked for submission attempts off of his back.

The scorecards were totaled, each read 30-27 so it was an unanimous decision victory for Mike Pierce.

Eric Schafer vs Jason Brilz in a light heavyweight bout.  In round one each fighter landed solid strikes and Brilz scored two takedowns.

Round two had each land strikes that visibly hurt the other and each scored a takedown.

Round three saw Schafer stalking Brilz around the cage and landing punches seemingly at will.

Brilz got a takedown but the fighters came back to their feet, then they fell to the mat and Brilz ended the round working strikes from half mount.

The scorecards determined the winner and all three read 29-28 giving the unanimous decision victory to Jason Brilz.

UFC® Octagon Girls™ Arianny Celeste & Chandella Powell…

After the fights Dana White said that each of the bonuses handed out would be for $50,000.

There was no fight of the night, instead three fighters, Junior Dos Santos, John Howard and Jon Jones were awarded Knock Out of the Night honors.  Submission of the night went to Clay Guida.

Octagonside by JR Gordon/Brawlin.net

Fight Fotos by Joe Cordova/Brawlin.net