In the first fight of the broadcast, Alessio Sakara landed a perfect right hand into James Irvin's eye socket causing a stoppage in the first round. James Irvin originally thought it was an eyepoke, but veteran UFC referee Josh Roshental made the correct call.
In undercard action, John Howard fought the undefeated Daniel Roberts. Roberts was able to get takedowns early, but eventually Howard unloaded a fury. Howards hit a high amplitude double leg takedown then slammed a heavy right hand KO'ing Roberts.
In the second match of the evening, Cheick Kongo dominated Paul "Headhunter" Buentello for three rounds before coaxing a tapout from the veteran kickboxer. Kongo was able to mix in a combination of takedowns, punches, elbows and knees.
Referee Herb Dean did an exceptional job refereeing the fight. He deducted a point from Cheick Kongo from a knee when Paul Buentello. In doing so, Dean gave Buentello ample time to recover. Buentello also dislocated a pinky finger and was allowed to continue after popping it back into place.
In the end, Kongo's relentless attack was to much for Buentello to handle. Elbows to the thigh eventally forced Buentello to submit. With the victory, expect Kongo to get a solid test in the form of the winner of Roy Nelson and Stephen Struve.
Junior Dos Santos took another step into the heavyweight title picture defeating veteran UFC heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga. Dos Santos defended the takedown, loading up a mean right hand. Gonzaga landed a couple deadly leg kicks, but eventually let his guard down.
As Gonzaga threw a leg kick, Dos Santos fired a shot from hell, flooring Gonzaga, the BJJ blackbelt to the ground. A few more punches sealed the deal, and Gonzga was cooked. Dos Santos now will likely fight Cain Velasquez for a title shot.
In the main event, Jon "Bones" Jones inched his way closer to a 205 pound title shot. Jones looked to be the quicker fighter as he was able to land strikes and take down Brandon Vera. From there, Jones worked top control and threw some punches. Until Vera threw an upkick while Jones had a knee on the canvas.
Vera was deducted a point for the foul and Jones was given back position. From there, Bones Jones landed nasty left and right punches and elbows from Vera's guard with his big-time reach advantage. A point of a right elbow looked to land on Vera's eye socket, prompting the stoppage. Look for Jones to fight Ryan Bader or the winner of Forrest Griffin v. Antonio Nogueira.
(Jon Jones pictured)
