GOOD FIGHTS ON FREE TV!
Oklahoma City, OK-– MMA’s premier promotion, the UFC, comes out of exile with a solid night of action headlined by the young up and coming light heavyweight (205 lbs) Jon “Bones” Jones (10-1, 6 KOs, 2 SUBs). The New Yorker’s lone loss came via disqualification when he was called for illegal elbow strikes against Matt Hamill (9-2, 6 KOs) last December.
JONES TO FACE “FEARLESS JANITOR”
Since then, Jones came back and stopped Brandon Vera (11-5, 7 KOs, 5 SUBs) in the first round with a vicious elbow that had Vera cringing in pain. He will once again be in tough as he faces the Belarusian wrestler, Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko (24-4, 7 KOs, 7 SUBs). This long time MMA veteran will look to mop the floor with Jones and capitalize on his vast experience edge and savvy, but the young Jones seems too explosive and focused to lose in this one. Also on the card, world ranked middleweight Yushin Okami (24-5, 9 KOs, 4 SUBs) will take on solid wrestler Mark Munoz (8-1, 4 KOs, 1 SUB) who is coming off a hard fought TKO win over Kendall Grove (12-7, 2 KOs, 7 SUBs). Okami is a very, very strong middleweight (185) and Munoz will have his hands full in this one. I would have to think Okami has an edge in this one, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the fight go either way.
TYSON GRIFFIN & GOMI MEET IN “CROSSROADS” BOUT
Also on the card will be a lightweight (155) bout featuring Takanori Gomi (31-6, 11 KOs, 6 SUBs) taking on Tyson Griffin (14-3, 6 KOs, 3 SUBs) in a pivotal bout for both men. Gomi is coming off a loss in his UFC debut to Kenny Florian (13-4, 3 KOs, 9 SUBs) as Griffin is coming off a defeat at the hands of the unbeaten Evan Dunham (11-0, 2 KOs, 6 SUBs) some seven weeks ago. Neither man can afford to slip up Sunday night, and being that both their backs are against the proverbial wall, this could be a very exciting fight. In the end however Gomi seems well past his prime and I expect Griffin to take care of business in this one.
UFC’S WHITE DOES WHAT ARUM DID NOT!
After Versus got promised an elevator ride to good ratings and good fights by Top Rank for a $250,000 per show stipend, they instead got the shaft with pathetic cards to put it nicely. UFC Prez Dana White, he appears to be delivering solid product here. The curtain raiser is a welterweight (170) duel with John Howard (14-4, 4 KOs, 6 subs) and Jake Ellenberger (22-5, 14 KOs, 5 SUBs). Howard is on a seven fight win streak but Ellenberger will look to snap it by utilizing his notable KO ability.
THAT “BIG JOHN” GUY RETURNS
In an interesting side note, “Big John” McCarthy will be refereeing his first UFC event in nearly three years Sunday night, this after he and Dana White went their separate ways. On paper, this card looks like it’s a great night to catch solid fights live and free on Versus!
Matt “All Meat” Grizzle