UFC Fight Night on Versus Recap

"America's Finest City" played host to the UFC Fight Night on Versus 2 this evening, headlined by rising light heavyweight star Jon "Bones" Jones squaring off against veteran Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko.

Fans in attendance at the San Diego Sports Arena were treated to a fun night of knockouts, grotesque stoppages, and a sweet submission.

Starting out the telecast was a fight between former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi and five-time UFC "Fight of the Night" winner Tyson Griffin.

Gomi seemed the larger man from the outset, landing a few long bombs that literally moved Griffin. Griffin never had a chance to get rolling as just over a minute into the contest, Gomi landed a hard hook to the body followed by a glancing left and heavy right hook to the jaw that flattened Griffin. Gomi immediately jumped to Griffin's back to finish the fight when referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it at 1:04 of the first round.

A disappointed Tyson Griffin, who dropped to 14-4, protested the stoppage, but looked wobbled as he was helped up by his corner.

Gomi, dubbed "The Fireball Kid," promised bigger UFC wins in the future. The Japan native moved to 39-12 with the win.

Next up on the broadcast was a welterweight matchup between Jake Ellenberger and John "Doomsday" Howard.

The former NCAA Division II wrestler Ellenberger managed to pin Howard against the fence about :30 into the first round, where the two exchanged knees to the body and did some hand-fighting for position. Howard managed to worm his way out of a takedown before being reset in the middle of the octagon by ref Herb Dean. After a few missed shots, Ellenberger used a nice feint to scoop Howard to the mat, and used his top position to move Howard against the fence. Herb Dean called for both men to work, then stood the fighters up as some boos came from the crows with about a minute left. Ellenberger again used Howard's missed strikes to finagle a takedown and finished the round on top, despite not doing much damage.

Howard woke up and got started early in round two, landing a right head kick and a sweeping right hand that seemed to rock Ellenberger, who immediately put Howard on his back once more. Guillotine and triangle choke attempts were smothered by Ellenberger, and Howard ate some hard elbows before attempting more submissions. Howard's left eye swelled up badly, presumably from one of Ellenberger's elbows. Howard was able to exact revenge for a moment with a few punches that again had Ellenberger rocked, before being taken down again. Howard's eye was swollen almost completely shut at the end of the round.

Facing a stoppage loss, Howard tried to force his own by landing a big flying knee and furious combinations in the third. However Ellenberger took the fight back to his territory with another takedown and stepped up his ground 'n pound until Howard's eye swelled shut. Herb Dean stood both guys up and consulted the ringside physician, who advised Dean to stop the bout in the basis that Howard could no longer see. The former mixed martial artist Dean stopped the bout at 2:21 of the third round.

Ellenberger praised Howard's effort in his post-fight interview, admitting that one of Howard's shots did indeed hurt and surprise him, as he rose to 23-5. Howard's gutsy effort earned him his first loss in almost 3 years, his record becoming 14-5.

In a between-fights interview, Chael Sonnen dispensed with the niceties in promising to beat Anderson Silva at UFC 117 next weekend, effectively ending his career, as Sonnen claimed Dana White will fire Silva, and thus "The Spider" would be forced to retire.

Middleweights Mark Muñoz and Yushin Okami, both coming off of impressive wins in the UFC, delivered an entertaining tussle that had both men hitting the deck.

After out-striking Muñoz and controlling the distance in the early feeling out process, Okami stuffed a takedown attempt and let "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" Muñoz up and go back to work with his hands. Former NCAA wrestler Muñoz finally managed to take Okami down but was unable to keep the fight there, as Okami used submission attempts and good balance to get back to his feet. Muñoz bulled Okami to the fence and landed a series of hard knees to the body. A final takedown attempt at the end of the round by Muñoz fell victim to Okami's quick sprawl.

Okami showed off hand skills and a nice sprawl in the first 2 minutes of the second round. A big right hand sat Okami down, but Muñoz' follow up resulted in getting stuck in Okami's awkward scramble. Getting back to his feet and sensing urgency to finish the fight, Muñoz tried to force the issue but found mostly air with his loaded up shots and seemed to tire. A sluggish takedown led to Okami landing a number of hammerfists and wrap-around shots from his sprawl. Another takedown at the bell for Muñoz didn't quite get a chance to do much.

In attempting to trade in the third, Muñoz was caught by a big uppercut that appeared to stagger him. Another slow takedown was easily avoided by Okami, who tried to crack Muñoz on the way to his feet. Okami landed a few hard shots to the ribs of a clearly tiring Muñoz, who clinched immediately. After fending off a weak takedown attempt by Muñoz once more, Okami wobbled him with a whipping right hand. Another failed takedown later, Muñoz tried to make it a war by slugging it out and got the worse of it. Okami landed more shots from the sprawl for the last minute-plus, completely controlling the younger man.

Okami improved to 25-5 with a split decision win with two judges giving him a 29-28 score, while the third saw the bout for Muñoz, who fell to 8-2, by the same score.

In the main event, the lanky Jon Jones made quick work of the Belarusian Matyushenko, suggesting the young fighter's recent surge in popularity is well-deserved.

Jones, now 11-1, dominated the stand up before taking Matyushenko down with a trip. Jones managed to push off the beginning of an armbar attempt before working his way to a mounted crucific and slamming Matyushenko's temple with elbows, in a move slightly reminiscent of Gary Goodridge's famous demolition of Paul Herrera at UFC 8. Matyushenko didn't seem very hurt, however, but was unable to defend against Jones' lethal elbows. Referee Herb Dean stepped in to halt the bludgeoning at 1:52 of the first stanza.

The former IFL light heavyweight champion Matyushenko falls to 24-5 with the loss.

In televised swing bout action, Brazilian lightweight Charles Oliveira turned a big slam from opponent Darren Elkins into a nasty triangle attempt, and eventually an armbar submission victory moments later at :41 of the first round. Oliveira's record improved to 13-0 in his UFC debut, while Elkins went to 11-2.