(Alessio Sakara turns Thales Leites‘s face all doofy at UFC 101.)

After a few weeks of thumb-twiddling, the UFC has finally decided that the previously announced fight between Alessio Sakara and James "Most Cursed Fighter in MMA History" Irvin will kick off the UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones broadcast next Sunday (3/21) on Versus. The middleweight contest was originally slated for the prelims, but the card’s lineup shifted a bit after Sean Sherk and Anthony Johnson pulled out due to injuries. Sakara is riding back-to-back victories over Joe Vedepo and Thales Leites, but hasn’t competed since last August, while Irvin hasn’t been inside the Octagon since his KO loss to Anderson Silva in July 2008. The current lineup of "UFC on Versus" looks like this…

MAIN CARD
Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones (LHW)
Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (HW)
Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello (HW)
Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin (MW)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty (LW)
Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (LHW)
John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts (WW)
Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley (HW)
Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino (WW)
Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz (LHW)

After the jump: Kongo vs. Buentello video hype, plus a list of international TV stations showing the event courtesy of MMA Junkie.



(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Check your local listings, foreign people, as not all of the following stations may be showing "Vera vs. Jones" live…

Australia – FUEL TV
Brazil – Sport TV
Canada – Rogers Sportsnet
Croatia – Nova (website only)
Denmark – Canal 9
Germany – DSF
Israel – Ego TV
Mexico – Televisa
North Africa/Middle East – Showtime Arabia
Phillippines – Balls
South Korea – IB Sports
Sweden – TV4 Sport
Thailand – TrueVisions
U.K. – ESPN