By Jason Moles

Over the last 18 months, we’ve been lucky enough to get six live fight cards on Versus, completely free of charge. This past Saturday marked the end of Versus’s run as the “home away from home” for the UFC on basic cable. Not to worry, though: More free, live fights will be coming your way soon on FOX, FX, and Fuel TV. We thought we’d take a look back at the best of the best from the “UFC Live” series, but first, here’s how those sixty-five fights were decided: 24 (T)KOs, 15 Submissions, 23 Judges Decision, 2 Doctor Stoppages, and 1 No Contest.

Now let’s hand out some hardware, shall we?

Biggest Upset: Charlie Brenneman Beating Rick Story

(Hardy says it’s either “kill or be killed” Sunday night against Lytle.)

Many critics are pointing to the welterweight scrap between Dan Hardy (23-9-0-1) and Chris Lytle (30-18-5) at UFC on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle in Milwaukee on Sunday as being a a must-win match-up for the British striker, and by rights it very well will be considering he is 0-3 in his past three outings.

Hardy, who is cognizant of the high stakes of the bout, says that even though some might opt to play it cautious in his position, he’s still going to come out swinging and let the chips fall where they may, and he believes that Lytle will walk into the Octagon in the same frame of mind.

“That’s what I’m hoping for. Chris is an exciting fighter, and he always brings the fight,” Hardy explains. “I’m sure this fight won’t be any different. I’m always fine with trading punches until someone falls over…I like my odds in that gamble.”

(Click the above image to watch a sleepy, drugged-up Brandon Vera try to explain what happened to him on Sunday night.)

We just wanted to pass along a little update on Brandon Vera’s broken face following his beating by Jon Jones at UFC on Versus. Vera reportedly had surgery last night to fix his dislocated cheekbone, which was in woeful shape after absorbing that fight-ending elbow:

In other words, Vera won’t be back until the fall or winter, assuming that his face eventually returns to normal. And when he does come back, what will be waiting for him? A full-time position as a gatekeeper for up-and-comers? Most likely, he’ll have one more chance to prove that he has any sort of value to the company. Who would you put him up against at this point?

(Careful, Clay. She’s just after the money. / Photo courtesy of the UFC on Versus Afterparty Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)
 
The UFC paid out $913,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses for last Sunday’s UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones show — a hefty total for a free-TV event — with Junior Dos Santos, Cheick Kongo, and Clay Guida cracking the six-figure mark. The numbers are below, courtesy of MMA Junkie. Keep in mind that they don’t include income from sponsorships and undisclosed "locker room bonuses," or deductions for taxes, insurance, licensing fees, and funny hats.

Jon Jones: $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Brandon Vera: $60,000

Junior Dos Santos: $120,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $67,000

Cheick Kongo: $110,000 (includes $55,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Buentello: $40,000

Alessio Sakara: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus)
def. James Irvin: $20,000

Clay Guida: $100,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Shannon Gugerty: $9,000

(Momma said there’d be days like this. Photo courtesy of Spike.)

Well, this is never easy, but unfortunately we have to deliver some bad news — the services of TUF 8 veteran Eliot Marshall and Shannon Gugerty will no longer be needed in the Octagon. Though both fighters suffered defeats on the preliminary card of Sunday’s UFC on Versus event, Marshall’s firing is somewhat surprising, since his split-decision loss to Vladimir Matyushenko followed three straight wins over Jules Bruchez, Vinny Magalhaes, and Jason Brilz. But his loss to the Janitor isn’t the first time that Marshall has put in a dull performance, and he could have been released simply because he isn’t exciting enough. Naturally, Marshall isn’t happy about it:

As for Gugerty, his submission loss to Clay Guida was his second straight loss, and dropped his overall UFC record to 2-3. Have Chase Gormley and Paul Buentello somehow escaped this round of layoffs, or will we be hearing about their firings in the near future? Stay tuned.

Speaking of UFC on Versus…

(SPOILER ALERT: At some point in the fight Guida comes charging in with his mane of hair flowing wildly about him. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Those of you who were bummed about not seeing your favorite RV-dwelling lightweight on the Versus broadcast of Sunday’s UFC event can now turn those frowns back into smug grimaces, because Spike TV has you covered. The cable network sent out an email this morning to let us all know that on Wednesday night they’ll be showing the Clay Guida-Shannon Gugerty and Brendan Schaub-Chase Gormley bouts from ‘UFC Live,’ as well as two other previously unaired fights (Dennis Siver-Paul Kelly from UFC 105, and Jeremy Stephens-Justin Buchholz from Fight Night 19).

The plan is to air this special episode of “UFC Unleashed” at 9 pm EST as a lead-in to the final installment of “UFC Primetime.” At the risk of lavishing too much praise on the same people who are behind “Blue Mountain State,” we’re going to go ahead and call this move a brilliant one for all parties involved.

Yesterday, we posted a GIF of Jon Jones slugging the shit out of an escort during his cage-entrance at Sunday’s UFC on Versus show. Turns out it was a rough night for the security staff overall. As caposa points out, two more non-combatants got assaulted during Brandon Vera‘s entrance, this time by fans. Poor guys. They should get safety goggles. And headgear. And tazers to shock the shit out of those drunk D-bags.

(Something about landing a knee to the body of a downed opponent only whets Kongo’s appetite for some shots to the head. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

When it comes to highlighting some of MMA’s officiating gray areas, last night’s Cheick Kongo-Paul Buentello bout at ‘UFC Live’ was a fight that very nearly had it all. From minor infractions like grabbing the fence or hitting the back of the head, to big ones like illegal knees and impromptu injury timeouts, it was a showcase of things that need to change – or at least be clarified – in the MMA rulebook. Let’s take it one issue at a time, shall we?

(If you’d like to follow along and don’t have this bad boy DVR’d, you might try looking here.)

Round 1, 3:37: Buentello gets a little help from the fence

Yeah, it’s minor, but it’s illegal. In attempting to get up from a takedown, Buentello grips the fence and pulls himself up. This earns him a verbal warning from referee Herb Dean, but it serves its purpose. He’s off his butt and en route to standing up. Just goes to show you that sometimes a fence grab will cost you a point, and other times it just gets you admonished by the ref. Same with grabbing the shorts, which also happens several times throughout this fight.

Round 1, 1:48: Buentello has a finger problem

Props: caposa. More after the jump…

(The upside is, now Vera’s sure to get that role as Sloth in the "Goonies" remake. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

That sickening, dead meat smacking sound you heard when Jon Jones landed his fight-ending elbow strike on Brandon Vera last night? That was the sound of Vera’s face being rearranged. The word is that Vera suffered three broken bones in his face last night, and the injuries are severe enough that he was reportedly prevented from boarding a plane to go home.

That might not have been a big deal if the fight had been in Las Vegas. He could always pass the time by buying himself a cold one and walking down to see the pirate battle outside of Treasure Island, or else wander around the M&M’s store with all the senile old ladies from Wisconsin. Not a bad way to waste time while you wait for your face to regain its structural integrity, really.

But damn, you’re telling me Vera is stuck in Broomfield, Colorado? Not only did he lose the fight and get his face smashed, but he also has to sit around his hotel room watching an endless stream of shows about Nazis on the History Channel, while sending his cornermen down the hall for ice every ten minutes? That, my friends, is a special little slice of hell.

(Don’t fear Cheick Kongo’s patented elbow-to-hip attack. Fear the career consequences of tapping out to it. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

After a bizarre night of injuries, illegal blows, and confusing stoppages, we sort through the raw data to arrive at a number we made up out of nowhere in order to assess who’s up, who’s down, and by how much after the UFC’s first event on Versus.

Jon Jones +86
We were expecting more of a stand-up battle, but as long as you can take the guy down so easily, why risk it? The win was impressive, and yet expected. For his next act, he’s got to face a top contender.

Brandon Vera -82
When the most significant blow you land in a fight is an illegal one, you know it was a bad night. Going home with a lump the size of a golf ball on your eye probably doesn’t cheer you up any, especially when you just lost your third fight in the last five outings. At this stage in his career, “The Truth” is no longer a friend to Vera.

(Photo courtesy of MMA Fighting.)
 
So, weird night, huh? The main card of UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones gave us two fights where guys were docked points for illegal blows, two fights that ended with the losers grabbing their eyes in pain, Cheick Kongo transforming into a boring wrestler, and referees being applauded for their brilliant decisions. I’m still waiting for the hail of frogs. And here’s another bit of strangeness: The UFC decided to hand out three Knockout of the Night bonuses after the show, but no Fight of the Night bonuses. The $50,000 bumps went to the following scrappers…

Knockout of the Night #1: Jon Jones, for caving in Brandon Vera‘s head with an elbow that came from an acceptable clock-position.

Knockout of the Night #2: Junior Dos Santos, for wasting Gabriel Gonzaga and picking up his fifth-straight KO/TKO in the UFC.

Knockout of the Night #3: John Howard, for starching Daniel Roberts in the only prelim fight that was shown on the broadcast.

Submission of the Night: Clay Guida, for his arm-triangle tap of Shannon Gugerty. (Who else are they gonna give it to, Kongo for submitting Paul Buentello via leg-elbows?)

Some important notes from the press conference:

("Room for the Holy Ghost, kids. Your mothers raised you better than that." Photo courtesy of the UFC on Versus Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.)

Because pay-per-view and Spike TV are not enough to contain all the UFC’s awesomeness, Versus is presenting four fights tonight that could all end in thrilling knockouts, and will momentarily make us forget that we’re missing the season premiere of Breaking Bad. In this extra-special Lord’s Day Liveblog™, Jon Jones tries to live up to his hype against a man who once fell prey to his own, Junior Dos Santos continues his warpath in the heavyweight division against fellow meat-skewer aficionado Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo and Paul Buentello throw bombs for the hell of it, and lightning will strike James Irvin on his way to the cage. Yes, indoor lightning. Live results from UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones await you after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest…

(Sure, he lives in an RV and has creepy facial hair, but trust us, Clay’s a fantastic babysitter. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

Spoilers after the jump…

(Props: Cagewriter)

Two notable moments came out of yesterday’s UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones weigh-ins at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. First off, James Irvin made his public debut at middleweight, and my God, I would kill for those cheekbones. Seriously, the phrase "cancer survivor" comes to mind. Also, Jon Jones got way up in Brandon Vera‘s face after they hit the scale. Dana White stepped in to separate the two so their forehead-jostling wouldn’t turn into something more serious. Jones explained his high emotions following the weigh-ins, telling Steve Cofield: "I just really don’t like Brandon as a person. I just think he’s disrespectful. I think he’s arrogant. I think he’s full of himself…I guess I let his arrogance get under my skin a little bit. It’s just a learning experience. In the future I’ll deal with talkers better."

The weigh-in numbers are after the jump, courtesy of UFC.com. Remember to come back tonight at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT for live round-by-round results…

(Jon Jones warms up backstage by doing battle with a mummy. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

Your old friend the Enabler faced himself a quandary this week. Should he blow some money on college basketball, which he knows/cares almost nothing about, just for the warm feeling he gets from wagering irresponsibly large sums? Or should he save that cash and put it toward something useful, like a crazy parlay bet featuring all three of the Octagon newcomers in this Sunday’s ‘UFC Live’ event?

In the end he decided to try for the best of the both worlds, which means that if Julio Paulino and Cornell both win this weekend, somebody might finally be making a child support payment. Or purchasing a riding lawn mower. Definitely one of those two.

Betting lines today come to us courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Jon Jones (-220) vs. Brandon Vera (+215)
Junior dos Santos (-260) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (+250)
Cheick Kongo (-365) vs. Paul Buentello (+335)
Alessio Sakara (+105) vs. James Irvin (-110)
Clay Guida (-380) vs. Shannon Gugerty (+335)
Eliot Marshall (+155) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (-150)
Duane Ludwig (-155) vs. Darren Elkins (+153)
John Howard (-190) vs. Daniel Roberts (+190)
Brendan Schaub (-238) vs. Chase Gormley (+214)
Mike Pierce (-439) vs. Julio Paulino (+425)
Eric Schafer (+135) vs. Jason Brilz (-135)

Break it down…

(You should see the other guy. Seriously, not a mark on him.)

First off, an announcement for MMA FightPicker prize-pool participants: Due to a technical screw-up on our end, we had to clear your tie-breaker answers so we could put up answer-fields that actually made sense. All of you should have been contacted via e-mail by now, but in case this is news to you, please revisit your prize pool(s) and make sure you have the tie-breaker question entered. We’d like to give a hearty "Nice, Player!" to everybody who entered those prize pools to win the gear from MMAWarehouse.com. As of now, there are two spots remaining in the 1,200-chip 10-person pool, and an infinite number of spots remaining in the Unlimited pool.

This week, BF and BG snuck into Contender Pool 10 #787, where they’ll be competing with perennial contender Ryan Johnson and someone named RaWrBoOm. As for the questions, there seem to be a lot of heavy favorites this time around. Who of you will be ballsy enough to pick the upsets? Certainly not us — BF and BG had a difference of opinion on just one question. We should really change the name of "Ben vs. Ben" to "Ben and Ben are Best Friends and Never Argue." Anyway, here’s how we’re picking ‘em for UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones this Sunday on Versus (9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT)…

Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones: Who will win?
BF: Unless Jones gets himself DQ’d or suffers a stroke on his way to the cage, he’s got this. Vera can’t strike with him and can’t get him down. Cue the spinning back elbow.
BG: Jon Jones via spinning Superman punches and Greco rag-dolling. He’s just more special then Vera, y’know?

Will Vera vs. Jones end in a KO/TKO?
BF: I hate hemming myself in with an answer that has one way to be right and at least two ways to be wrong, but I gotta say yes. I see Vera getting dropped and finished with a flurry on the mat.
BG: Yep. The fight ends with Jones on top and Vera eating leather and elbow-bone.

CagePotato.coms MMA Minute: UFC on Versus Edition – Watch more Funny Videos

Because you never get tired of seeing our creepy faces, here’s another video installment of Ben vs. Ben, in which we cover some hot-button issues related to Sunday’s Vera vs. Jones show on Versus (How badly will Jon Jones beat Brandon Vera? Is the main card in greater need of a Carpenter or a Janitor?) and debut a brand-new segment called "Nice, Player!/Nah, Player!", which is inspired by the groundbreaking Ed Lover series "C’mon Son." Of course, you can’t really see our home-made cardboard signs because we’re Internet Geniuses and we didn’t realize that they wouldn’t fit inside the video windows. Trust us, they were awesome. Any suggestions for things you’d like to see in future installments of MMA Minute? You know, besides smaller cardboard signs? Let us hear it in the comments section…

(Daniel Roberts grappling highlight reel. Props: YouTube.com/ninjaroberts)

Three hungry up-and-comers will be making their Octagon debuts this Sunday, filling some gaps on the "Vera vs. Jones" preliminary card. But who will explode on the scene, and who will blow the biggest opportunity of their careers like total losers? Read on and get acquainted with…

DANIEL "Ninja" ROBERTS (WW)
Experience: 9-0 record (7 wins by submission), mostly in Oklahoma-based promotions. Most recently scored a submission-via-punches over MMA old-schooler Anthony Macias in January.
Will be fighting: John Howard (13-4, 3-0 UFC)
Lowdown: Roberts is filling in for Anthony Johnson, who dropped off the card last month with an injury. He comes from an amateur wrestling background, and as you can see in the video above, his grappling is ferocious. Roberts currently trains at the Cesar Gracie camp with Strikeforce champions Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, and Gilbert Melendez. He’s thrilled to be fighting John Howard: “I have to say that if I were to pick my opponent for the UFC, it probably would be him. Not to say that he’s a bad guy or an easy win — the fact that he’s 3-0 in the UFC is actually a good thing. I checked him out, I saw what he has, and I definitely feel like my grappling is way ahead of his…if he can last through the first and second round, then he’s pretty tough, because I plan on giving it everything I’ve got…I know a lot of people like to stand up and bang, but I think I’m gonna win a lot of fans over with my grappling. I move really well on the ground and there are not a lot of people that can move like me."

In case you missed it on Monday, we have something very special going on this week over at the ol’ FightPicker. MMAWarehouse.com has given us $200 fight-gear packages to give away to the winners of the two prize pools that are currently running. (They’re at the top of the Open Pools page — you can’t miss ‘em.) So far, 33 players have entered the 250-chip Unlimited pool for a shot at the Hayabusa fight gloves, TapouT mouthguards, Sprawl Fusion-S fight shorts, and Manto rash guard. But only three high-rollers have entered the 10-person pool for Big Boys; we need three more players to join by Friday or the thing will be canceled, so please, do whatever you can to get enough chips together and join the action. As for the rest of you, predicting the number of knockdowns in the first round of Kongo vs. Buentello will have to be its own reward.

Extra note, for everybody who joined one of the prize pools on Monday: We were late in getting the tie-breaker question up, so please revisit your pools and make sure you’ve answered it. Good luck everybody, and thanks again to MMA Warehouse!

(Step one in preparing for a fight with Jon Jones? Spinning elbow defense. Step two? Hiring a gypsy to put a hex on him before fight night.)

For the past six weeks Jon Jones has been at Greg Jackson’s gym in New Mexico, getting ready for a main event showdown with Brandon Vera on the UFC’s first Versus event this weekend. Despite Vera’s edge in Octagon experience, Jones is better than a 2-1 favorite in this fight, but he says he knows that the fans are a fickle lot, and he needs to show what he can do against the elder opponent who swears he’s on the verge of getting back to his old destructive self again. We sat down with Jones recently to get his thoughts on Vera’s renewed sense of purpose, the lingering effects of his disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, and more.

Clay Guida told us in a recent interview that he’s not using his plane ticket to get to Denver for the fight on Sunday and is going to drive his RV instead, and stay in it instead of his free hotel room. You guys are both at Greg Jackson’s in Albuquerque right now. Are you going to ride up in that beast with him?

Yeah, I’m going to go with him. I haven’t been inside [the RV] yet, but I hear it’s like the ultimate bachelor pad, like there’s video games and everything. It’s supposed to be pretty sweet. I’m going to use my hotel when I get there, don’t get me wrong, but I’m looking forward to driving up with Clay. We’ve been doing everything together. We’ve been eating together, training together – not directly with each other, since we’re in different weight classes – but we do our conditioning together. It’s been great.

(Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll pick you up a pair of oversized sunglasses at the gas station on our way to the after-party, and no one will even notice that thing.)

In the past few years James Irvin has had about as difficult a time as you can experience while still being employed and above ground. His string of untimely injuries and unfortunate mishaps earned him the title of ‘Most Cursed Fighter in MMA History,’ and the last time he was actually healthy enough to limp into the cage he took a beatdown from Anderson Silva and then got suspended for using prescription painkillers. He’s the kind of guy you don’t want to walk down the street with because chances are good that a piano might fall on his head and you’ll end up getting hit with the resulting splinter shrapnel.

But in an interview with Heavy.com on the verge of his return to action at ‘UFC on Versus’ this weekend, Irvin offers a sober assessment of his career and abilities that is so honest and forthright that we don’t know whether to be impressed or really bummed out.

According to an official announcement released this afternoon, DirecTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return Versus to the DirecTV programming lineup beginning today. The impending deal was first reported by CagePotato.com, but while we previously stated that DirecTV subscribers would be able to purchase Versus as part of a "special sports tier," Versus will simply be placed back in the same programming packages the channel was in at the end of August 2009. Said Versus president Jamie Davis:

Whoa! Not just serving, but super-serving! That’s what we call a happy ending. If you’re a DirecTV subscriber, Versus should be up on channel 603 no later than 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Who wants to come over and watch bull-riding?

To quickly sum up last week’s MMA FightPicker action: Manny Pacquiao won by decision but wasn’t able to put Joshua Clottey on the canvas, King of the Cage: Uprising II late replacement Gavin Neil choked out Charlie Zak to become the new KOTC Canadian lightweight champ, some stuff went down at Sportfight 27, and Aaron Rampey is still your father. Ladies and gentlemen, FightPicker’s current top 5:

Our sincere thanks to those hardcore FightPickers who kept playing even when the week’s only action was regional cards and boxing. Now it’s time for the rest of you to get back in the game. There are five (or possibly six) major MMA events going down in the next five weeks, beginning with UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones this Sunday on Versus. And to sweeten the pot this week, MMAWarehouse.com has hooked us up with gear packages featuring Hayabusa fight gloves, TapouT mouthguards, Sprawl Fusion-S fight shorts, and Manto rash guards. Total street value of each package: About $200.

To win one of these kickass kits, head over to MMA FightPicker and choose one of the prize pools at the top. For just 250 chips, you can enter the "Unlimited" pool — but your odds of winning decrease with every entry. If you’re a high-roller, you’ll want to join the "10" pool, which will be capped at every 10 players. The buy-in is a stiff 1,200 PotatoChips, but remember, you can always buy some chips if you need to. Sound good? Thanks to MMA Warehouse for hooking this up, and if you have any questions, please let your voice be heard in the comments section. Questions for this week are after the jump…

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Jon Jones is at that point of his career where the nut-hugging is at its most pure and intense. In the first few minutes of this Countdown video for next Sunday’s UFC on Versus show, everyone from Joe Rogan to Dana White to Rashad Evans to Greg Jackson describe Bones as a freakishly athletic star with a perfect mindset, unbelievable talent, and endless potential. But frankly, Brandon Vera has heard it all before: "Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, the second comin’ of Jesus Christ…I don’t believe all the hype, and ‘Oh, he’s the next this, that,’ man I’ve seen that happen to so many fighters. It happened to me. I started believing the hype and I started losing fights." 

Vera is as curious as the rest of us are about what Jones is truly capable of, and feels it’s hard to gauge how good Jones is because his competition hasn’t been world-class. "Matt Hamill was supposed to be the first guy to really test me," Jones points out, "And it wasn’t much of a test." Still, Jones sees himself as the underdog in this fight, which means he probably hasn’t checked out the betting lines yet.

(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.

By CagePotato contributor Jonathan Snowden

Thousands of MMA fans will turn on their television Saturday night, looking for some manly action like WEC 47 or Road House and come up empty. That’s probably because they foolishly purchased DirecTV, not knowing that the provider would soon cut Versus, home to ice hockey, second-rate racing leagues, rodeo, and cage fighting.

Luckily, that’s about to change. Sources close to the situation tell CagePotato that the dispute will come quietly to an end next week, with DirecTV subscribers once again able to purchase Versus as part of a special sports tier. While it won’t come in time for this weekend’s WEC card, MMA fans with DirecTV should have the opportunity to purchase the channel by the time the UFC runs its first event on the network later this month.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

You know what sucks? We have to wait three whole weeks until Jon Jones and Brandon Vera headline the UFC’s first event on Versus (March 21st; Broomfield, Colorado). What the hell are we going to do in the meantime?(And don’t say "Volunteer at a soup kitchen"; this is no time for jokes.) In the above hype-videos, Bones promises fireworks against Vera, and says he’ll give the Truth a striking war if that’s what he wants. He also makes a dig at Vera’s well-known hubris, saying he’s not the kind of guy to call out Chuck Liddell after winning his first UFC fight; Bones has a black belt in humility, apparently. Brandon Vera is aware that Jones has been blowing through his opponents, but feels that he’s never fought anybody on Brandon’s level, and his chin hasn’t been tested yet. ("It’s really easy to be the hammer, but it’s hard to be the nail.") Anybody see Vera winning this one? Anybody?

After the jump: Georges St. Pierre sweats alongside Michael Phelps in a new ad for Under Armour. Let’s be thankful this wasn’t an ad for Reebok.

It’s kind of crazy to think about it, but UFC fighter James Irvin hasn’t been in the Octagon since his 61-second knockout loss to Anderson Silva, way back in July 2008. Since then, the Sandman has served a nine-month suspension for unauthorized painkiller use and pulled out of two different fights due to knee injuries. (This is the same guy who blew out his knee during a match against Thiago Silva in May 2007, broke his foot while training for a UFC 85 bout against Rashad Evans, and once fell out of the cage during a fight against Bobby Southworth.) And yet the UFC has stuck by Irvin, continuing to offer him fights that he very likely won’t show up for. Everybody cross your fingers, because Irvin will reportedly make his long-delayed middleweight debut at "UFC on Versus" (March 21st; Broomfield, Colorado).

If he can avoid injuries or other major misfortunes for the next two months, Irvin’s opponent will be Alessio Sakara, who most recently won a split-decision over Thales Leites at UFC 101, effectively beating him out of the UFC. Sakara was scheduled to face Rousimar Palhares at the TUF 10 finale, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. This has to be Irvin’s last chance to save his job — will he return to his old superman-punching, flying-knee’ing form, or will he get hit by a bus on the way to weigh-ins?

(Just to complete the visual hilarity, can we get a midget to ref this fight?)

UFC Fight Night 21 on Versus in March just became a little more of a must-see, as Fighters Only is reporting that "Ultimate Fighter" season ten winner Roy Nelson is expected to take on Dutch beanpole Stefan Struve in his first post-TUF outing.  Struve has won three straight in the UFC since losing his debut fight against Junior Dos Santos, and that makes this perhaps a little tougher of a bout than many TUF winners get right off the bat, though who didn’t expect that? 

For one thing, Nelson has been in the game for years, fighting veterans like Andrei Arlovski and Jeff Monson, so it would be a little ridiculous to give him some total novice.  For another, Dana White is no fan of "Big Country," and probably doesn’t have any desire to build him up with a couple of easy wins.  Struve’s brand of lanky jiu-jitsu is responsible for most of his victories, but most of those wins were in the minor leagues and not against guys with Nelson’s grappling credentials.

This fight further bolsters a card that already features Jon Jones-Brandon Vera, Anthony Johnson-John Howard, and Junior Dos Santos-Gabriel Gonzaga.  Since my cable company yanked Versus out from under me, guess that means I’ll be watching this one with the charming gentlemen at the sports bar down the street.  Should be fun.  It’s been too long since I’ve heard anyone loudly suggest that one man kick another in the balls.  Plus there’s free Chex Mix!

Edit: Our bad, looks like this bout is slated for Fight Night 21 on March 31 in North Carolina, while UFC on Versus is headlined by Jones-Vera on March 21 in Colorado.  In our defense, this is why you should number all your events instead of just identifying some of them by the cable network they’re on, but whatever.