BROOMFIELD — Jon Jones had heard them all before. He is too young. He isn’t technically adept enough to hang with veteran Brandon Vera.
But with one vicious left elbow to Vera’s right orbital Sunday, Jones, a.k.a. “Bones,” continued his ascent as the next big thing on the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit with a first-round technical knockout against the light heavyweight 10 years his senior.
It was the 22-year-old Jones’ 10th win in 11 fights — his one loss was the result of a disqualification in a fight he was winning handily against Matt Hamill in December.
The event, held at a packed and frenzied 1stBank Center, was dubbed “UFC on VERSUS” because it marked the first time UFC broadcast live nationally on the cable network.
“I definitely didn’t take Brandon lightly,” said Jones, who won in 3 minutes, 19 seconds. “I studied him night and day and almost felt like I knew him before I stepped in here.”
After beginning his mixed martial arts career 6-0, Vera has lost five of eight fights. (Jones claimed he watched each of the first four losses more than 50 times.) Vera is nicknamed “The Truth,” but the principal truth Sunday for the former Old Dominion and Air Force wrestler was that he couldn’t open his right eye as he exited the arena.
“He is one of the first opponents that had a lot of trash talk and said a lot of things that I didn’t appreciate,” Jones said. “It was more personal. He wants to be a tough guy? Well, I can be a tough guy too.”
In the co-headliner, Junior Dos Santos unleashed a flurry of punches against fellow Brazilian heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga en route to a ferocious knockout at 3:53 of the first round.
“If you’re here to watch good knockouts, I’m here to give them to you,” Dos Santos said.
In the earlier bouts of the main card, middleweight Alessio Sakara scored a first-round knockout of James Irvin when a fierce left hook connected at 3:01, and Cheick Kong won by submission in the third round against crowd favorite Paul Buentello in a heavyweight bout. Buentello officially fights out of San Jose, Calif., but trains in Denver.
Denver resident Brendan Schaub won on the undercard. The heavyweight TKO’d Chase Gormley in 47 seconds.
Of note, Vladimir Matyushenko won a split decision against Boulder’s Eliot Marshall, and Darren Elkins defeated Denver’s Duane Ludwig, who headed for a hospital with a severe ankle injury.
