Hobart’s Darren Elkins official for
UFC on Versus 2 on Aug. 1
Jul 17, 2010 | by MattE | 1 Comment
JOSH HEDGES | UFC Hobart resident Darren Elkins takes down Duane Ludwig at UFC Live on Versus 1 on March 21.
The UFC on Friday made official the full fight card for UFC Live on Versus 2, which will take place Aug. 1 at the San Diego Sports Arena.
Making his second appearance in the UFC, Hobart, Ind., resident and Portage High School graduate Darren Elkins will take on Brazilian Charles Oliveira in a lightweight bout on the preliminary card.
UFC Live on Versus 2 will be the promotion’s second event on the Versus cable network. The four-fight main card will air live at 8 p.m. Central on Aug. 1.
The main event features a light heavyweight clash between Jon Jones and Vladimir Matyushenko. The only blemish on Jones’ 10-1 record came from a disqualification against Matt Hamill in December for throwing illegal “12-6″ elbows. His last win came over Brandon Vera in the UFC’s first Versus card in March. Matyushenko (24-4, 5-2 UFC) has won both his fights since returning to the UFC and a win over the heavily favored Jones would put him in instant contention for the 205-pound title, which is currently held by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Rua will be out until early 2011 following knee surgery and is expected to face former champion Rashad Evans in his first defense of the title.
The co-main event features Mark Munoz against Yushin Okami in a middleweight bout that has many considering it a strong candidate for Fight of the Night. Munoz has won five of his last six, including an impressive come-from-behind victory against Kendall Grove at UFC 112 in April. Okami is 8-2 in the UFC and seems to be a perpetual threat. A win over the heavy-handed Munoz could put him back into title contention.
Rounding out the televised main card, John Howard takes on Jake Ellenberger and Pride and Shooto legend Takanori Gomi makes his second UFC appearance when he meets Tyson Griffin. Both Gomi and Griffin are coming off losses. Gomi lost to Kenny Florian in his UFC debut in March; Griffin dropped a split decision to training partner Evan Dunham at UFC 115 last month.
The preliminary card features these bouts: Paul Kelly vs. Jacob Volkmann, DaMarques Johnson vs. Matthew Riddle, James Irvin vs. Igor Pokrajac, Brian Stann vs. Mike Massenzio, Thiago Tavares vs. Willamy Freire, Darren Elkins vs. Charles Oliveira and Rob Kimmons vs. Steve Steinbeiss.
» Posted in: Local MMA,News,UFC» Tagged: #top, darren elkins, jon jones, UFC, ufc live on versus 2, vladimir matyushenko
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[...] but had to withdraw due to an injury he suffered in training with teammate Darren Elkins, who makes his second UFC appearance on [...]
July 29th, 2010 at 8:07 am