“UFC on Versus 2: Moving to San Diego

The UFC has swapped locations for their “UFC on Versus: Jones vs. Matyushenko” event on August 1st. The Versus broadcast was moved from the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah to the San Diego Arena in California.

“Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong, and when we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales. As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to pull the plug and move this August 1st event to the San Diego Sports Arena,” said UFC President Dana White.

That’s odd, the heavily populated Mormon community doesn’t want to watch violent MMA action on a SUNDAY afternoon???

Heavy.com was the first to report the venue change on Monday afternoon.

The card will be headlined by a pivotal light heavyweight scrap between up-and-coming superstar Jon Jones and MMA journeyman Vladimir Matyushenko. In addition, fast-rising middleweight stud Mark Munoz will be pitted against former top contender Yushin Okami in the night’s co-main event.

Here’s the lineup for the freebie Versus broadcast:

Preliminary Bouts:

Rob Kimmons vs. Steve Steinbeiss
Paul Kelly vs. Jacob Volkmann
James Irvin vs. Igor Pokrajac
Brian Stann vs. Mike Massenzio
DaMarques Johnson vs. Matt Riddle

Main Bouts:

Joe Stevenson vs. Takanori Gomi
Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard
Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jon Jones

Article written by: Tom Ngo (5th Round)

Mark Munoz vs Yushin Okami at UFC on Versus 2

A middleweight bout has been added to the upcoming UFC on Versus 2 show in Salt Lake City as former NCAA champion Mark Munoz returns to action to face Japanese fighter Yushin Okami.

The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday by sources close to the bout.

Since dropping to middleweight, Mark Munoz (8-1) has won his last three fights including a 2nd round stoppage over former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Kendall Grove in his last fight at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

The powerful wrestler has displayed some of the most vicious and devastating ground and pound in the sport with his wins over Grove and Ryan Jensen, who he blasted at UFC 108 in January. Now looking to make an even bigger impact in the division, he faces top ten middleweight Yushin Okami.

Okami (24-5) has always been a threat to the top contenders in the middleweight division, but has come up short in his two bids to get into title contention. A unanimous decision loss to Rich Franklin in 2007 kept him away from the championship, and then a defeat at the hands of current top contender Chael Sonnen late last year.

Always known as one of the hardest fighters to match-up with, Okami’s style has been described as suffocating, and he will have to fight a perfect gameplan with a wrestler the caliber of Munoz in this fight.

While the bout has not been officially announced by the UFC, it’s expected that Munoz vs. Okami will make the night’s televised broadcast.

Article written by: Damon Martin (MMA Weekly)

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