Author: John Morgan [kingofabuelos]

It’s finally here.

The long-anticipated stretch of an insanely packed schedule of MMA kicks
off tonight with UFC on Versus 1, and this week’s edition of The Sunday
Junkie, MMAjunkie.com’s weekly reader-feedback feature, took a hard
look at the event, among other items in the landscape of MMA.

This week’s winner, Sam “ALL JAM” Perez believes that not only is
tonight’s event spectacular, but it should appease those MMA fans who
are still unwilling to pay $44.99 for April’s landmark WEC 48 event. Is
he right?

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Duane Ludwig (19-10 MMA, 2-1 UFC), or “Bang” as he’s
known to pretty much everyone, is a name synonymous with the fight
game.

With more than 10 years of MMA experience – and even more than that in
Thai boxing – Ludwig has fought for the UFC, Strikeforce, Sengoku, K-1 and King
of the Cage, to name but a few.

But while preparing to face UFC newcomer Darren Elkins (11-1 MMA, 0-0
UFC) at tonight’s UFC on Versus 1 event, Ludwig had a surprising
revelation: he’s still learning the fight game.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Trying to recount the past year of Shane Carwin’s fighting life is a bit difficult. Just listen to him try.

“You get ready for a training camp, and you get your eyes on an opponent
and start getting prepared for them, and then it falls through,” Carwin said. “Then a new one was there, and
so you take a week off and get ready to get prepared for that fight.
Then it was six weeks before that fight, and that fight fell through.
Then they were going to reschedule it in January, so I took another week
off.”

Despite the less-than-ideal path to his interim title shot with Frank
Mir at UFC 111, Carwin insists he’ll be
well-prepared – and he credits his life outside of the cage for pulling
him through.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – MMAjunkie.com was on scene for today’s “UFC on Versus 1: Jones vs. Vera” official fighter weigh-ins and captured images of all 22 event competitors.

The weigh-ins took place at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., which also hosts Sunday’s first-ever Versus-televised event.

Check out photographs of all the competitors, including UFC on Versu 1 headliners Brandon Vera, who weighed 204 pounds, and Jon Jones, who tipped the scale at 205 pounds.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – In UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub’s most recent outing, he was featured in the main event of The
Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

After losing to Roy Nelson that night, Schaub now returns to action at
Sunday night’s UFC on Versus 1 event. But despite fighting in his
hometown of Broomfield, Colo., Schaub has tumbled from main-event status down to the evening’s
preliminary card.

While admittedly disappointed, Schaub told MMAjunkie.com that he’s not concerned. After all, he knows what it
takes to get his bout with Chase Gormley on TV.

While the UFC’s debut event on Versus is undoubtedly the most
anticipated fight card of the weekend, it’s not the only top-level MMA action
on TV.

Just a few hours after UFC on Versus 1 signs off, North American fight
fans can also catch a live broadcast of DREAM.13 on HDNet.

The show takes place Monday at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, and
because of the time difference, airs at 3 a.m. ET (12 a.m. PT) early Monday morning.