UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort September 19, 2009 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas SpikeTV (9:00PM EST, 6:00PM PST) PPV (10:00PM EST, 7:00PM PST) Preliminary Bouts: 155lbs. Steve Lopez vs. Jim Miller [may not be broadcast] 155lbs. Nick Lentz vs. Rafaello Oliveira [may not be broadcast] 170lbs. Brian Foster vs. Rick Story [may not be broadcast] 205lbs. Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall [may not be broadcast] 205lbs. Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac [may not be broadcast] 155lbs. Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson [may not be broadcast] SpikeTV Broadcast: 155lbs. Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller 185lbs. Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries PPV Broadcast: 155lbs. Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin 170lbs. Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg 170lbs. Martin Kampmann vs. Paul Daley 265lbs. Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko Filipovic 195lbs. Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort LMFAO HAHAHHHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAAH OMFG HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA THIS WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE WHEN I SIGNED ON HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH BEST MOMENT IN S2 EVERRRRRRR HAHAHHA
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) Kampmann/Swick and Belfort/Franklin both have fight of the year potential, IMO. I expect all four guys to come out swinging looking to make a statement with a big fucking KO
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) Notes on the Event: -- UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva forced Rich Franklin out of the division after two dominating TKO victories. Since then Franklin has fought a few fights at light heavyweight and one at a catchweight of 195-lbs.--where he'll be fighting returning UFC star Vitor Belfort in Dallas. Franklin is coming off two controversial decisions in his last two bouts--a split decision loss to Dan Henderson and a unanimous decision win over Wanderlei Silva. Belfort is on a four-fight winning streak punctuated by a thundering KO of Matt Lindland in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning. Belfort is expected to move down to middleweight following this fight. -- Despite rumours to the contrary Mirko Filipovic is a man of his word. Filipovic and UFC President Dana White made a verbal agreement that his one-off contract to fight Mustapha Al-Turk in Germany would lead into a long term deal. Immediately following the Al-Turk fight rumours surfaced that Filipovic was headed back to Japan to fight for Dream, even prompting Dream to add him to their website. After a bit of he-said she-said between White and Filipovic's camp, the Croatian striker eventually re-signed with the UFC. He has a very difficult opponent waiting for him in Dallas in Nogueira/Black House product Junior dos Santos. "Cigano" has clobbered his way to a 2-0 UFC record and is averaging about one minute per fight so far. The 25-year old Brazilian kickboxer will be dwarfed in experience by Filipovic but may have a speed and power advantage in the bout. -- Martin Kampmann and Mike Swick have fought their way to a welterweight title eliminator at UFC 103. Both fighters are former middleweights who have dropped weight and been successful since doing so. Reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is currently nursing an injury and is expected to return to action in very early 2010, leaving either Kampmann or Swick three to five months to gear up for their first title shot. However, an unimpressive fight between the two could prompt St. Pierre to try his hand in the middleweight division instead. -- Former UFC welterweight contender Frank Trigg makes his UFC return at UFC 103 when he takes on wrestling phenom Josh Koscheck. Trigg's comeback came as a surprise to many since the 37-year old fighter seemed to find a home fighting on the B-stage for Strikeforce, ICON, Rumble on the Rock, and other small promotions since leaving the UFC in 2005. Two rumours have Trigg being resigned (along with Dennis Hallman) at the behest of Matt Hughes, or to fill-out a roster spot on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter--which may feature old fighters on the comeback trail. Josh Koscheck hasn't fought since a controversial knockout loss to Paulo Thiago at UFC 95. -- Efrain Escudero makes his anticipated post-Ultimate Fighter television series debut at UFC 103 when he takes on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cole Miller. Escudero defeated Phillipe Nover by unanimous decision at the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale in December and boasts a perfect 11-0 pro MMA record. Miller is coming off a crowd-pleasing submission victory over Junie Browning at UFC Fight Night 18 in April. Miller is 4-1 in the UFC since being eliminated on The Ultimate Fighter season 5. -- British striker Paul Daley makes his UFC debut in Dallas when he takes on another UFC newcomer in Brian Foster. "Semtex" recently fought for the EliteXC Welterweight Championship but was submitted by Jake Shields. The 26-year old is an extremely active fighter with over 30 pro bouts under his belt, including three already this year. His opponent, Foster, is a Hit Squad fighter under the tutelage of Matt Hughes. All ten of Foster's victories have come by way of knockout or submission. -- Rafaello Oliveira was distraught when Affliction: Trilogy was cancelled and his fight with Takanori Gomi was called-off. The UFC has picked up the young Knoxville fighter and given him a shot at UFC 103 against fellow newcomer Nick Lentz. The "Tractor" has a 9-1 record with pro wins over such luminaries as Wigman Big Big and Fabio Fabio. Lentz has fought exclusively on the small circuit putting together a respectable 16-3-1 record. His most notable win came in March where he fought to a unanimous decision victory over former UFC fighter Drew Fickett. -- Former UFC heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko makes his unexpected return to the Octagon in Dallas. "The Janitor" has been away from the UFC since 2003 when he was knocked out by Andrei Arlovski at UFC 44: Undisputed. Matyushenko had a 3-2 UFC record with wins over Travis Wiuff, Pedro Rizzo and Yuki Kondo, and a loss to Tito Ortiz. The 38-year old Belorussian has accumulated a 22-4 professional record with 14 of his wins coming by way of submission or knockout. Matyushenko is another candidate for the rumoured comeback season of TUF. His opponent, Igor Pokrajac, is a teammate of fellow Croatian Mirko Filipovic on an eight-win streak. The 30-year old his making his UFC debut.
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) Rich Franklin with a KO. Dude is a beast. My fav. fighter beside Rampage.
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) Franklin is good, but not elite. I feel kind of bad for him. He's sort of becoming a tweener in the UFC.
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) Rather than showing the entire preliminary set, SpikeTV will broadcast the Escudero and McFedries fights in a one-hour block. Not as good as showing the whole thing but still better than nothing. This card has been a little overlooked lately with Fight Night, the TUF premier, announcements for UFC 104 and 105, and the fallout from UFC 102. But there are some interesting bouts on it, especially Cro Cop vs. dos Santos.
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) [video=youtube;sVUWLl_AJfs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVUWLl_AJfs[/video]
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) [video=youtube;RKZ77eR879Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKZ77eR879Y[/video]
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) [video=youtube;nrSpKJCYYeY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrSpKJCYYeY[/video]
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) [video=youtube;65yf2-OmRuw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65yf2-OmRuw[/video]
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) [video=youtube;iAIkzbwCRTU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAIkzbwCRTU[/video]
Re: UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort (Sep. 19th) ^over the other fights? no way! trigg making his first appearance.. and never really headlined anything in his career; so i dont see that changing.. j-kos is on a losing streak..
