UFC 103 Franklin vs Belfort Report
Vitor Turns In A Phenomenal Performance
Early nights seemed to be in fashion on September 19th, when all but one of the televised fights ended early.
Vitor Belfort Blows Rich Franklin Away
The contest started out tentatively, with Franklin looking for leg kicks. Unbelievably, the first proper engagement of the contest would prove to be the last, as Vitor floored Franklin with a mean looking uppercut and jumped on his opponent, unleashing vicious ground and pound until the referee pulled him off.
This arguably is Vitor's biggest win ever, and now his heart is in MMA again, he's a huge threat to anyone. Vitor's coming down to middleweight, and he has all the tools to give current champion Anderson Silva some big problems.
'Cro Cop' Stunned By Dos Santos
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic was defeated by Junior Dos Santos in the third round, after he quit; citing the reason that he couldn't see. This was a torrid affair, and this 'Cro Cop' is a completely different animal to the one who was steaming through top contenders in Pride.
He searched for the counter throughout, and while he landed a couple of good counter lefts, he just wasn't active enough to win any rounds. To make things worse, Dos Santos had to take a break because of an inside leg kick that strayed into the groin area.
This was an extremely disappointing fight, although Filipovic is a great name for Dos Santos to have on his record, and he should go from strength to strength. As for 'Cro Cop', retirement really does seem like the best option.
Kampmann Destroyed By Replacement
Up until a couple of weeks ago, the Dane Martin Kampmann was meant to be fighting Mike Swick. However, Swick had to pull out due to injury, and Paul 'Semtex' Daley stepped up from the undercard.
The Brit looked focussed, confident and relaxed during the fight, which is excellent for the much feared 'Octagon debut'. He mixed up his combinations well, and couldn't miss with the left hook.
It was widely thought that if Kampmann could take this to the ground the fight would end, but he didn't manage to do that, and Daley looked superb dissecting a very tough opponent in the very first round..
Koscheck And Griffin Impress On The Undercard
Josh Koscheck thought he was better than Frank Trigg everywhere, and this proved to be correct. 'Twinkletoes' started decently, but a big right hand put him down, and after that, Koscheck brutalised his foe with ground 'n' pound. The fight was short and sweet, and the comeback of Trigg didn't prove to be too fruitful.
Tyson Griffin also looked superb, outstriking an out of shape looking Hermes Franca and knocking him out in two rounds.
Franca looked uncharacteristically flabby, while Griffin was has usual 'Action Man' shape, and Griffin's striking looked really good.
His jab was flowing, and he mixed up his punches and kicks beautifully. Look for Griffin to be a major player in the lightweight division in the coming months and years, as he improves drastically between fights.
No Surprises On The Undercard
Rob Emerson showed great heart to last the distance against Rafael Dos Anjos, but was ultimately outclassed, and Dos Anjos ran away with a unanimous decision; all judges scoring the bout 30-27.
Drew McFedries looked shocked to have to come out for a second round against Tomasz Drwal, and Drwal sank in a rear naked choke in the second to finish the fight.
Fighting Jim Miller, Steve Lopez suffered a horrific injury, when his shoulder visibly popped out throwing a punch, stopping the fight in the second. To be fair though, Miller was well on top and on his way to victory.
On the other hand though, Cole Miller was defeated by an impressive Efrain Escudero, who knocked him out after a right straight floored him and ground and pound ensued.
Rick Story also looked impressive, beating Brian Foster with an arm triangle from inside the guard in the second round.
UFC 103: Filled With Knockouts
The early stoppages were flowing beautifully on the 19th September, although the most impressive victory has to be that of Vitor Belfort. It appears the old Vitor is well and truly back, and he will be a threat to anyone in the middleweight division.
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