UFC 103 - Franklin vs. Belfort

This card feels like a continuation of UFN 19.
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. On the one hand, Fight Night was really exciting and competitive. On the other, there weren't any big draws to entice fans into actually purchasing the event.
If you didn't watch it, you missed out on some surprises.

1. Tyson Griffin defeats Hermes Franca via TKO

Why did Hermes even show up? He hasn't looked great in previous showings, but I'm trying to figure out if he even tried to make weight this time around. I'm not surprised the UFC cut him recently. Besides throwing Mortal Kombat-esque uppercuts and hooks that did nothing to really slow down Tyson, he might as well have stayed back in Florida.
Griffin looked sharp as usual with a plethora of crisp, offensive strikes, quick counter strikes and good smothering, top pressure to end the match in the 2nd. I wouldn't be surprised if his next fight was the winner of Guida vs. Florian and then a title shot if he can keep a decent win streak alive.


2. Josh Koscheck defeats Frank Trigg via TKO

Boy, could this have been a really technical fight. You've got two guys with excellent wrestling pedigrees and what do they do? They stand like it's the K-1 WGP. And of course, the first guy to slip up gets the short end of the stick. Frankly, I'm glad the rumors of "Twinkle Toes" getting cut after this match weren't true because he could really make an impact in the WW division. He's got the skills and experience to beat most prelim guys but he'll struggle with the mid to top 15'ers, mainly because of a decline in athleticism and lack of speed.
Koscheck could just as easily fall in this same trap for different reasons. He clearly outmatched Trigg in both those areas above, but he clearly prefers to stand and strike rather than GNP. This got him in trouble in his last outting against Paulo Thaigo and coincidentally, a similar situation arose with this fight. Trigg was caught by a wrist/forearm shot to the back of head and was taken to the cleaners. While I understood that Trigg's plan was to stay in the pocket and trade, knowing that Koscheck's standup is quite suspect for a top 5 WW, he looked a little too anxious when he thought Koscheck was in danger. But that's also the mark of a good fighter: to be able to smell blood and go in for the kill. Luckily for Trigg, he'll get one more shot before he gets the boot and then its back to Trigonomics.


3. Paul Daley defeats Martin Kampmann via TKO

What could have been an opportunity of a lifetime for "The Hitman" became a coming out party for "Semtex".
Man that's a cool nickname - he literally blew up any chance of Kampmann getting a title shot for at least the next year or so.
We also found out Daley has a mean left hook or that Kampmann never learned to properly set up a good takedown attempt. Kampmann did land some nice knees in a thai clinch but it was too little, too late.


4. Rafael Dos Anjos defeats Rob Emerson via Decision

This match was all about adapting to the circumstances and improving upon his gameplan before the other guy. Clearly Dos Anjos is a faster thinker on his feet because he wasn't limping as he left the Octagon with a ridiculous bruise on his inner thigh.
Emerson started off well, correctly avoiding takedowns and staying in the pocket to trade with the bjj specialist. What he probably didn't factor in was that Dos Anjos had more power and speed in his left leg kicks because he was a southpaw. This gave him the obvious advantage in keeping Emerson at bay when he tried to throw any type of straight punches. After he noticed he couldn't take Rob down, he just went straight for the same spot on his inner thigh every time. The craziest part was that Emerson did NOTHING to prevent his leg from being blasted. It was almost as if he forgot that he had been hit in that same spot 10 seconds ago and proceeded to throw weak punches because he could no longer use his lead leg.

Let's keep them both on the prelims and see if either of them makes any more progress winning or losing via leg kicks.


5. Junior Dos Santos defeats Mirko CroCop via Submission

This match was the most irrelevant, relevant fight on the card. Longtime CroCop fans were hoping he'd be back in form against a young, hungry up-and-comer. Instead, it was a battered and tired CroCop against a sloppy Cigano. Mirko actually landed some nice, clean left straights but he was taking way too long to set them up and attack. Conversely, Junior was constantly moving forward and not setting up anything cleanly. This could have been his entire strategy all along, but had he taken more time to pull off some nicer and cleaner combinations, he'd have looked much more impressive to the fans and UFC management. He'll still probably get a top 15 guy in his next outting.
It was very clear Mirko didn't want to be there and his loss was inevitable. There was too much clinching and hesitation on his part for him to really put up any strong offense. And when you boil him down, that's what he's all about. Yes, his counter punches have accuracy, but he's the scariest when his head or body kicks are launched out of nowhere. He's always been most comfortable fighting in Japan and I think that's where he should end his career - maybe a rematch with "The Beast" on the next Dynamite card?

You'll always have your anti-terrorism task force day job, Mr. CroCop.


6. Vitor Belfort defeats Rich Franklin via TKO

We have a new champ of the imaginary UFC 195 lb. title.
"Ace" recently defeating "The Axe Murderer" and "The Phenom" obliterating "The Law" (dang, those just sound like they came out of a cartoon or comic book).
This fight was the least entertaining of the 3 mentioned above. There was a good deal of feeling out for nearly half the round, until they both started inching closer into the "Pocket o' TKO's". Franklin just got a little too close and got Trigg'd and it was all over.
Yes, I just made up Trigg'd right now. And yes, I purposely left out an "e".
This was just the type of win Belfort needed to skyrocket him to a title fight. It's too bad the odds aren't in his favor and he'll probably lose via highlight reel KO.
I'm not sure what tools he's going to use against the most dominant MW champ ever, given he hasn't shown many in his last 3 fights.


7. Nik Lentz defeats Rafaello Oliveira via Decision

Now this was a battle.
The first round was very competitive and a good mixture of standing and ground attacks. Both weren't afraid to stand and trade or take it to the ground. Both applied takedowns and good aggression to make it a pretty close 1st round.
2nd and 3rd rounds were all Lentz, as he stayed REAL busy the whole time. His guard was very active and he pressed the action in almost every position. Notice the body shots he was unloading on Rafaello as he was standing over him. Those can suck the gas out of you if you don't defend against them. I also like his guillotines because he wasn't just using them to finish the match. You'll notice he'd apply some good technique but let go after he was able to get his bearings and advance his position. He knew that in most of those spots he wasn't going to sub him but he could at least get out of a bad position while Oliveira was distracted by the guillotine.
For his fantastic performance, I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Nik a big step up in competition, preferably, a Jim Miller or Melvin Guillard.


8 . Rick Story defeats Brian Foster via Submission

Speaking of good performances, I wouldn't be surprised if Story jumped up to the main card against a decent opponent in his next match. He got caught with a couple good uppercuts but rallied back in the 2nd to pull off a Submission of the year contender arm triangle from top position, in GUARD. That was just straight brute strength that caused Foster to tap. Foster had the correct defense going but Story was like a pitbull that had its jaw set. I hope both of them come back against some really game opponents, that are on an upswing.



Definitely a good card all the way around, minus high profile fighters. I recommend newcomers just starting to gain interest in the sport to check it out. It's perfect since you won't neccessarily care who anyone is or what they are known for. Just really great matches with back-and-forth, awesome finishes and solid techniques.

~S