UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort in Depth

by Nick Thomas on Sep 2, 2009 10:10 PM EDT in News Comment 32 comments

Main Card Bouts:
- Rich Franklin (25-4) -175 vs. Vitor Belfort (18-8) +145
- Junior dos Santos (8-1) -140 vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (25-6-2) +110
- Mike Swick (14-2) -185 vs. Martin Kampmann (15-2) +145
- Josh Koscheck (12-4) -500 vs. Frank Trigg (19-6) +305
- Tyson Griffin (13-2) -240 vs. Hermes Franca (19-7) +195
- Efrain Escudero (11-0) -165 vs. Cole Miller (15-3) +135 [On Spike]
- Drew McFedries (8-5) -135 vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2-1) +105 [On Spike]

Preliminary Bouts:
- Jim Miller (14-2) vs. Steve Lopez (12-1)
- Rafaello Oliveira (9-1) vs. Nik Lentz (16-3-1)
- Paul Daley (21-8-2) vs. Brian Foster (10-3)
- Jason Brilz (17-1) vs. Eliot Marshall (7-1)
- Vladimir Matyushenko (22-4) vs. Igor Pokrajac (21-5)
- Robert Emerson (9-7) -135 vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (11-4) +105

HT: UFC.com

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vitor belfort baby!!!! hellz yeah! so happy hes back in the ufc. i have been his fan since the first time i ever saw him (scott ferozzo fight)… man this fight is going to be SICK. i am taking vitor FTW via tko. i know no one besides anderson and lyoto have stopped franklin but vitor is the new man BACK on the block and i will be out of my seat for this one the whole way through! VITOR VITOR VITOR

by buttters on Sep 2, 2009 10:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The new new Vitor is a lot like old Vitor and nothing like the old new Vitor1 WAR Vitor!

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Sep 3, 2009 12:38 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Great Night of Fights......

But the production value of that Promo is that of a commercial for a local used car dealership.

"He built his whole reputation (as a) waffle house chef. They've been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes." - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko

by Deo Wade on Sep 2, 2009 10:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Uh Ohhh.

It’s really cool to see the UFC use Affliction’s video library..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Sep 2, 2009 11:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dos Santos seems like a very good bet with those odds.

by Zack Gobie on Sep 2, 2009 11:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That’s because he is going to get KO’d sir!

by Rob J Nathan on Sep 2, 2009 11:30 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Hell yeah.

CROCOP!

by Meshuggeth on Sep 2, 2009 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

CROCOP!

Is going to get knocked out in cartoonish fashion.

"He built his whole reputation (as a) waffle house chef. They've been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes." - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko

by Deo Wade on Sep 2, 2009 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We’ll see

by Meshuggeth on Sep 3, 2009 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I actually used a time machine and came back and Cro Cop looked like Daffy Duck after Elmer Fudd shot him…

by Screwface on Sep 3, 2009 3:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

STOP !!!

This Hype over Dos Santos has to stop and CroCop will do just that. Every time I see Dos Santos fight I can’t help but look at how loopy and sloopy his punches are and how flat fooed he is.The bottom line to me is Dos Santos has some of the worst loopy punches I have ever seen for someone who is sapose to be a striker in MMA its just horrible.Sure he punches hard and will put you to sleep if he connects but they are sloopy haymakers and all a good K1 striker like CroCop is going to do is throw a counter left straight and thats it game set match. I just See CroCop picking apart Dos Santos in this fight. And come on people are we really sold on Dos Santos for his wins over a Werdum who came into that fight thinking he could strike and Stefan Struve ? CroCop is such a better technical fighter and his hands are so so much better then Dos Santos are. Those of you betting on Dos Santos better think twice about it ? His only chance is that BIG right haymaker or left Upper Cut and I don’t see eather landing.

by Shocbomb on Sep 3, 2009 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent analysis Shocbomb and I believe a lot of people will be eating their words when DS get’s KO’d by a FAR SUPERIOR STRIKER on the 19th :-) That’s not me being biased (Because I am a HUGE CC fan).

It is just the way it is, I cannot believe even the UFC are hyping this fight as a war between “Knockout artists”. PER-LEASE, there is only ONE fighter in this fight who is a knockout specialist. Bring this sh*t on, I cannot wait for people mouths to close up!

by Rob J Nathan on Sep 3, 2009 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This hype of Crocop has to stop and Dos Santos will do just that.

The Crocop hype train got derailed when he got Gonzaga’d. Time to let go of those ticket stubs guys. Crocop has looked……..piss poor as of late. Yes he was once a top 10 Heavyweight, but those days are long gone. If he takes Cigano then I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong, but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.

"He built his whole reputation (as a) waffle house chef. They've been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes." - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko

by Deo Wade on Sep 3, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually you can do it in 2 weeks …

by Rob J Nathan on Sep 3, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

J4L

the only way DS wins is if he puts pressure on CC. CC has better technical striking (think AA) but very little heart under heavy pressure* (think Grimm).

I don’t know enough of DS’ positioning or composure to say how he’ll do, nor do I think he’s the new Blackhouse star. But he does have a chance.

And while I know he’s faced more dangerous situations, he won’t go into the ring with and ESU unit behind him. :)

by asa on Sep 4, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yep.

that’s what i’m betting next time. :)

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Sep 2, 2009 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Koscheck at -500

That’s a bit steep? Of course Trigg hasn’t been relevant in a while with all that commentating…

"I call this here Clark Kent. Just sniff this, right here. It’s good, huh?! You smoke this s**t and you just wanna rip your clothes off in a phone booth and fight crime"

by TheKCB on Sep 3, 2009 12:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Trigg was horrid against strong wrestlers when he was full time and on top of his game (3+yrs ago)…don’t see this being pretty for Frank.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Sep 3, 2009 12:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

not even slightly likely but it would be so bad for kos if he some how lost after coming off the paulo loss

by ldglass on Sep 3, 2009 2:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Koscheck via Rear Naked Trigg

by Steve4192 on Sep 3, 2009 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

YUSS!!!

I’m hoping for the same thing!!!

by asa on Sep 4, 2009 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

With that line, how do we not bet on Trigg?

I wouldn’t let him anywhere near a parlay, but the return is too great if he wins.

I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.

by Llewdor on Sep 3, 2009 3:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here are my picks

1. Belfort beats Franklin
2. Dos Santos beats Cro Cop
3. Swick beats Kampmann
4. Koscheck beats Trigg
5. Griffin beats Franca
6. Miller beats Escudero
7. McFedries beats Drwal

While name value-wise, this is not the greatest card. However, the three main fights look to be entertaining and competitive on paper. Belfort vs Franklin and Dos Santos vs Cro Cop look to be standup battles.

by chrisbboy82 on Sep 3, 2009 12:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dont sleep on Cro Cop

I’m going for Dos Santos but after seeing a resurgent Nog I’m thinking Cro Cop could resurge as well. Plus a Cro Cop win could lead to Nog-Cro Cop 2 for the next title shot.

If Dos Santos wins where do you go with him and with Nog?

It will be interesting. I wrote off Nog after a bad Mir fight and that was incredibly stupid of me and so now I dont want to write off Cro Cop but Dos Santos is not Al-Turk.

This should be a great card. Not a lot of name value but all 5 fights have the potential to be great.

Hopefully:

Tyson can finish a fight and prove he is a contender at LW
Koscheck can rebound against Trigg nothing personal against Frank it’s just Josh is younger and I can think have a better impact at WW.
Swick if he wins can do better than his teamates against GSP not holding my breath
Dos Santos/ Cro Cop is a war and a lot like Randy/Nog neither fighter really looks bad.
I know Randy didnt look great but nobody was calling on him to retire.
Belfort beats Franklin, sorry have to go with Belfort rather see Belfort/Silva eventually than Franklin/Machida again

by bigdmmafan on Sep 3, 2009 4:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cro Cop would have a long climb ahead of him, even if he beats Dos Santos. After getting demolished by GG and Kongo I don’t see him being a challenger until he rolls off 3+ wins.

by Screwface on Sep 3, 2009 3:41 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs