UFC 103 Sept. 13

[organized_konfusion]

Here's the line up for this event, pretty stacked IMO:

-Dan Henderson (25-7; #5 Middleweight)* vs. Rich Franklin (25-4)†
-Josh Koscheck (12-4; #5 Welterweight)* vs. Frank Trigg (19-6)
-Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (25-6-2; #7 Heavyweight)* vs. Junior dos Santos (8-1)
-Martin Kampmann (15-2; #7 Welterweight)* vs. Mike Swick (14-2; #9 Welterweight)*
-Tyson Griffin (13-2) vs. Hermes Franca (19-7)
-Sean Sherk (33-4-1) vs. Gleison Tibau (17-7)
-Efrain Escudero (11-0) vs. Cole Miller (15-3)
-Drew McFedries (8-5) vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2-1)
-Jason Brilz (17-1) vs. Eliot Marshall (7-1)

[southmadejd]

Wait man, I am confused.....I thought Cro Cop screwed UFC over and signed with Dream

[organized_konfusion]

No Dana went after him, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.....They originally did a contract over the phone...

[J-Dogg]

Good card there,

I'd like to see Cro Cop train with some other camps, and get him to loosen up his hands a little more again. Against Wandy his punching was spot on, but he got too use to depending on that left kick.

[southmadejd]

No Dana went after him, and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.....They originally did a contract over the phone...

Oh ok, so he is also with Dream?? Or just with UFC now?

[organized_konfusion]

Just UFC, hold up, I will find the article....

[organized_konfusion]

Following a controversial win over Mustapha Al-Turk at UFC 99, Cro Cop made headlines by reportedly snubbing a two-fight UFC deal for a contract with Dream. The feared striker subsequently told Croatian news outlets that the snafu had been a misunderstanding and his decision to stray was based on the UFC's offered timetable for future fights.

Late last week, Croatian website Index.hr reported that Lorenzo Fertitta flew to Cro Cop's Zagreb home to re-establish contact and offer a new deal for his UFC return. The deal was reportedly "an offer he couldn't refuse."

According to MMAWeekly.com's sources, Cro Cop has dropped out of an announced fight with Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga at Dream 10 on July 20.

Though it's conceivable that Cro Cop could make both fights, it appears he has chosen to remain inside the Octagon.
"I just want to return to the top," he said. " I just want to prove to everyone that they were wrong.”

[PistolPete33]

Let's see if CroCop can pull it together again.

[organized_konfusion]

he just needs to go in there and "let it go" like he did in pride....his past fights he has been sitting back too much

[organized_konfusion]

It'd be awesome if Hendo could knock out Franklin like he did Bisping......WAR HENDO!

[PistolPete33]

It'd be awesome if Hendo could knock out Franklin like he did Bisping......WAR HENDO!

I actually prefer Franklin over Hendo. He's more interesting to watch.

[Brown Ninja]

More interestig than Dan? Not much rest for Hendo. Seems like a dangerous fight to take for him. Why fight a man without a weight class who is very tough when your goal is to fight Silva for the belt

[Hunter]

I would rather watch silva vs hendo 2 then hendo vs franklin 2. That fight serves no purpose at all imo except to **** dan over. Trigg had a career rebirth but at middleweight not ww, bad match for Trigg, would much rather see him fight at Mw. Really not interested in the crocop fight. Swick vs Martin should be a good fight but neither of them are on the level of Fitch or Thiago. Gsp is gonna run through either one of them worse then his last two title defenses. Tyson and Franca should also be a good fight but I see Tyson outworking franca for the dec. Sherk vs Tibau fight will also be a good techinical fight and loser will be out of the ufc for awhile imo. 50/50 on this fight could go to either fight I think sherk by split dec. Escurdo vs Miller should give the fans a good idea of what level escurdo is on.

[WARMachine]

Tyson and Franca should also be a good fight but I see Tyson outworking franca for the dec.

Dont count on it. Hermes will win.

[Hunter]

Dont count on it. Hermes will win.

Personally hermes hasnt impressed me often. He has power but not the best techinque to say the least. His bjj is good but he doesnt seem to have the best guard game but his top has impressed me. Just my two cents, a friend of mine says that sherk was very very disgusted with his performance in his last fight.

[Brown Ninja]

I think Griffen all the way. He has very underrated boxing which I think will be the difference. Hermes is unbelievably tough but can never seem to catch a break

[WARMachine]

Personally hermes hasnt impressed me often. He has power but not the best techinque to say the least. His bjj is good but he doesnt seem to have the best guard game but his top has impressed me. Just my two cents, a friend of mine says that sherk was very very disgusted with his performance in his last fight.

Hermes jiu jitsu is his biggest asset still. But he doesnt train with a gi and hasnt for a long time. His jiu jitsu has suffered from it.

But he is training hard for this one.

[johnCash]

awesome card but sh*tty main event. why would they do hendo vs franklin 2? they just fought and it was mediocre and boring. pointless really. hendo should fight silva cause hes really the only one who could beat anderson silva. hermes franca has looked average since he was pinched for using juice. same with sherk but hes still good enough to be at the top.

[PistolPete33]

I'm looking forward to the Forest vs. Anderson fight next month. Anderson hasn't been himself his past 2 fights and he needs someone to push him and I think Forrest is the man to do just that. I really like both of these fighters but my money is on Anderson. However, Forrest shocked me many times esp. when he beat Rampage and Ninja.

[WARMachine]

when he beat Rampage and Ninja.

You mean Shogun.

[lostcause]

i heard that this was more than likely be a free one on spike. idk why hendo vs franklin 2. this seems like both fighters have alot to loose and very little to gain by this fight. if frank wins then he is no closer to making a run at the mw or lhw title. if hendo wins then he is no closer at staking a claim for the mw title shot than he is already. id rather see him wait and AS, vetor or wvand. as for frank, why not match him up against coleman or some1 else that a win over would give him more footing in the lhw division.

great card, hope it is free. alot of exciting, explosive fights that could bring in new fans. also it is a great time bc after that week, it is going to be nothing but football dominating the cable ratings.

[Brown Ninja]

good card and even better if it's free

[AlphaMaleDawg]

looks like a decent card. lots of "good" matches but no "must see" matches or anything

[lostcause]

there are a ton of guys on this card that always put on great fights. tyson, franca, sherk, miller, swick. agreed none that you can really hype, but will be way better than the last ufc, wich if not for AS ko would have sucked. franklin vs vetor has me amped. if AS moves up to lhw, puts the winner fighting for the vacant belt the next fight. i also like the 2 biggest pricks in mma match up, koshchek and trigg.

[Brown Ninja]

Great card top to bottom. What weight is the Vitor fight at? 205 would be my guess

[Biohazard74]

Great card top to bottom. What weight is the Vitor fight at? 205 would be my guess

Is that a rumor? I havent been keeping up lately but i really hope its at 185. I think not many at 185 can hang with Vitor. I sure as hell hope Vitor and Anderson still happens one way or the other

[lostcause]

i would think another catch weight like the wandy fight, 195. rich said that he is trying to become a lhw and doesnt want to cut down to 185, thats what he said before the wandy fight anyways.

[Brown Ninja]

great fight but still doesn't make much sense with the weight