Vitor Belfort On His Fight At UFC 103 With Rich Franklin
On Saturday, September 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, former UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin (25-4, 13 KO’s), who reestablished his stature in June with a decision over Wanderlei Silva, takes on former UFC light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort (18-8, 12 KO’s), the “Phenom” from Brazil last seen in the Octagon back in 2005 when he dropped a split nod to Tito Ortiz.
Belfort has beaten Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Heath Herring, Tank Abbott and last fought in January when he beat Matt Lindland during an Affliction show.
Franklin, a former high school math teacher, won the UFC middleweight title over Evan Tanner at UFC 53 and later lost – twice – to Anderson Silva in title fights. Franklin moved back into the light heavyweight ranks at UFC 88 and beat Matt Hamill, but followed that with a loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.
This fight is also at that agreed-upon weight of 195 pounds. Franklin checks in as the -165 favorite, while Belfort is at +135 in the BetUS.com UFC 103 MMA betting odds.
Another legendary figure continues his UFC run, as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic (25-6-2, 19 KO’s) takes on Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos (8-1, 6 KO’s) in three-round action in the heavyweight division. This one should kick up a storm as both fighters have serious kick-boxing backgrounds.
Cro Cop has fought a couple of times for the Pride heavyweight title, losing to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fedor Emiliananko. He won the 2006 Pride Openweight Grand Prix tournament by beating Josh Barnett, then came into the UFC with losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. He came back to the UFC after an 18-month absence on June 13 with an eye-poking, disappointing TKO of Mostapha Al-turk.
Dos Santos, 18-0 as a kick-boxer and a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, has never gone beyond the first round in any of his fights. His first seven fights were in Brazil, and his only loss occurred there, to Joaquim Ferreira. He made his entre into the UFC with a KO of Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90. His last fight was in England (a TKO of Stefan Struve) at UFC 95. Dos Santos, incredibly powerful, has the ability to beat Cro Cop at his own game.
Dos Santos is a -130 favorite at BetUS, while Cro Cop is listed as even money.
Frank Trigg (19-6, 8 KO’s), who is mostly known for fighting in other organizations and for his work as a commentator, will fight in the UFC for the first time in four years when he takes on Josh Koscheck (12-4, 3 KO’s) in a three-round welterweight bout.
Koscheck has a solid amateur wrestling background and has fought all but two of his bouts in the UFC. His first win was over Christopher Sanford in the first Ultimate Fighter finale, and he has also defeated the likes of Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle and Dustin Hazelett. He’s been defeated by Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, and there’s no shame in that. In his last bout, he lost to Paulo Thiago.
Trigg has fought twice for the UFC welterweight title, losing both times to Matt Hughes. He’s also won the Icon Sport middleweight championship and has fought in Pride, Shooto, the WFA and Strikeforce. At 37, he’s looking to make his last run toward a world title.
Koscheck is a -400 favorite in the fight, with Trigg priced at +300 at BetUS, but Trigg says you should put your money on him and buy yourself a Bentley with the proceeds.
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