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West Chester Twp.’s Franklin KO’d in UFC 103 headliner
DALLAS - A grazing punch hit Rich Franklin in the top of the head. He saw stars. He dropped to the mat. And he remembers little else.
The former UFC middleweight champion suffered another setback on Saturday, Sept. 19, and dropped a first-round TKO loss to fellow ex-champ Vitor Belfort.
Their fight, held at a catch-weight of 195 pounds, was part of a 13-fight lineup at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Two fights aired on Spike TV and the main card, including the Franklin vs. Belfort headliner, was available on pay-per-view.
Both fighters largely played it safe in the first few minutes of the main event fight. Each bounced in and out of the pocket and rarely threw or connected on more than a few punches in each spurt. In fact, it was a seemingly innocent shot that did the most damage.
Nearly three minutes into the round, Belfort connected with a looping left hand that grazed the top of his opponent’s head. The blow wobbled Franklin, who fell to the mat, and Belfort quickly followed with a barrage of punches before Franklin could ever shake off the cobwebs.
“Once you get clipped, everything goes blank,” Franklin, who’s now lost two his past three to drop to 25-5, said after the fight. “I’m sure things, bits and pieces, will come back once I get back to the locker room.
The ending shocked the soldout crowd of 17,428, most of whom were clearly supporting Franklin, who headlined his third UFC card of the year.
Belfort (19-8), who returned to the UFC for the first time in more than four years, picked up his fifth straight win with the victory, which came at the 3:02 mark of the first round. In the night’s post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White didn’t rule out the possibility of Belfort getting a shot at current middleweight champion Anderson Silva in his next bout.
As for Franklin, White praised his loyalty and said the former high school math teacher “will always have a home in the UFC.”
But what does Franklin want?
“Losing definitely wasn’t part of my plans,” he said. “I’m going to have to let the dust settle and figure that out.”
OFFICIAL UFC 103 RESULTS:
Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:02
Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via submission (verbal) - Round 3, 2:00
Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:31
Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:25
Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 3:26
Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 3:36
Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:03
Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez via TKO (injury) - Round 2, 0:48
Nick Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rick Story def. Brian Foster via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 2, 1:09
Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz via split decision (30-28, 27-30, 30-27)
Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rafael Dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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