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- UFC 103 bonuses and awards for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ PPV fights
- UFC 103 results recap from last night recap and post-fight discussion for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’
- UFC 103 results and LIVE fight coverage TONIGHT (Sept. 19)!
- UFC 103 videos blog with Vitor Belfort (Episodes three and four)
- Closing the gap: Josh Koscheck UFC 103 interview exclusive with MMAmania
- Follow MMAmania on Twitter!
- UFC Countdown to 103: ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ video
- ‘Power struggle’ forces Kenny Florian and Mark Dellagrotte to amicably part ways
- UFC 103 odds and betting lines for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ on Sept. 19 (Updated)
- Meet ‘Babalu’ Sobral, Brian Stann and more Affliction-sponsored fighters today (Sept. 19) in New Jersey
| UFC 103 bonuses and awards for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ PPV fights Posted: 19 Sep 2009 11:47 PM PDT
UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort" from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, has officially wrapped, which means that it's time for those select fighters who went above and beyond in their respective fights to get a little extra grease for their efforts. To the tune of $65,000 each. The promotion dished out its standard post-fight monetary bonuses to four out of the 26 fighters on the card. And it may not come as a shock whose wallets are leaving "The Lone Star State" a little heavier. In addition to their base salaries, the UFC awarded undercard standouts Rick Story and Brian Foster "Fight of the Night" for their electrifying back-and-forth war that was short on rounds but long on excitement. It was a “Horror” Story for Brian Foster after being taken down in the second stanza where he would find himself tapping out to a slick arm-triangle choke. So slick, in fact, that it also garnered Story “Submission of the Night” and an additional $65,000 — giving him a total of $130,000 for about six minutes of work. Not a bad night for the UFC sophomore. Last but not least was the “Phenom”enal knockout of former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin that earned Vitor Belfort “Knockout of the Night” in his UFC return. The “Old Vitor” is back — and he’s got the big bag of bonus cash to prove it. Here are the special fight bonuses for UFC 103:
Again, each fighter received $65,000 extra for their performances in addition to their respective base salaries, which we will pass along as soon as possible. The highly anticipated event drew 17,428 fans for a $2.4 million gate For complete UFC 103 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC 103 results recap from last night recap and post-fight discussion for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ Posted: 19 Sep 2009 09:27 PM PDT
UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort" went off tonight (Sat., Sept. 19) from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, featuring a main event between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort at a 195-pound catchweight. It was the first fight for “The Phenom" under the UFC banner since 2005. And he made a statement tonight that he is indeed back and ready to take care of business. Belfort was able to land an awkward barrage of punches that crumbled “Ace” to the ground early in the first. It didn’t appear to be anything too hard, grazing, in fact, but is was fast, accurate and apparently too much for Franklin to handle. Franklin was clearly out, and in the post-fight interview, admitted that he himself wasn’t really sure what happened. What we can be be sure of is that Belfort certainly set himself up nicely for a possible run at UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva. It’s a match up that the promotion wants and will likely have an easier time selling after tonight’s quick result. Franklin, meanwhile, will have to pick up the pieces and start making some headway in the 205-pound division. He hasn’t made much progress on that front because of his recent spate of catchweight fights, but that needs to change. Sooner rather than later.
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Junior dos Santos hooked ‘em up in a hard-hitting heavyweight attraction that was billed as the old guard versus the new. Cro Cop wanted to re-establish himself as one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport and “Cigano” wanted remind everyone that he, too, can pack a powerful punch. Let’s just say that the division now has a new young lion leading its pride. Both fighters traded vicious blows for 10 minutes straight. The first round was close, but dos Santos began to pull away as time ticked down, doing his most damage in round two. He even weathered a hard low blow to the nuts toward the tail end of the second frame, which didn’t stop him from coming out guns blazing in the third. The Croatian couldn’t find a home for his trademark left high kick despite repeated efforts to create distance. And that very well could have been the difference maker. “Cigano” closed the gap and nailed Cro Cop with a hard knee to the face, signaling the end for the 2006 Pride FC Open Weight Grand Prix winner. He ate a few more shots, but then informed his opponent in the heat of battle that he could no longer continue because he could not see. Naturally, dos Santos began to celebrate, confusing the in-ring official. But it was confirmed shortly thereafter and Cro Cop was immediately bum rushed by medical personnel. Can’t say enough about “Cigano” — he’s a very talented and fearless force in a competitive division. If he keeps this up he’ll earn the fight of his life sooner rather than later. And perhaps we’ve said too much about Cro Cop returning to his old self. His best days are clearly behind him. Heavy-handed promotional newcomer Paul Daley knew that his best chance to defeat the more well-rounded Martin Kampmann was to keep the welterweight showdown upright. He was right. “Semtex” picked apart the “Hitman” — who had title-challenging hopes on the line — as soon as the horn blared to start the bout. Kampmann’s corner screamed for him to take the fight to the mat, where Daley is not nearly as good, when things weren’t going his way early, but he just couldn’t do it. In the meantime, Daley continued to find a home for his powerful left hook, which eventually led to the finish via strikes. Kampmann never went down, but he was clearly punch drunk and in major trouble before the referee, Yves LaVigne, intervened. Tough loss for the Danish kickboxer. Huge win for the British brawler. Mike Swick, the man who Kampmann was supposed to challenge tonight to determine the next 170-pound contender, appeared to want Daley next based on his ringside reaction. Interested, Maniacs? Josh Koscheck welcomed Frank Trigg back to the Octagon for the first time since 2005. And if he expected warm milk and cookies he was sorely mistaken. “Kos” and "Twinkle Toes" — both decorated wrestlers — went toe-to-toe from the get-go. It never hit the floor until Trigg went ass over tin cups courtesy of a clean straight right hand. Koscheck followed it up on the ground with several powerful punches that forced the referee in charge of the action to step in and stop it in the first round. Trigg immediately disputed the stoppage — even pushing the official — but the replays showed that he was hurt and in trouble, and it appeared his homecoming was only going to get worse if it continued. Koscheck called out another decorated wrestler, Matt Hughes, in his post-fight interview. It’s too early to tell if that will happen in the near future, but it’s safe to say that most fans will want to see it if the fight is ever booked. As for Trigg, who knows, Martin Kampmann, perhaps? Former number one lightweight contender, Hermes Franca, was out to put together back-to-back wins for the first time in two years when he collided with Tyson Griffin in the first fight of the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast. He came into the 155-pound showdown four pounds too heavy at the weigh in, leading many to believe that he was not in the kind of shape required to take on a top, tireless fighter like Griffin. After tonight’s sluggish performance, that now seems like a fair assessment. Franca looked slow and out of shape. The faded, unkept lilac-colored mop top certainly didn’t help change any of those perceptions. And Griffin made him pay, registering his first stoppage since 2006 (that’s not a typo) with a brutal second round technical knockout of the portly Brazilian. It was great to see Griffin score such a convincing win over a relatively big name. He needed it. Franca — even though he looked like a bag lady — is very hard to put away. Griffin simply picked him apart with crisp punches and fancy footwork. Hopefully, he gets a tougher test his next time out — one that puts him closer to an eventual title berth sometime in 2010 if he keeps winning. Franca, on the other hand, hopefully earned enough to get haircut. All of ‘em. That's enough from us — now it's your turn to discuss “Franklin vs. Belfort” in the comments section below. Sound off, Maniacs. Let's hear what you have to say. To check out complete UFC 103 results, coverage and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC 103 results and LIVE fight coverage TONIGHT (Sept. 19)! Posted: 19 Sep 2009 09:54 AM PDT
Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort." Remember that Spike TV is featuring two bouts, Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller and Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries, on its network commercial-free RIGHT NOW! If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main UFC 103 results post and not this one. Enjoy the show, Maniacs! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC 103 videos blog with Vitor Belfort (Episodes three and four) Posted: 19 Sep 2009 09:50 AM PDT Behind the scenes of the weight cut fiasco: Check out episode four after the jump.
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| Closing the gap: Josh Koscheck UFC 103 interview exclusive with MMAmania Posted: 19 Sep 2009 08:38 AM PDT
The UFC's welterweight division has been, arguably, the most stacked division in mixed martial arts since the Pharaoh first taught Moses to roll. No other division under any MMA promotion has consistently been home to so many top 10 fighters in the modern era of the sport. One of the fighters who has been in the thick of things in that division since the emergence of "The Ultimate Fighter" series nearly four-and-a-half years ago is Josh Koscheck. Having fought 14 of his 16 career professional fights inside the Octagon, "Kos" has learned to adapt and evolve inside the MMA big leagues, transitioning from a four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and champion to a well-versed, well-rounded fighter with knockout power. During his career, the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product has faced some of the very best, including reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and former number one contender, Thiago Alves. Koscheck also holds wins over current number one lightweight contender, Diego Sanchez, as well as Chris Lytle, Dustin Hazelett and Yoshiyuki Yoshida — the latter of which earned him the "Knockout of the Night" bonus at UFC: "Fight for the Troops" last December. Most recently, Koscheck was on the wrong end of an uppercut from Brazilian product Paulo Thiago at UFC 95: "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" — a fight "Kos" was dominating on the feet up until that point. He now looks to bounce back from that loss this Saturday (Sept. 19) at UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort" when he welcomes back to the UFC longtime veteran, Frank Trigg. An accomplished wrestler in his own right, Trigg (19-6), now 37 years old, has stated his interest in making one last "title run" before Father Time forces him to hang up his gloves once and for all. He's riding a four-fight win streak and sees the fight against Koscheck as one against his "mirror image." We caught up with Koscheck to see how he feels going in against the southpaw Trigg, ask him what it felt like to earn one of the best knockouts in recent memory, find out if he thinks Matt Hughes is dodging him, and see how his recent loss to Paulo Thiago has affected him. Let's get after it:
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I last interviewed you in March 2008 before the Dustin Hazelett fight in Columbus, Ohio. Josh Koscheck: I remember. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Oh, right on. You've gone 3-2 since that time, including a highlight reel knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida, one of the best knockouts I think that we've seen in the Octagon. First, let's start with that fight. Tell us what it was like to land those shots and put such a dangerous opponent in Yoshida straight down, just out of his wits. Josh Koscheck: Honestly, I like fighting southpaws. A lot of people don't like fighting them, I like to fight southpaws. I think it's better for my style. Yeah, if you can knock somebody out like that, that's the ultimate. It puts you on cloud nine. It's just a matter of being patient and capitalizing on that opportunity. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): The win over Yoshida allowed you to bounce back from the Thiago Alves fight. For that fight you stepped in on short notice — I think you had two weeks' notice — and drew Alves' number when he was riding this huge wave of momentum. That was a dangerous gamble to take, to take the fight on short notice. Looking back on it now, do you think that fight would have ended differently, had you had more time to prepare? Josh Koscheck: It possibly could have. I don't really look too much into that, you know? I'm a fighter, I step up and I fight, whether it's one week or three months, or whatever. I just focus on what I gotta do to try to win. It just shows that I'm willing to fight anybody, I don't care where they're ranked, or what their record is, or how many fights they've won or how many they've lost. I'll just fight anybody, I don't care. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Is Alves an opponent you'd like to rematch one day down the road? Josh Koscheck: Yeah, definitely. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): At some point around the Yoshida fight, you had mentioned that you wanted to fight as frequently as possible. I think that you had said if you could fight five or six times in the next year you would. You then signed to fight Paulo Thiago — your third fight in four months' time — and then signed to fight Chris Wilson a few months from that date but a foot injury forced you off the card. Can you talk a bit about how often you'd like to fight, assuming you remain injury free? Josh Koscheck: Well my plan is to fight one or two more times — hopefully I can get one more in this year after Frank Trigg. I'd try to fight every other month if they'd let me. The only way I'm going to get better is by getting in the cage and fighting. You can train all you want, there's nothing like the competition. The competition is where you improve, getting in the cage and fighting. So for me, if I'm healthy, why not fight? I'll fight every month if they'll let me. I'll fight 12 times a year if I can be healthy and the UFC will allow it. That'd be awesome. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Let's talk about the Paulo Thiago fight. You seemed to be dominating the standup up until he caught you with the uppercut. I don't know if you've watched the replay, but Joe Rogan was just praising your standup skills the entire time, and then seemingly out of nowhere, the uppercut came. What led to the end, did you recognize that you were dominating him and just got a little too reckless, or was it something else? Josh Koscheck: Yeah possibly. Welcome to mixed martial arts, you know. It happens all the time where you'll see a guy that's kicking the crap out of somebody else and (then) either a submission or he gets knocked out or gets a cut, so … welcome to MMA. That's part of the sport … that happens. I probably got a little lazy. A little like, "Okay, when am I going to knock this guy out?" So maybe I had that attitude, I don't really know. It's been so long ago since that fight for me. I can just say it's welcome to mixed martial arts. It happens. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): When the fight ended, you told the ref that the stoppage was a little too early. Do you still feel that the fight was stopped a little too early? Josh Koscheck: Yeah, I would have rather seen me go 100 percent out to where I was getting my ass kicked, and then the ref stopped it. It was a hit, I fell down, I thought that I still had my wits. It wasn't like I was 100 percent out. Yeah, I was a little woozy, but I thought the ref stopped a little early. But hey, you know what, that's part of the sport. I'm not making excuses for it, not at all. Don't think that I'm making excuses, 'cause I'm not. That's part of it, and I'll deal with it. I was talking in an interview earlier, (and said) listen, you know, this is part of the game. I've had hundreds and hundreds and thousands of wrestling matches. You think I won every one of them? Nope. Not at all. So what happens when you lose, Kos? Well guess what? You go back to the freakin' gym, you go back to training, and you go back to what you do best. And that's get back in the gym and grind and work on it. I've been embarrassed before in wrestling matches, where I was like, "Shit, I just got my ass kicked." You know what? Guess what, go back, try to close that gap. Try to improve and close that gap so you don't get your ass kicked again. So that's my theory. It happens in mixed martial arts. It's a crazy ass game. You win some and you lose some. The key is to try to win more than you lose in this game, that's for sure. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Are you in favor of the recent move [http://mmamania.com/2009/08/20/nsac-approves-mma-instant-replay-anti-greasing-bj-penn-rule/] to introduce instant replay into situations like that with questionable stoppages? Josh Koscheck: I don't know if that would be … to be honest with you, I don't pay attention to the Internet. I haven't watched TV in probably over two months. So I don't know what's going on in the mixed martial arts world, other than I have a fight … what's the date on that? Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I think it's the 19th? Josh Koscheck: September? Is this month September? See I don't even know. Yeah, September 19, alright. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): (Laughs) Josh Koscheck: So I honestly don't know what's going on with anything, and I honestly don't care. It is what it is. I'm going to show up, I'm going to fight my ass off and try to put on a good show. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well let's talk about your opponent, Frank Trigg. When I've talked to you in the past, you've said that you really don't watch a lot of tape. That said, Trigg's been around for awhile, I'm sure you've seen some of his fights. What do you expect to see from Frank Trigg? Do you expect this to be sort of a sprawl-and-brawl type fight, or is this going to be more of a classic wrestling match? Josh Koscheck: You know, I have no clue to be honest with you. I know that I have a game plan, and I'm going to be very, very disciplined, and I'm going to try to stick to my game plan. And I think that this game plan is well-suited for a type of opponent like Frank Trigg. I'm going to be very disciplined early in the fight to stick to my game plan. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): How have you been preparing for him? Have you changed up anything drastically from your typical training camp? Josh Koscheck: Nope, everything is pretty much the same. A couple of months ago, I hired a strength coach when I was injured. I got to do a lot of things I haven't done in a while with strength and conditioning. But other than that, everything else is the same. I train at AKA with the rest of the crew. I have a lot of good southpaws there that I train with on a regular basis. I put in a hard, 15-week training camp. I'm excited, I'm in great shape, I don't think I've been in this good of shape in a long time. And I'm excited about the opportunity. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): What exactly was the injury? Was it a foot injury that you had that forced you out of the Chris Wilson fight? Josh Koscheck: Yeah, I had a foot injury. It's good, you know, 'cause it let me focus on some areas that I haven't really got to focus on with my training, I neglected some things, I got to go back to basics and just work on a lot of stuff. I worked on a lot of wrestling, I have my strength and conditioning, and I worked on my boxing, my Muay Thai, and my jiu-jitsu. It was good. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Trigg seems to be a pretty outspoken person. I guess some would criticize him as being a little cocky. Have you two interacted in any way before? Is there like a mutual respect there or do you just not know him at all? Josh Koscheck: I've met Frank a couple times, but I don't really know him on a personal level. So it is what it is. It's a fight. So I'm going to try to show up and be in the best shape, and try to put the beat down on him in the first round. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): When I first heard about you scheduled to fight Trigg, the first thing I thought was, "Why didn't the UFC offer Kos the Matt Hughes fight?" given that Trigg and Hughes are somewhat similar in terms of their styles, and you've been vocal about wanting that fight in the past. Do you know why they haven't offered you that fight? Josh Koscheck: No, I don't. I've been asking for that for a long time. Rumor has it that (Hughes) doesn't want to fight myself or Jon Fitch. He doesn't want to be a stepping stone, I guess. But if he wants to get back to title contention, he's going to have to go through one of us. So I don't get it, I don't understand why he doesn't want to fight one of us. You know, that's his decision. That's on him. But the AKA guys are willing to fight anybody anytime anyplace, I can guarantee you that. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): In terms of being a good fighter and the most important attributes for a fighter, would you put more stock in mental toughness and confidence than you would in physical toughness and preparedness? Are they equally important? Josh Koscheck: I think, obviously yes, you have to be prepared. But I think one of the most important things is you gotta have that fight in ya’. You gotta have that willingness to go in there and just, no matter what, no matter tired, no matter sick, no matter staph infection, no matter what you have, go into that fucking fight and fight your ass off. That's mental toughness, and that's heart. A lot of fighters lack a little bit of heart, a lot of fighters have heart. Some have more heart than skill, and some have more skill than heart. But I think one of the most important things that you have is when the tough gets tough, and things are not going your way, can you battle through it and fight back and overcome that adversity and still win? That's a big part of this game is having a lot of heart. Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well, Josh, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. I wanted to give you a chance to thank any sponsors or if you have any parting words for your fans. Josh Koscheck: Yeah, definitely. All the Fresno people, come out and check out my gym, AKA Fresno. I know Mania was supposed to do an interview on it, and he dogged me on that. Anyway, AKA Fresno, Dethrone, all my sponsors at my gym, Mar Clothing, KosMMA.com and Carnal DaMMAge — it's our fight shop that's in our gym, a badass fight shop, a 1,500-square-foot fight shop. We got one of the nicest gyms in the country, so if you guys are in the area, stop by and check it out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 19 Sep 2009 08:37 AM PDT
Get all the latest and greatest mixed martial arts news delivered straight to your desktop or handheld with our MMAmania.com Twitter feed. To start following us today simply create an account (it’s simple and free) and visit our page right here (Twitter.com/MMAmaniaNews). Click the “Follow” button and you are subscribed — that’s it! It’s a great way to stay on top of breaking news, as well as “follow” fighters and others involved in the sport to see what everyone is up to. Like our Web site, we intend update our Twitter account several times each day with the top MMA stories from around the globe. So what are you waiting for? Get connected and start following us on Twitter.com today. CLICK HERE. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC Countdown to 103: ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ video Posted: 19 Sep 2009 07:54 AM PDT Time to get pumped, Maniacs: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ‘Power struggle’ forces Kenny Florian and Mark Dellagrotte to amicably part ways Posted: 19 Sep 2009 07:51 AM PDT
Props: Fighters Only Quoteworthy:
Marc Dellagrotte of Sityodtong U.S.A. Muay Thai and Martial Martial Arts — the long-time trainer for two-time former number one lightweight contender, Kenny Florian — talks about the recent rift that caused the Boston-area pair to go their separate ways. Florian is coming off a submission loss to BJ Penn, which marked the second time he has competed for a world title and came up short. It appears that both parties now feel Florian is better off switching up his training regimen to increase his chances of winning in the future. In fact, Florian has already enlisted the services of Firas Zahabi — the trainer perhaps most well known for his work UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre — at Tristar in Canada. He’ll need all the help he can get to prepare for his next match against the hard-charging Clay Guida at UFC 107 on Dec. 12. “The Carpenter” has also switched up his training, calling on MMA mastermind Greg Jackson to improve his skills prior to fight night in Memphis. How much impact these decisions will have on their respective performances remains to be seen … care to make a few predictions? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UFC 103 odds and betting lines for ‘Franklin vs Belfort’ on Sept. 19 (Updated) Posted: 19 Sep 2009 07:50 AM PDT
The clock is ticking to get your bets in for UFC 103: “Franklin vs. Belfort” … literally just a few hours! The pay-per-view (PPV) event from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 19, next Saturday (Sept. 19) at 10 p.m. ET. That means, of course, that you should start to think about placing possible bets on the fight outcomes before it's too late. UFC 103 will feature a main event between Rich "Ace" Franklin and Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort at a 195-pound catchweight. Also slated for the pay-per-view (PPV) main card is a heavyweight tilt between former PRIDE superstar Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and surging heavyweight prospect Junior Dos Santos. Here are the latest UFC 103 odds (- = favorite; + = underdog):
Time to put up or shut up for all us keyboard warriors … get in on the action before it's too late. For a little help with how to bet on UFC fights and what all the numbers mean check out this post right HERE (Disregard the UFC 85 references … all the information is still accurate and helpful.) Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night. It's going to be an exciting evening of fights so don't miss it. And remember to check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight “Franklin vs. Belfort” coverage you can handle. To check out our complete UFC 103 event archive click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 19 Sep 2009 07:30 AM PDT
Head over to Nordstrom's in Paramus, N.J., today (Sept. 19) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET for Affliction’s latest appearance/signing event in “The Garden State.” |
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