UFC 103 preview

Whoo hoo! It's once again time for another UFC! The main card has some interesting fights, with some potential title implications involved. Without further adieu, here we go.

Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca 155lbs

This fight could possibly launch the victor into title contender status. Both fighters are tough as nails, and able to take a fight into the deep waters of the third round, and come out looking fresh as a daisy. Griffin has a wrestling base, and a sharp, compact, striking game. Franca, on the other hand, has a much more loopy style of striking. Throwing big, overhand bombs with the hope of putting his opponent to sleep through sheer power. We call this the "Robbie Lawler of Old" style. Franca does back up his overtly aggressive striking, with a slick ground game utilizing his bjj skills. Griffin may not be as well versed in submissions on the offensive, but has yet to be submitted, or even KO'd for that matter. Franca has also never been submitted, so don't look for a tap, tap, tap, to end this skirmish. Griffin does have the tenacity and motor to give Franca fits, especially considering how manhandled Franca has been by wrestlers in the past. Former lightweight champion, and Frankie Edgar come to mind. Look for Griffin to keep his hands up, and avoid Francas big shots, then counter with some combos, and go for takedowns to implement some nasty ground and pound. Unless Franca can get lucky with a big overhand right, or somehow snatch a submission, it's going to be a long night. Griffin takes this one by unanimous decision

Griffin, UD.

Josh "Kos" Koscheck vs Frank "Twinkletoes" Trigg 170 lbs.

I preface this portion by saying I do not like Koscheck. I think his attitude stinks, I think he's disrespectful of most other fighters, I even hate his nickname. "Kos"? Seriously? What I can't argue against, is his talent and abilities. The man can clearly fight, and has beaten almost everyone placed before him. Before falling to relatively unknown, Paulo Thiago, Koscheck had only lost to Thiago Alves, Georges St. Pierre, and Drew Fickett. Not a bunch of scrubs by any means. It was the loss to Thiago that left many wondering if his head was where it should be. Fighting Trigg should solve that. By that I mean, if he doesn't come in to this fight ready to scrap, Trigg will relocate Koschecks head, and we'll know exactly where it is. They both have excellent wrestling, great conditioning, and above average striking. The question marks will be Triggs age, and Koschecks ability to bounce back from a loss.

Trigg is 37 years old (and also has a cooler nickname, but I digress) and has fought much of the past several years at 185 pounds. We don't know how much the toll of cutting back to 170 will have on him at this stage in his career, and how wise it is to take on a fighter of Koschecks caliber as well. Kos, *sigh*, will have the ability to nullify Triggs takedowns, and work his, if not superior, then definitely more explosive striking, en route to a nasty second round TKO that will make us all forget the cuts Koscheck gave Chris Lytle, and unfortunately, leave Trigg Contemplating retirement.

Koscheck, Rd. 2, TKO

Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann vs Paul "Semtex" Daley 170 lbs

I was so very much looking forward to Kampmann fighting Mike Swick. It was set to be for a shot at the welterweight belt, and be the latest vic.... challenger for Georges St. Pierre. Swick suffered a concussion in training, and had to pull out of the fight though, and was replaced by up and coming British striker, Paul Daley. I haven't seen much of Daley, but from what I have seen, tells me this fight could very much end up exactly like Kampmans fight against Drew McFedries.

Daley is an explosive, aggressive striker, with knockout power in both hands, and a woefully unprepared ground game. While Kampmann is not the submission artist that say, Jake Shields is, who submitted Daley fairly easy in their fight last October, "The Hitman" is more than capable on the ground. With a third of his victories coming via tapout, Kampmann has the skills to make Daley cry uncle.

He also has the skills to hang with Daley in the stand up department. A former Thai kickboxing champion is his homeland of Holland, Kampmann can hang and bang with most of the elite strikers in the 170 lb division. Daley will probably want to end this one quickly, to avoid having to fight a ground game in the later rounds, and after weathering an early storm, expect Kampmann to slap a choke on "Semtex" in the first round, and be next in line to face the monster that is GSP.

Kampmann, Rd.1 choke (guillotine)

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos Heavyweight (265 max)

The croatian cop, versus the gypsy. Dos Santos has been on a tear in the UFC. Neither of his opponents have made it out of the first 90 seconds, and have been brutally battered on their way to KO City. Crop Cop once made his career out of populating that city with his left leg. Ever since losing to Gabriel Gonzaga however, he has not been the same. Yes he's 3-0 since then, with one no contest, but he hasn't shown the devastating brutality he did when he was tearing up PRIDE in Japan. I want to believe that Cro Cop is back, but he's 34, and looks to have lost the killer instinct. Dos Santos is hungrier, and is looking to push to the front of the line of heavyweight contenders, which seems to be getting longer by the day.

I do not think Dos Santos wins this in the same fashion he has in his first two UFC fights, however. I think Cro Cop is too wily a veteran, and too good a counter puncher, to be knocked out in under a minute. I think Dos Santos will prevail by getting this fight to the ground, and unleashing a barrage of punches and elbows, that leads the ref to stop this fight in the third round.

Dos Santos, Rd 3, TKO

Rich "Ace" Franklin vs. Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort 195 lb catchweight

This is an intriguing fight. One that serves no purpose, but intriguing, nonetheless. Franklis has shown that he can if not beat, hang with everyone in the middleweight division, not named Anderson Silva. He lost a razor close split decision to Dan Henderson, and has wiped out all other competition. He's got good footwork, and striking, vastly underrated ground game, and the ability to stick with the gameplan lain out by his coaches, no matter what. So easy victory right? Nope. Because it appears that after years of languishing in obscurity, and "If Only......" land, Vitor is back. He's rattled off four straight wins against, if not top fighters, very tough ones. Most recently, he clubbed Matt Lindland back seventeen weeks, and scared the heck out of all watching.

It appears that Belfort has finally done what we all said he should all along, and dropped the extra muscle mass he'd been carrying around, and focused on his hand speed, and dynamic boxing. A physically fit Belfort is one thing. A mentally prepared Belfort is another. Both........ one word, terrifying.

Franklin appears to be the bigger fighter, but neither has a significant experience advantage. I don't see either fighter trying to get this to the ground, though Franklin does have a heavy top game, with excellent ground and pound. While also having KO power in his hands, Franklin does not have the blazing speed, or rapid footwork to set up his power punches, and instead has to rely on ending combos with them, and timing. Belfort has the more explosive, and much quicker striking, but I don't know if that is enough to win it for him. Looking at Wanderlei Silvas fight against Franklin seems to prove this, though Silva is hardly the precision striker Belfort is. I'm torn, so all I will say is

Belfort, split decision.

So that's how I see them playing out. Look for a review of the excellent fights shown on Wednesday as a lead in to TUF season 10, and an ongoing blog about the show each week.

Later everyone,

Nathan