Dan Henderson defeated Rich Franklin today in a hard-fought split decision to win the main event at UFC 93 in Dublin.
Henderson will now be one of the coaches on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, and will fight the other coach, Michael Bisping, this summer.
Henderson did most of his damage with two accidental fouls: An accidental head butt in the first round opened a major gash on Franklin's forehead, and an accidental eye poke with 37 seconds left in the third round caused Franklin a lot of pain.
But while Franklin would certainly be justified if he's unhappy about those two fouls, the truth is that Henderson controlled the pace of the fight even without the head butt and the eye poke. A former Olympic wrestler, Henderson showed superior strength and dominated the fight when it went to the ground.
Surprisingly, one of the judges gave all three rounds to Franklin. The other two gave two rounds to Henderson, as we did in the FanHouse live blog.
Henderson, the former Pride champion in two different weight classes, improved his record to 24-7. Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champion, falls to 24-4.
UFC 93 was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Dublin, Ireland, and judging by the crowd's reaction, it would have to be considered a success. The UFC is working hard at bringing mixed martial arts into new markets, and the fans in Ireland seemed to like what they saw.
UFC Photos
Eric Schafer from Wisconsin, USA, right, defeats Brazil's Antonio Mendes, center, in the Light Heavyweight bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship event, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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Martin Kampmann from Nevada, USA, left, lands a kick on Brazil's Alexandre Barros, right, in the Welterweight bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship event, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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Eric Schafer from Wisconsin, USA, foreground, reacts after defeating Brazil's Antonio Mendes, bottom center, in the Light Heavyweight bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship event, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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Jeremy Horn from Utah, USA, top, competes with Brazil's Rousimar Palhares, bottom, during the Middleweight bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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Dennis Silver, left, from Germany fights against Nate Moher of Illinois, USA, during the Lightweight bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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Mike Wehrs, MMA President & CEO (Photo: Business Wire)
BUSINESS WIRE
LAS VEGAS - JANUARY 10: UFC fighters CB Dolloway (L) and Ryan Bader arrive at the 26th annual Adult Video News Awards Show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center January 10, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** CB Dolloway;Ryan Bader
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Recording artist Pink attends UFC 92, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008 at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)
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Wanderlei Silva begins to fall after a knock out punch by Quinton Jackson, right, during their UFC light heavyweight mixed martial art match Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008 at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)
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Quinton Jackson celebrates his first round KO over victory over Wanderlei Silva during their UFC light heavyweight mixed martial art match Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008 at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-18-2009 @ 10:35AM
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1-18-2009 @ 5:34PM
johnathan0406 said...
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