UFC 103: Vitor Belfort KOs Rich Franklin In First Round

Posted Sep 20, 2009 12:11AM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

Vitor Belfort is back in the UFC, and he made a major statement Saturday night that he's a threat to anyone they put in the Octagon with him, knocking out Rich Franklin in the first round at UFC 103.

More: UFC 103 Results | Post-Fight Press Conference | UFC 103 Coverage

Belfort dropped Franklin with a devastating left hand and then finished him off quickly on the ground, making it the third straight fight that Belfort has finished off with his brutal punching power.

The only question now is whether Belfort is next for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. UFC President Dana White suggested even before Belfort signed with the UFC that he could be the man to take the belt from Silva, and nothing we saw Saturday night against Franklin changes that perception. Although Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt (and, for that matter, Yushin Okami) can also make strong cases that they deserve to be the No. 1 contender, there's a new force in the middleweight division, and his name is Vitor Belfort.

For all your UFC 103 needs, follow our UFC Twitter updates, our UFC 103 results or our UFC 103 live chat.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=559932&pid=559931&uts=1253430904

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Latest UFC Images

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 19: UFC fighter Vitor Belfort (L) battles UFC fighter Rich Franklin (R) during their Catch weight bout at UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort at the American Airlines Center on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Vitor Belfort;Rich Franklin

Getty Images

Getty Images North America

Latest UFC Images

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 19: UFC fighter Rich Franklin (R) gets knocked out by UFC fighter Vitor Belfort with referee Yves Lavigne (L) protecting him during their Catch weight bout at UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort at the American Airlines Center on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rich Franklin;Yves Lavigne

Getty Images

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 19: UFC fighter Vitor Belfort (R) battles UFC fighter Rich Franklin (L) during their Catch weight bout at UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort at the American Airlines Center on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Vitor Belfort;Rich Franklin

Getty Images

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-20-2009 @ 12:16AM

kwilbur10 said...

that was a dirty. this night was a very good night for MMA. I am not sure how they fared against boxing tonite. but i put my effort into MMA. so hopefully MMA wins. anyways congrats to daley for the TKO and Vitor. it seems like a good night for newcomers.

9-20-2009 @ 12:21AM

Piker21 said...

Do actually watch Mma?
Vitor Belfort is back again I wouldn't complain about a match up with anderson silva
Personally I saw them meeting eventually anyways.
Wow The Phenom is here to stay.

9-20-2009 @ 12:37AM

PIT BULL CAFE said...

BELFORT LOOKED GOOD FRANKLIN GOT CAUGHT AS THEY LIKE TO SAY WHEN GETTING KNOCKED OUT. I WANT HENDO SILVA REMATCH NOW NOT VITOR . HENDO IS GOING TO BEAT SILVA THIS TIME ...............

9-20-2009 @ 12:38AM

jpe225 said...

Franklin fought 2 slower fighters(hands) in Hendo/Silva. Mistake fighting Vitor. It was easy, Vitor was easily able to avoid Franklin combinations and Franklin was not able to avoid Vitor's punches. The first fast combo by Vitor hurt Franklin and eventually ended the fight. It could be that Franklin was fighting big time competition and it finally caught up with him.

9-20-2009 @ 12:53AM

johnnynumber5 said...

That fight was so anticlimactic as was the cro-cop fight. The best fights of the whole damn night were the franca vs griffin and kampmann vs daley fights. I blame myself for buying that dumb ass card against my better judgement.

I knew Belfort was going to whoop up on Franklin but it's so depressing because it wasn't even a flush shot that ended the fight. It was a grazing punch that did Franklin in which doesn't speak well to his LHW transition.

It's a little silly for Rogan & White to talk about a Belfort vs Silva for the MW title when Henderson and Marquardt are more deserving at this point. Whatever ...

I'm getting so sick of these awful UFC PPV's. I hope they get a network TV deal because as it is they are putting on to many cards that simply don't have enough good fights on them. This card had a bunch of good fights but none of them were main event worthy. Hopefully that Machida vs Shogun main event doesn't disappoint because other than that the card is freaking AWFUL.

Waste of $50 that's for sure. Fedor vs Rogers can't come fast enough.

9-20-2009 @ 12:58AM

richardbikle said...

ok guys, i never do this but... i told you so. vitor is the most gifted fighter out there, i complained when others would consider him in #4# rankings, i said he was in that league... and now i'm going to say this one again:
Vitor could end up holding the middle weight and light heavy weight ufc championship belts, he's better than anyone in those divisions, (although him and shogun would be a heck of a fight).

Vitor is gonna blow thru anderson silva and finish his career. i guarantee you silva will never be the same fighter after Vitor is done with him.
vitor is ready, the world better step aside or be ok'd.

9-20-2009 @ 1:16AM

Who didn't think Belfort would beat up Franklin? When he beats a good fighter I'll give him credit. Let's see Henderson or Marquardt fight Belfort for the #1 MW contender.

9-20-2009 @ 1:59AM

johnny, franklin did hold the ufc middle weight title, and is a top 5 ufc mw. the guy's no easy fight. i'm not a real big fan of franklins, but the guy deserves his due. he finds ways to win.

vitor is back. he'd blow thru Marquardt and i hate to say it but its not a good match for Hendo either. Vitor can own the MW division if he stays focused, the lhw division too.

9-21-2009 @ 11:31AM

tedfio1 said...

Machida or Silva will beat Vitor! Both will slip the strikes Franklin could not and counter Vitor with strikes that he will not escape.

Right now Machida is focused on Rua; Rua is big, strong, and gifted. However, Machida will take him into the later rounds and finish him.

9-20-2009 @ 1:27AM

hsiunnu said...

Vitor hasn't gotten his just dues for a while. If you look at his career, his only *significant* blemishes are a submission loss to Overeem (a guy much much bigger!) and being owned by Couture. Well, guess who's training Vitor--Couture. I not only see Vitor as a match for Silva, I actually see him as the one guy who would OWN Silva.

9-20-2009 @ 1:49AM

Yeah but you have to question his early career after he got suspended for 9 months for steroid usage.

9-20-2009 @ 1:34AM

Robbie said...

I dont mean to be the devils advocate here, but did no one but the group of ppl I was with see the 3 unwarned punches to the back of the head that led to the "knockout" of Franklin? He was definitely dazed, but the punches to the back of the head is what put him down and out. All in all, impressive by Vitor, but wouldve liked a stoppage and continuation of action.

Yeah Franklin was already done but he did thump him like 3-4x in the back of the head.

9-20-2009 @ 9:38AM

M13 said...

A solid victory for Vitor Belfort. I had to check the replay to see the punch that dropped Rich Franklin (though I did see a couple of shots to the back of the head). I too think that Anderson Silva would have his hands full against the Phenom if they were to fight.