UFC 103 was a trivial pursuit

Disappointing. That was my immediate reaction to Saturday night’s UFC 103 and it’s still my reaction hours later. Granted, there wasn’t much on the card to get excited about to begin with and for whatever reason, none of the fights were anything more than pedestrian with the rare flash of something memorable. As my buddy, Jesse, said, UFC 103 is destined to be nothing more than answers to a few trivia questions.

As I expected, Vitor Belfort returned to the UFC in style by knocking out former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at 3:02 of the first frame. Belfort clipped Franklin’s head with a looping left and then put him down with a crushing right, sealing the win with several more heavy blows and picking up US$65,000 for knockout of the night in the process.

Belfort (19-8), who won the light-heavyweight title back at UFC 46 in January 2004, had been out of the UFC since February 2005 when he lost a split decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 51. But the 32-year-old Brazilian came to Dallas, Texas riding a four-fight win streak in other organizations.

Now, the only question is whether Belfort will face Nate Marquardt to determine the number one contender for Anderson Silva’s middleweight title or whether Belfort leapfrogs into the top spot after this win. With Silva out until next year with elbow surgery the smart move would be to pit Belfort and Marquardt against each other, which keeps both fighters in action, provides a legitimate top contender and would do a lot toward building their presence among fans. I’m also not convinced Belfort is ready for Silva (is anyone?) and would like to see him in another UFC fight before being served on a platter to the champ. And no, I’m not forgetting about Dan Henderson. He says he only wants to fight Silva and he doesn’t currently have a UFC contract, so until that’s sorted out I’ve put him on the backburner.

As for Franklin (27-5-1), he’s been talking about making a run at the 205-pound belt and I wish him luck, because he’s going to need it. It was obvious from the Belfort beating that Franklin’s best days are behind him and he might want to console himself with being a gatekeeper in the division. There’s no way he will ever beat Lyoto Machida, and he’s a long way from proving he even deserves a shot.

Speaking of career enders, we may have seen the last of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in the UFC. It was obvious from his loss at the hands of Junior dos Santos that’s he’s not the same feared – and fearless – killer who won the Pride Grand Prix in 2006. Far from it.

Cro Cop (24-7-1) looked tentative and unable to pull the trigger against the more aggressive Brazilian heavyweight. While the two traded blows in the first round, Cro Cop could never find the range for the head kick that has devastated so many opponents. And even a Cro Cop punt to dos Santos’s groin couldn’t derail him as he pressed the attack in the second. In the third round, dos Santos landed a knee to Cro Cop’s face and followed up with a punch to the eye that forced the Croatian to wave off the fight with a verbal submission. Never thought I’d see the day that Cro Cop would ever verbally submit – and from strikes, no less.

Dos Santos has now won three straight in the UFC while Filipovic is 2-3. So while Cro Cop considers his options – cashing big paychecks fighting cans in Japan doesn’t seem like a bad way to finish out a career – dos Santos (9-1) moves up another rung in the heavyweight division. I’d like to see him carve a couple more notches in his belt before anyone mentions vying for the heavyweight belt, however.

In a fight that really had me wishing the fighters would knock each other out, welterweight Josh Koscheck spoiled Frank Trigg’s UFC comeback by knocking him out in 85 seconds. Koscheck clipped Trigg along the fence then put him down with a right, hammering away until the referee stepped in. The 37-year-old Trigg (19-7) last fought in the Octagon in August 2005 losing to Georges St. Pierre, but had gone 7-2 outside the organization since then.

After the win, Koscheck (15-4) called out former champion Matt Hughes.

As for Trigg, maybe he’ll get Martin Kampmann, the kickboxer who got knocked out in the first round by English welterweight Paul Daley in his UFC debut. Daley (22-8-2) staggered Kampmann (15-3) with a left and then hurt him with another, swinging at least a dozen times at the dazed Dane until the ref stepped in. It was a bit of an upset – and a surprise that Kampmann chose to stand and bang when he has the clear advantage on the ground.

Daley had been slated to fight on the undercard but was bumped up the main event in place of Mike Swick, who was injured in training. The loss derails Kampmann’s immediate title hopes – the Kampmann-Swick winner had been expect to challenge GSP.

The lightweight bout between Tyson Griffin and Hermes Franca was a bit of a circus sideshow, starting with Franca’s lilac-coloured Estelle Getty hairdo and ending with Griffin’s jiggling muffin top. It was so distracting I missed half the action. I did see Griffin ground-and-pound a flailing Franca until the fight was stopped.

Griffin (14-2) was far more technical and polished than the haymaker-throwing Franca (20-8), handing the 35-year-old jiu-jitsu ace only his second knockout loss. Still can’t imagine Griffin challenging BJ Penn for the title, even if they do share similar mushy physiques.

In preliminary card action, lightweight Efrain Escudero (13-0) knocked out the taller, stringbeanish Cole Miller at 3:36 of the first round. The Ultimate Fighter season eight winner staggered Miller with a right and then floored him with another, hitting Miller with two more on the ground before the referee stepped in.

Tomasz Drwal choked out middleweight Drew McFedries at 1:03 of the second round. A sluggish McFedries (8-6) was unable to get his striking going and his ground game proved lacking once again as Drwal (17-2) worked him over.

Lightweight Jim Miller won by TKO 28 seconds into the second round when UFC newcomer Steve Lopez dislocated his shoulder while throwing a left jab. Miller (15-2) had dominated the first round, staggering Lopez (12-2) several times. With the victory, Miller improves his career mark to 15-2, which includes an impressive 4-1 record in the UFC’s competitive 155-pound division. Lopez drops to 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the UFC.

Lightweight Rick Story took home $130,000 in bonuses for submission and fight of the night with his arm-triangle win over UFC newcomer Brian Foster (14-4) in the second round. Story (8-3) appeared to have his nose broken in the first round, which started with a wild flurry.

Light-heavyweight Eliot Marshall (8-2) stayed on the outside en route to a split decision over firefighter Jason Brilz (17-2-1). Nik Lentz won a unanimous decision over Brazilian lightweight Rafaello Oliveira in a battle of UFC newcomers. Lentz (19-3-1) was busier than Oliveira (9-2), who started strong and ran out of steam.

Former IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko (23-4), a winner of nine of 10 since his last trip to the Octagon at UFC 44, earned a unanimous decision over UFC newcomer Igor Pokrajac (21-6).

Brazilian lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos (12-4) used some vicious leg kicks to win his first UFC fight in three tries with a unanimous decision over Rob Emerson (10-8-1).