UFC 103 Recap

* Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal (Middleweight Bout)

The only major difference on the tale of the tape is that Drwal has a four inch reach advantage, 76" to 72". Bruce Buffer is silently doing his WE ARE LIIIIVE shtick. Drwal is 16-2 and fights out of Krakow, Poland. McFedries is 8-5 and fights out of Davenport, Iowa. Our referee in charge for this contest is Leon Roberts. Let's rock!

Drwal tries a leg kick early. The SpikeTV live feed seems to be having problems - it keeps repeating the first five seconds of the fight over AND OVER AND OVER!!!

Finally at 4:15 left in the round they fix it and Drwal has McFedries up against the fence but can't secure the takedown. They go back to the stand-up and McFedries is pawing at Drwal trying to find his range. Drwal seems wary of his power. He gets the back of McFedries and secures a takedown 2 minutes in, but Drew is quickly back up. Drwal is still riding his back. Halfway through the round. Drwal is unloading some VICIOUS knees to Drew's left thigh. They break apart. Drew is still pawing at him with shots. Big right lands! Drwal shakes it off.

Drwal is coming forward striking - big mistake with McFedries in front of you but I give him props for not being afraid. One left actually seemed to tag Drew - that reach advantage may be working to his favor. This one looks like it's going to the second round. McFedries is tagged with a shot and quickly gets back up although Drwal uses it to take him back down to the ground. McFedries is scrambling to avoid taking any damage and Drwal is just starting to set up for the RNC when the horn sounds to end the round. Drwal may have taken that one on the scorecards.

Drwal has a shiner under his left eye as R2 gets underway. Drew immediately comes out swinging. Drwal backs him up with shots of his own! They go right into the fence and Drwal is looking for another takedown. He gets it and immediately takes side control. McFedries is in a bad way here as Drwal has taken his back and sunk in the hooks. IT IS ALL OVER! DREW MCFEDRIES TAPS OUT! We're just waiting for Bruce Buffer to make it official now. Okay Bruce - what'cha got to say? WINNER VIA RNC TAP in R2 - Tomasz Drwal. Unfortunately since the sound is off and the graphic on screen didn't say I don't know what the official time was. Okay I've got it now - 1:03 of the second round. Commercial.

* Rick Story v. Brian Foster (Welterweight Bout)

I wasn't expecting this! Apparently Spike decided to give us a bonus fight to fill time. There are no introductions and both guys are pale pink white men - I've probably seen one or both fight before but I honestly can't tell them apart and even if the audio was on at BW3 I think they skipped Buffer's introductions to save time. All I know is the guy in the white trunks seems to be wailing on the guy in black trunks - hitting shots and taking him down at will. He does have a bloody nose though that he's smearing all over his opponent's face and shoulder, and it's dripping on the canvas too.

This isn't as bloody as Wednesday's TUF but it's not a small leak either. The canvas is being splattered every which way with the red red cruvy. The fighter in white is trying to move to side control. They're smearing the blood into the canvas as they jockey for position. 90 seconds left in R1 and dude in white is trying to posture up.

He finally gets sick of being stuck in guard, allows his opponent to stand, and takes him right back down again. This is one time I really miss Rogan and Goldberg because at least with their commentary I would know who is who. Both men are standing and trading shots. Dude in white pushes his opponent up against the fence until the horn sounds to end the round.

And we're back for R2. Dude in black tries a Karate Kid style high head kick and misses, but I'm sure it popped the crowd. Seconds later he is on his back again eating shots from the dude in white... well actually pink now considering his trunks are bloodied up. It looks like he's moving into an arm triangle... he's sunk it in tight... dude in black taps! IT IS ALL OVER. The fighter in the white shorts with the gusher of blood coming out of his nose has won at about a minute into R2! Once Bruce Buffer makes it official I'll know who the heck he is.

Buffer announces the winner via tapout to triangle arm choke submission is Rick Story and the time is 1:09 of the second round. Rogan gets a post-fight interview with Story but I can't hear a single word of it as BW3 still hasn't turned on the sound. I'm just going to assume he thanked his mom, his dad, Jesus, his whole fight team, and told Rogan he followed the gameplan to victory - your run-of-the-mill MMA victory promo. We go to a backstage interview with Rich Franklin that I can't hear a word of either.

It's funny how I'm so used to him having a black eye before a fight that I'm actually a little nervous for him that he is unblemished for tonight's contest. Of course given that Belfort had a hell of a time making weight that may shoot my prediction of a Belfort victory right down the tubes. We shall see. 30 minutes 'til PPV!

* Efrain Escudero v. Cole Miller (Lightweight Bout)

Efrain's record is 12-0, Cole's is 15-3. Miller has a 4 inch height advantage and a 2 inch reach advantage. Miller fights out of Coconut Creek, Floria. Escudero fights out of Tempe, Arizona. Our referee in charge for this fight is (oh no) Yves Lavigne. Here we go!

Miller is already using his height and reach to try to keep Escudero on the defensive, but Escudero is showing decent head movement and good avoidance in the first minute. Miller keeps pawing at him. Miller slips at the 90 second mark but he's right back up. Escudero is still backing away and staying out of range. I wonder if the live crowd is booing right now - there's not a whole lot happening. Two minutes gone by.

Miller tags Escudero with at least one head shot but he seems unfazed. Escudero finally come forward with a 1-2 combo and then immediately backs away. I'm suddenly wondering what's happening in boxing. Escudero picks up Miller and THROWS his ass down, but Miller gets right back up. ESCUDERO LANDS A BIG SHOT! HE JUMPS ON THE GROUND AND POUNDS IT OUT! IT IS ALL OVER!!!

For a nothing happening fight it got really damn good in the last 15 seconds. Replay shows a right rocking him and two more big rights on the ground putting Miller out cold. Bruce Buffer makes it official! Winner via TKO at 3:36 in R1 - Efrain Escudero!! I can't hear the post-fight promo but Escudero is pleased as punch (no pun intended) and should be, and the crowd seems happy about his win too.

* Jim Miller v. Steve Lopez (Lightweight Bout)

Another bonus fight! Miller is in white and Lopez is in black. I'm starting to wonder if there will be any bonus bouts during the PPV at all at this rate - they may burn through them all in the free hour on Spike. Considering they only promised two free fights in this hour we're getting a hell of a deal. Not much happening in the first minute. Miller starts to throw boms and uses leg kicks to keep Lopez guessing. Miller seems to be the more cocky and crisp of the two. Lopez is not backing down though. Miller shoots and misses at 2:15. Round halfway gone. Both men move back to the center. Miller rocks Lopez!

He tries to jump on top but Lopez recovered so quickly it's immediately a tangle of legs and knees. Lopez tries to stand back up but Miller is looking to submit him when he does. He lets go but starts throwing bombs Lopez can't block, Lopez gives up his back, and they're both in a fetal position along the fence. Miller either wants a full mount or a submission. Lopez traps him in the guard to avoid either. Lopez fires a few upkicks when Miller backs away, then tries to tie up his arms when Miller gets back in the mount. R1 is going to end with Lopez scrambling to his feet. I'm calling that a 10-9 for Miller.

Replay shows us a big left that dropped Lopez, and the pounding he was getting on the ground. R2 is underway! Lopez immediately circles to get away from Miller's punching power. Miller seems to smell blood in the water. Lopez tries a jumping knee that misses. 30 seconds gone by. Miller lands a nice head combo. Lopez fires one big right and suddenly he's waving to the ref... or waving off his opponent.. it's both! I think he disclocated his shoulder. THIS ONE IS ALL OVER.

Lopez shakes his opponent's hand. He's in a world of hurt. Bruce Buffer makes it official - winner via verbal submission due to an injury - Jim Miller at 0:48 of R2. The screen graphic says TKO but that's no knockout, technical or otherwise. That's going to do it for the prelims, so get your beer and popcorn now. We'll be back for the PPV in 5!

The PPV is on the air and the opening interviews are taking place. Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort are both confidant of victory. The crowd at BW3 is kind of loud and the commentary is impossible to pick up - all I can pick out is the opening music. Who cares - this beats paying $45 for the PPV at home - I'm getting good food and a show for half the price. All of the matches for the main card are being shown on preview. FACE THE PAIN, FACE THE PAIN, RIP HIM INTO PIECES.

The camera pans the crowd in Dallas but no sign of Ed in San Antonio so far - I'm sure he's there somewhere. They're reminding us to text 88222 - text 1 to pick Franklin and 2 to pick Belfort. Mike Goldberg is running down the Rules of the Octagon and reminding us there are no title fights tonight.

* Tyson Griffin v. Hermes Franca (Lightweight Bout)

Franca is coming out to "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. I was actually hoping for the Trick Daddy version, but no such luck. He has CURLY PURPLE hair and I swear to holy it looks like he bleached his face white too. Franca has looked off before but this takes the cake. Only the guy I saw on Adenaline MMA IV last night with the neon black and green checkerboard shaved on his head was more bizarre. Griffin's coming out to "Eye of the Tiger." Tale of the tape - 25 to 35, 5'6" each, 155.5 to 159, 68" to 70.5" in reach from Griffin to Franca. And WE ARE LIIIIIIIIIVE.

Thanks Bruce! Franca is in the blue corner, 20-7, fighting out of Miami, Florida. Griffin is 13-2, and fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Our referee in charge for the first PPV bout is Dan Miragliotta. Here we go!

Griffin fires leg kicks early. Franca is pushing forward a little. Griffin moves back to the center. Another leg kick. Combo misses, kick connects. Both men a little tentative early. Griffin fires a hard left that misses. Right leg kick connects. 90 seconds gone by. Griffin appears to hit a few shots but they aren't doing damage yet. Franca is effectively avoiding but he's not countering much, nor is he using any leg kicks of his own. Franca seems to be keeping his mitts up as an afterthought. Perhaps he's looking for the right moment to drop levels and shoot for a takedown. Franca finally throws a left defensively that misses. I think the crowd in Dallas is getting a little restless, although it's hard to be sure over the volume at the bar. Griffin keeps moving in and punching.

Big right narrowly misses. One minute left in the round. Franca ducks under a left with bad intentions, then fires a right leg kick. Griffin keeps moving forward so if you call that Octagon control I score it 10-9 for him, although this is one of those rare times I wouldn't object if a 10-10 or 9-9 was actually possible under the unified MMA rules in the U.S.

Annnnd we're back for round two. I hope they pick up the pace a little bit. Franca fires the first shot of the ground. Griffin tags him with a jab. Griffin and Franca are having a really boring boxing match. Franca suddenly decides to let loose! The two start throwing bombs at each other. Griffin goes for a kick, Franca grabs the leg and punches away, Griffin finally manages to pull free. Much better first minute for R2. Goldberg reminds us to watch The Iceman on Dancing With the Stars. 90 seconds gone by and now we've gone back to Griffin cautiously jabbing away. Nice 1-2 combo backs Franca up.

Griffin with a leg kick and a high head kick that's checked. Franca with some inside kicks to the left leg that don't look like much. Griffin really swings his hips into it when he fires his kicks, they look powerful and painful. GRIFFIN ROCKS FRANCA!! He's down on the ground and covering up. MIRAGLIOTTA STOPS IT!! IT IS ALL OVER.

Replay shows us the big right that rocked Franca and from there Griffin just poured it on til he pounded him out on the ground. Buffer makes it official 3:36 of R2 for the winner via KO - Tyson Griffin! Rogan interviews Griffin and we see on the replay that the followup left would have crushed Franca if he wasn't already falling down. Griffin does the usual post-fight interview, Rogan shakes his hand, "Tyson Griffin everybody!" Griffin moves to 14-2. Promo for UFC 104 - Lyoto Machida v. Shogun Rua airs.

* Josh Koscheck v. Frank 'Twinkletoes' Trigg (Welterweight Bout)

Everybody follow Frank Trigg on Twitter. He's coming out first but it's gotten so much louder at BW3 that I can't hear his music. I can't hear anything for Koscheck at all. Okay, so there are SOME advantages to watching a UFC PPV at home. Here's our tale of the tape for this fight from Kos to Trigg - 31 to 37, 5'10" each, 170 each, missed the reach. Trigg is 19-6. Koscheck is 12-4. Our referee in charge for this one is Leon Roberts. Here we go!

Trigg is the aggressor in the first 30 seconds. Koscheck is countering well. KOSCHECK POUNDS IT OUT AND IT IS ALL OVER! The replay shows Koscheck unloading with a huge right on the fence and pounding it out until the ref made the save. Trigg had no answer for four straight rights so I can't fault Leon for his decision. Winner via KO at 1:25 of R1 - Josh Koscheck. Koscheck says he'll take any opponent and he'll fight every month if that's what it takes. Kind of a babyface promo for a guy the crowd usually hates, but they're popping for him in Dallas tonight off that knockout! Tito Ortiz is shown in the crowd watching and we get a promo for TUF 10.

* Martin Kampmann v. Paul 'Semtex' Daley (Welterweight Bout)

Paul 'Semtex' Daley is the first man to make his way out for our third fight of the PPV. Hard to believe we're on the seventh fight now in under two hours - things are moving fast! Kampmann is all smiles on his way to the cage. Tale of the tape for this fight - 27 to 26, 6'0" to 5'9", 170 each, missed the reach again as a dude with a buzzcut stood in my view. Daley is 21-8-2. Kampmann is 15-2. Our referee in charge for this fight is (oh no) Yves Lavigne. Here we go!

Dancing around for the first 30 with Daley looking for a big shot. He lands a hard left when Kampmann goes for a single leg. Daley is definitely feeling the need to clean Kampmann's clock early. 1 minute gone by. That left of Daley's keeps connecting but Kampmann's got a good chin and/or Daley hasn't found the sweet spot yet. Two minutes gone now. Kampmann puts Daley up against the fence and lands a knee but then lets go. LEFT FINALLY WOBBLED KAMPMANN. He's dazed!!

YVES LAVIGNE STOPS THE FIGHT. Daley was knocking him around and he teetered and tottered but wouldn't fall down. That was probably the right call as Kampmann's hands were down and he was holding his hands over his heads after three straight lefts, but the crowd may not like it. Mike Swick looks on in the crowd.

Bruce Buffer makes it official - referee Lavigne stops the fight at 2:31 of R1 for the winner by TKO - Paul 'Semtex' Daley! Rogan interviews him and gives him his props already. Moving to our eighth fight and it's not even 11 PM EST yet. Holy shit! Rogan and Goldberg stall for time by doing "What's Coming Up" sponsored by Tequila Cazadores. Rich Franklin is getting taped up backstage.

* Rob Emerson v. Rafael Dos Anjos (Lightweight Bonus Fight)

I need a break from the action here so I'm going to give you the prelim result which can easily be confirmed by Ed in San Antonio - dos Anjos wins a three round with a unanimous 30-27 on the judges scorecards. Apologies if that's a spoiler but it sounds like a boring fight and PPV is confirming it from what I've seen.

* Mirko Cro Cop v. Junior Dos Santos (Heavyweight Bout)

Cro Cop is 25-6-2 and is coming off wins over Hong Man Choi in K-1 and Mostapha Al-Turk at UFC 99. Dos Santos is 8-1 and coming off successive wins over Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve at UFC 90 and 95 respectively. Cro Cop fights out of Zagreb, Croatia. Dos Santos fights out of Salvador, Brazil and is a member of Team Nogueira. Cro Cop's weight for this fight is 226, Dos Santos is 236. Height is 6'2" for Cro Cop and 6'4" for Junior.

Cro Cop has a 73 inch reach, Dos Santos 77. Junior seems to have the advantage on him in every category possible! Bruce Buffer is excited that this is the co-main event of the evening!! So are the people at BW3. Our referee in charge of this fight is Dan Miragliotta. Here we go!

Round one is underway! Dos Santos has Cro Cop backed into the fence in the first 15 seconds but they break apart. Dos Santos is chasing. Cro Cop just misses with a left high head kick. 90 seconds in Dos Santos lands a flurry but Cro Cop seems to defend it well. He's fine. The two clinch up against the fence as we hit the two minute mark. Dos Santos is definitely coming forward every chance he gets. Cro Cop ties his arms around Junior as we pass the halfway point and fires off a few knees. Leg trip puts Mirko down for just a second.

Dos Santos keeps coming forward. 2 minutes left. Nothing much changes in the next minute. Dos Santos pushes him towards the fence with 30 seconds left. Cro Cop pushes back and they move towards the Bud Light logo. R1 ends with both men circling. 10-9 for Junior.

R2 begins as R1 did with Dos Santos gauging Cro Cop's range. Cro Cop fires one right leg kick and Dos Santos responds with a flurry of strikes. 1 minute gone. Dos Santos keeps jabbing with the left and hooking with the right. Some of these shots seem to be breaking Cro Cop's icy demeanor but none have really dazed or wobbled him. We're halfway through R2 now. Another big Cro Cop kick misses. If we had the CompuStrike for this fight I'm sure Dos Santos would be in the 55-65% range for strikes landed. 90 seconds left in R2.

I can't help but think the crowd wanted more action than this after sitting on their hands for 20 minutes while the Emerson vs. Dos Anjos replay aired on PPV. CRO COP HITS A LEFT KICK STRAIGHT TO THE JIMMY. Ref calls for time. I'm sure Rogan is bitching about having to see the replay. Dos Santos leans against the cage and takes his time recovering, and the fight finally resumes with 40 seconds left in the round. A left tags Cro Cop and his left eye seems to be bleeding. Another 10-9 for Junior as we move to R3!

Third round is underway! Cro Cop has to know if he doesn't win this round or finish JDS he's not going home to Croatia with the victory. Dos Santos seems calm and composred, coming forward with strikes and knees. Cro Cop seems to be gassing. Left right combos and knees are getting through. Cro Cop isn't keeping his hands up. Dos Santos grabs a clinch and lands a BIG knee.

90 seconds gone by. Cro Cop is fading fast. Cro Cop tells the referee he can't see any more and the ref waves it off. IT IS ALL OVER? Yes it is. Cro Cop's left eye is shot and his vision is impaired, he cannot see! His vision is impaired, he cannot see! His... sorry, Dalek joke. Bruce Buffer makes it official 2:00 of R3 for the winner via verbal submission - Junior Dos Santos.

* Rich 'Ace' Franklin v. Vitor Belfort (195 Catchweight Main Event)

Poll results before the main event via cell phone texts are 59% for Franklin, 41% for Belfort. Goldberg and Rogan stall for time then throw to a video package with highlights of both men's best performances. Belfort is out first. He stands 6 foot even, has a 74 inch reach, and sports a professional record of 18-8. He fights out of Las Vegas. Franklin is making his way to the Octagon now! Ace is 6 foot 1, has a 76 inch reach, sports a 26-4 record with 1 NC and fights out of Cincinnati. Our referee in charge is (oh no) Yves Lavigne. Here we go!

And round one is underway! Not much to the first 30 seconds. Same for the next 30. Franklin and Belfort keep feeling each other out. A few boos can be heard in Dallas even over the bar crowd at BW3. 90 seconds, no one has done damage. Belfort lands one leg kick at about two minutes. Franklin throws a couple of shots that miss at the halfway point. Rich keeps hanging a looping shot out there. BELFORT ROCKS FRANKLIN AND IT IS ALL OVER. Replay shows Franklin slumping and Belfort hitting him with unanswered lefts.

Bruce Buffer makes it official at 3:02 of R1 for the winner by KO - Vitor Belfort. Rogan interviews Belfort but I can't hear it over the crowd and what else is he going to say? I stunned Ace, I followed up on the ground, Lavigne stopped it. He thanked the crowd in Dallas - that much I'm sure of.

* Nik Lentz v. Rafello Oliveira (Lightweight Bonus Fight)

Nik Lentz defeats Rafello Oliveira via unanimous decision of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. That's it for UFC 103!

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