The amateur under card fights started the night off right as Nick Rahn and Carlos Perez engaged in a back forth battle both on the feet and on the ground. Then Simon Chi and James Ronsick threw down in an absolute war, that at one point featured Chi teeing off on Ronsick against the cage, even dropping him once. The next fight was a women’s fight that Alicia Corey tried to turn into a grappling match against Rachel Dovidio, only to get pounded out in the second. Chris Sutton vs. Drew Allen Stewart was a heavy weight brawl from start to finish, with Sutton getting the better of Stewart on the judges score cards. The final under card bout started strong as Dustin Turbeville took Jimmy Hall down early and worked some submission, but Hall reversed the position and ended the round raining punches on Turbeville’s head. Turbeville’s corner called an end to the contest between rounds, and he was taken out of the arena on a stretcher, but the paramedics later informed me that he was alright.

The main card kicked off with two more amateur bouts which kept the momentum going from the earlier bouts. In the first bout Jeff Loken fought Grant Harris to a unanimous decision, dropping only one round of the fight. The next bout saw George Hickman drop Jeff Tharington in the opening exchange only to have Tharington battle back and put on a great show, finishing out all three rounds. However Hickman got the better of the fight in the judges eyes, and took home a deserving unanimous decision victory.

The first professional bout on the card was a featherweight match up between Justin Dalton and Larry Hughes which started off evenly only to end with a vicious fight ending knee to Hughes as he was coming up off the canvas just a minute in. Watching live there was some question as to whether or not Hughes was still down when the knee was delivered, but the replay showed that it was a clean blow. In the second professional bout, Tomar Washington remained unbeaten (professional and amateur) with a TKO victory over Marcus Thomas in the first round. After the bout began as a back and forth battle, Washington gained top position and pounded on Thomas, forcing the referee to halt the action.

Hometown favorite Pete Martin took on Spartanburg, South Carolina’s Dave Linder in a lightweight contest for the third professional bout, and after controlling the fight early made a mistake and was locked into a tight triangle that forced him to tap. After the fight despite the loss, Martin carried through on his apparent plan to propose to his girlfriend in the cage, and she said yes.

The fourth professional bout of the evening featured the return to action of local hero, and Crossfit NC trainer Billy Dowey after four years of retirement against Jerry Spiegle in a middleweight contest that was one of the most exciting fights of the night. Dowey controlled most of the opening round including using a kimura to sweep Spiegle and delivering some ground and pound before the referee called for a bogus stand up as Dowey had a full mount and was pressing. Dowey got the fight to the ground again, and closed out the round looking for a rear naked choke from Spiegle’s back. Dowey came out in the second breathing heavy and looked gassed, but after an early exchange still scored the takedown, however on the ground Spiegle stalled looking for a stand up and Dowey rested 3-4 seconds between strikes before the referee stood them back up. When they recommenced on the feet they clinched against the cage before Spiegle got a takedown, and then delivered some strong ground ‘n pound. Right at the end of the round Dowey landed an upkick that did little damage while Spiegle’s knee was still on the ground, but the referee didn’t see the knee was down and did nothing about it. Dowey looks completely spent as the third round begins and Spiegle starts lighting him up on the feet before delivering an accidental groin shot as Dowey shot for a takedown. The referee then forced Dowey to continue the fight before giving him his full five minutes, but Dowey doesn’t protest. Spiegle then continued to blast Dowey but can’t put him away, he even threw his hands out trying to prove Dowey was done, only to get thai clinched and eat a few knees. Spiegle broke the clinch and continued to pummel Dowey on the feet before Dowey shoots for a takedown with about thirty seconds left in the fight. Spiegle caught Dowey in a guillotine on the way in, but let it go then Dowey laid on him, resting and bleeding for the conclusion of the fight while the referee just watched. In the end the judges rendered a split decision of 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for Spiegle.

In the fifth professional bout of the night Preston Marks took on John Owens for the CFP interim featherweight championship. Both fighters looked game at the start as Owens gets the best of the stand up before taking Marks down. On the ground Marks went for a leg lock, which Owens escaped bringing the fight back to the feet. Marks then shot in and eventually worked for and got a takedown. From top position Marks worked some ground ‘n pound from half guard and closes out the round looking for a heel hook, which he secures and torques hard right as the bell sounds to end the round. Owens was slow to get up to go back to his corner, and the fight was stopped before the second round, awarding Marks a controversial doctor stoppage victory.

The sixth professional bout was a welter weight title fight between Jake Whitfield and Brian Keller, and ended up being the only disappointing fight of the night. The first round was back and forth as both men looked to control the fight on the ground. In the second Whitfield controlled the fight from top position for most of the round after an even opening exchange on the feet, and the crowd began to get restless as he mostly delivered punches to Keller’s ribs. In the third round Keller was more active from the bottom looking for submissions than Whitfield was from the top, after Whitfield got the takedown, and also earned to escapes from the bottom in the round. Both fighters came out tentative in the fourth, and Keller seemed to have found his takedown defense and even got a takedown of his own. From his back Whitfield worked a strange rubber guard for a sweep then closed out the round with top control from full mount and half guard, but didn’t do any damage. In the final round Keller seemed to get the best of Whitfield early, stuffing some takedowns, landing a knee on the shooting Whitfield and even gained an escape followed by upkick. The referee then stood them up, Keller landed a strong right while they are standing and then stuffed a shot by Whitfield. The fighters walked around and looked at each other for about twenty seconds before Keller landed a few more blows on the feet and took Whitfield down. Whitfield immediately swept Keller and fended off a triangle attempt before closing out the round landing body shots from full mount as Keller held on trying to stall. The judges gave the decision to Whitfield unanimously, 48-46, 48-46, 50-45.

In the final bout of the evening Vinny Magalhaes made short work of late replacement Kris Davis. Magalhaes opened the fight with a blocked head kick, and then threw an inside leg kick that may have landed low, but Davis continued the fight and took Magalhaes down. Magalhaes then worked his rubber guard and crackhead control to secure a tight triangle forcing Davis to tap just 1:16 into the fight.

FULL FIGHT CARD QUICK RESULTS

• Vinny Magalhaes def. Kris Davis via submission (triangle) – 1:13 Round 1
• Jake Whitfield def. Brian Keller via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 50-45)
  Welterweight Championship
• Preston Marks def. Jon Owens via Doctor stoppage — 5:00 Round 1
  Interim Featherweight Championship
• Jerry Spiegle def. Billy Dowey via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
• Dave Linder def. Pete Martin via submission (Triangle) — 2:45 Round 1
• Tomar Washington def. Marcus Thomas via TKO (strikes) — 4:41 Round 1
• Justin Dalton def. Larry Hughes via KO (knee) — 1:00 Round 1
• George Hickman def. Jeff Tharington via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
• Jeff Loken def. Grant Harris via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
• Jimmy Hall def. Dustin Turbeville via TKO (corner stoppage) — 3:00 Round 1
• Chris Sutton def. Drew Allen Stewart via Unanimous decision
• Rachel Dovidio def. Alicia Corey via TKO (Punches) — 1:38 round 2
• Simon Chi def. James Ronsick via Unanimous Decision
• Nick Rahn def. Carlos Perez via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Pictured: Justin Dalton(red) vs. Larry Hughes(camo)

Maybe the ones who have said that I’m done are right. Obviously, I can’t break my mental block in the Octagon. Besides, I’ve been training like a spartan for 20 years now — my body is worn out. The years caught up to me, I’ve been worn out…. (Junior dos Santos) won that fight and would have won it by decision. Simply put, he is younger, more hungry, more aggressive. He wanted to win a lot more….

The mat was slippery like glass. I almost fell down trying to do the left high kick. But I’m not looking for an alibi. This was not the performance the public would pay for. I don’t feel the hunger anymore. I started playing it safe, I’m not ready to take risks.

I would like to thank everybody that supported me and stood by me and everyone who helped me to prepare for this fight. I’ve been living a military life for 20 years now. Getting up at 6 a.m. and having physically challenging task up to 8 p.m. I want a normal life. I’m entering a cage and thinking about fishing in Privlaka. You can’t win that way. Maybe I should’ve quit in 2006 after I won the Pride Grand Prix.

In regards to the end of the bout, despite apparently waving off the contest in the third round, Filipovic offers another account of the ending of the fight saying, “Dos Santos punched me and tore my eyelid. Blood and sweat completely blurred my vision. I stood like a blind man in the cage. At one point at the end of the fight I confused the referee and my opponent.” He then went on to say that he did not in fact call off the bout, but that it was the referee’s decision instead, though he did say that it was a good stoppage.

According to MMAjunkie, both fighters have agreed to the bout and official agreements are expected to be finalized shortly.

After compiling a 4-0 record, Duffee (5-0) remained undefeated in his UFC debut in August with a UFC record 7-second knockout of Tim Hague at UFC 102.

Buentello (24-10) returns to the UFC after going 5-1 while fighting for Strikeforce and Affliction after the leaving the UFC following a 3-1 stint with the UFC between 2005 and 2006. “The Headhunter” has won his last two fights over Gary Goodridge and Kirill Sidelnikov.

UFC 107 is headlined by lightweight champ BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez and also features Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo and Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida.

For the latest UFC 107 news and UFC 107 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

UFC 103 headliner, and former UFC champion Vitor Belfort earned “Knockout of the Night” with is first round knock out of Rich Franklin. Belfort’s knock out of Franklin edged out several other finishes to earn the award including Tyson Griffin’s stunning knockout of Hermes Franca, and Josh Koscheck’s knock out of Frank Trigg.

Rick Story and Brian Foster earned “Fight of the Night” honors for their bout which ended a string of lackluster fights on the event’s undercard, and re-energized the crowd. The two fighters went to war in the first round, both standing and on the ground, before Story submitted Foster early in the second. Story also received “Submission of the Night” for his arm triangle finish of Brian Foster.

Click here for more UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort Coverage.

In the evening’s co-main event Junior dos Santos battered the legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic through out the first two rounds of the fight. Filipovic looked his best in the first round of the fight, but as the fight wore on dos Santos took over. In the third round, it was more of the same, and eventually dos Santos forced Filipovic verbally submit after landing a combination of knees and punches to his head.

UFC debutant Paul Daley made good on his debut, upsetting UFC veteran Martin Kampmann with a first round TKO. With the TKO loss for Kampann, any title hopes he had coming into the bout have been spoiled. Daley’s victory over Kampmann gives him a strong injection into the UFC’s welterweight division.

In Frank Trigg’s return to the UFC, Josh Koscheck played spoiler and ended his night in the first round with a series of strikes, beginning on the feet, and then finishing him on the ground.

Both bouts on the SpikeTV televised portion of the card ended early. In the first bout Drew McFedries did not look his usual self, and eventually succumbed to a rear naked choke at 1:03 of the second round. In the second of the scheduled SpikeTV bouts, Efrain Escudero ended Cole Miller’s night early, with a first round technical knock out, 3:30 in.

The official results for UFC 103 were:

• Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin via KO — 3:02 Round 1
• Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via verbal submission (strikes) — 2:00 Round 3
• Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann via TKO — 2:31 Round 1
• Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg via TKO — 1:25 Round 1
• Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca via KO — 3:26 Round 2
• Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller via TKO — 3:36 Round 1
• Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries via submission (rear naked choke) — 1:03 Round 2
• Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez via TKO (shoulder injury) — 0:48 Round 2
• Nick Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision — 29-28 (2x), 30-27
• Rick Story def. Brian Foster via submission (arm triangle) — 1:09 Round 2
• Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz via split decision — 30-27 (2x), 27-30
• Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision — all three judges scored the bout 30-27
• Rafael dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision — all three judges scored the bout 30-27

The five-fight pay-per-view card also features Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg, while a one-hour Spike TV broadcast includes Cole Miller vs. Efrain Escudero and Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries.

Join MMAFrenzy.com beginning at 7pm ET for live coverage of the UFC 103 preliminary card, followed by main card coverage beginning at 9pm ET.

UFC 103 Results

• Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin via KO — 3:02 Round 1
• Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via verbal submission (strikes) — 2:00 Round 3
• Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann via TKO — 2:31 Round 1
• Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg via TKO — 1:25 Round 1
• Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca via KO — 3:26 Round 2
• Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller via TKO — 3:36 Round 1
• Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries via submission (rear naked choke) — 1:03 Round 2
• Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez via TKO (shoulder injury) — 0:48 Round 2
• Nick Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision — 29-28 (2x), 30-27
• Rick Story def. Brian Foster via submission (arm triangle) — 1:09 Round 2
• Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz via split decision — 30-27 (2x), 27-30
• Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision — all three judges scored the bout 30-27
• Rafael dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson via unanimous decision — all three judges scored the bout 30-27

UFC 103 Live Commentary

• Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin: Both fighter came out tentatively and took a couple minutes to feel one another out. As the round began to wind down, the two fighters became to throw punches more frequently, and Belfort connect a stiff right followed by a strong left cross dropping Franklin to his knees. Belfort then finished off the fight with more punches to the downed Franklin’s head, forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stop the fight.
• Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: The two heavyweight kept the fight on the feet in the first round. Both fighters landed solid shots throughout the round. Filipovic bloodied the face of dos Santos, and dos Santos had Filipovic covering up in the corner at one point in the round. In the second round, both fighters continued the striking display, at times standing toe to toe, others engaging selectively. Two minutes in however, dos Santos began to take over the fight doing a majority of the striking, while Filipovic mostly covered up to avoid dos Santos’ strikes, and pushed him away when he got in close. With under a minute left in the second Filipovic landed an inadvertent kick to dos Santos’ groin which caused a pause in the action. Just before the end of the round, dos Santos opened a cut of Filipovic’s left eye. In the third round, both men came out and exchanged combinations, with dos Santos seeming getting the better of them. The fighters stepped back, reset, and exchanged strikes, eventually clinching. In the clinch, dos Santos landed some knees to Filipovic’s head as well an uppercut to his eyes, which lead to Filipovic calling off the bout.
• Martin Kampmann vs. Paul Daley: The two fighter exchanged strikes on the feet, with both men connecting with solid punches. Daley rocked Kampmann a couple times with both rights and lefts, while Kampmann attempted to clinch as well as take Daley down with single legs. Daley however escaped Kampmann’s clinch as well as take down attempts and landed a solid left that wobbled Kampmann. Daley then followed that punch up with several more strikes to the head putting Kampmann out on his feet. Referee Yves Lavigne then stepped in and stopped the fight. Kampmann protested the stoppages, but was not as animated as other fighters sometimes are when they feel they are stopped early.
• Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg: Koscheck and Trigg open the bout exchanging strikes on the feet. Shortly into the bout, Koscheck inadvertently caught Trigg on the back of the head, then followed it up with a right hook to the chin that dropped Trigg. Once on the mat, Koscheck landed three strong clean right hands forcing referee Leon Roberts to call a stop to the contest.
• Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin: The two lightweights engaged in a tentative stand up battle for the first round, and some light clinch work. Franca and Griffin came out swinging for the fences at the start of the second, before settling into a pace more similar to the first. However, around three minutes into the round Griffin dropped Franca with a straight right hand. He then overwhelmed Franca with strikes while Franca desperately attempted to catch Griffin in a submission. Griffin continued to strike Franca, eventually forcing referee Dan Miragliotta to call a stop to the bout.
• Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller: The two lightweight fighters begin the round feeling each other out in the stand up. As the round progressed Escudero put Miller on the mat a couple times and seemed to get the better of the striking. Miller continued to try to work his reach advantage, however Escudero eventually connected with a strong right that puts Miller down. Escudero then jumped in with more strikes forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stop the fight.
• Thomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries: McFedries and Drwal begin the bout exchange punches in the center of the Octagon. Both middleweights were wobbled at times during the round. Towards the end of the round McFedries seems to pull guard, only to end up mounted by Drwal, and eventually gave up his back before the round ended. In the second round the fighters come out exchanging, but then Drwal takes McFedries down and shortly locks in a rear naked choke, ending the fight.
• Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez: Miller and Lopez put on a show in the first round, exchanging punches that wobbled both men at one point or another. Miller twice attempted submissions in the first round, but Lopez escaped both. In the second there was very little action, when Lopez motioned to the referee that he could not continue. A replay showed that he dislocated his shoulder throwing a punch.
• Brian Foster vs. Rick Story: The two fighters put on a show in the first round, both exchanging blows on the feet, and on the ground. Though part of the round Story controlled Foster from top position on the ground. In the second round the two fighters begin exchanging on the feet again, before Story takes the fight to the ground. Story shortly works his way into a fight ending arm triangle.

Le (6-0) won the 185-pound championship with a third-round TKO victory over Frank Shamrock in March 2008, but had yet to defend the title as movie roles prevented him from returning to the cage. According to MMA Weekly, Le recently secured another movie deal and has opted to relinquish the title after 18-months of inactivity.

Shields (23-4-1), the former EliteXC welterweight champion who is currently riding a 12-fight win streak that includes victories over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, and Nick Thompson, last fought in June, submitting Robbie Lawler in the opening round of the catchweight contest.

Miller (22-6) fought to a no contest against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in May and the pair had been expected to rematch for DREAM’s middleweight title in September, but both fighters have now joined Strikeforce’s 185-pound roster. Since 2006, Miller is 8-2 with wins over the likes of Lawler, Hiromitsu Miura, Tim Kennedy, and Kala Hose, while suffering losses to notables “Jacare” and Frank Trigg.

For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

“Thanks to [expletive] B.A. Baracus, I couldn’t [expletive] pull it off,” White said. “B.A. [expletive] me. The collateral damage that was done by him doing this thing was unbelievable.”

“You have no idea how much collateral damage was done by [Jackson] pulling out of this thing. It literally screwed up the rest of our year. We’ve got B.J. Penn fighting in Memphis, you know what I mean?”

“What happens is, [Jackson] calls up and says he’s doing this movie. I said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re going to fight Rashad in December. You do whatever you want to do after this fight. You want to retire and become an actor? You want to join the monastery? I don’t care what you do after this fight, but ‘Rampage,’ you’re going to fight this fight.’

“He said, ‘OK.’ Then he had his manager fly in from England and met me at the hangar before I was leaving to go out of town to tell me that he wasn’t going to (fight Evans). [Rampage] and I haven’t talked since.”

White and Jackson will hopefully settle their differences, and we will get to see Jackson and Evans inside the Octagon in the near future. However, the ripple effect caused by one man pulling out of a fight shows how fragile the plans for a major MMA promotion can be.

Emelianenko is regarded by many as the best heavyweight in the world, though he is still somewhat unknown in regards to the general MMA audience in the US. By placing the 30-1-1 fighter on Strikeforce’s inaugural CBS card, that is likely to change. Previous MMA events shown on CBS, promoted by EliteXC, brought in as many as four million viewers.

Rogers is an undefeated young fighter, who has actually already been on CBS while he was with Elite XC. Rogers also shares a common last opponent with Emelianenko, both men having defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in their last outings, though Rogers did so more quickly.

CBS is no stranger to televising MMA, having thrice aired EliteXC events, however this will be the first Strikeforce promoted event to air on the network. The last EliteXC card shown on the network was EliteXC Heat on October 4, 2008 and pulled in an estimated 4.3 million viewers.

Thanks for all the concern from my friends and fans on my health. Let me explain the situation that occurred this evening. I’ll start off by saying there’s nothing to worry about at this time. My health is great. I feel incredible and I am in peak tip top shape.My weight cut was only about 8 or 9 pounds overall. I dieted as usual for the cut. The weigh-ins were great. I felt good and healthy the whole time here in Oklahoma.

Fight day I woke up and ate as usual and again felt fine. I was in the convention center back stage with my corner. All if a sudden I told my trainer Ralph that I wasn’t feeling to good. I told him I’m going to sit down and I took my headphones off. That’s the last thing I remember until waking up on the floor. Apparently my body stiffened up and I lost consciousness. At that point the Oklahoma commission’s doctors came over and asked me a bunch of questions. Next thing I was interview by a few EMTs and the doctors called fight off.I really can’t explain what went wrong. I wound up going to the ER here and the doctor said everything is normal blood, urine, and CT of my head. The only thing abnormal is my blood sugar being high. But that could be from eating so much in the last 24 hrs after the weigh-ins.

I was so devastated I couldn’t fight that I broke out in tears. But the fact of the matter is I should take care of this problem and see what’s wrong with me so it will never happen again. My health is my only concern. I know I’ll be back to fight. I’m still looking forward to the fight with Stout. I have to see what’s wrong with me first and I’ll be back on the road for the next one. Thanks for all your support. I’ll keep you all posted.

UFC lightweight and TUF 8 runner-up Phillipe Nover blogs about a seizure he suffered last night before UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City that forced his scheduled matchup against Sam Stout to be scratched from event’s undercard.