Dan Henderson Defeats Rich Franklin at UFC 93

UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson took place today at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland. In the evening’s main event Dan Henderson topped Rich Franklin, earning a split decision victory to secure his spot as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 9 and a future middleweight matchup against opposing coach Michael Bisping. One judge scored the contest 30-27 in favor of Franklin, while the victory went to Henderson, who was awarded two 29-28 scores.

In the evening’s co-main event, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua scored his much-needed first UFC victory with a late third-round TKO of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. The 44-year-old Coleman was visibly exhausted midway though the opening round but Rua was largely unable to capitalize. Coleman survived the opening round and continued to get Rua to the canvas over the remainder of the fight. The fight appeared destined to go to the judges’ scorecards, where Rua was likely to be awarded the victory, but a botched call by the referee allowed Rua to connect with a combo that sent Coleman to the canvas. Coleman protested the stoppage and has his sights set on a rubber match with his rival, though Rua will first fight Chuck Liddell before the two could meet again.

Both fights were not without controversy as Henderson’s victory was marred by an accidental headbutt and eye poke, while a legal knee by Rua was ruled illegal and resulted in a standup that immediately preceded the knockout of Coleman.

Despite a broken hand suffered in the opening round, Rousimar Palhares took Jeremy Horn the distance to earn a unaniomous decision victory. Horn showed heart in the loss, surviving what was shaping up to be an early stoppage to force Palhares to work hard for the victory, which improved his record to 2-1 in the UFC and 9-2 overall.

In a featured middleweight matchup, Alan Belcher snubbed Denis Kang’s UFC debut, submitting the promising middleweight with an arm-in guillotine late in the second round to improve his UFC record to 5-3. The submission came out of nowhere as Kang dominated with first two rounds with superior ground work before Belcher transitioned a stuffed takedown attempt into a fight-ending submission.

The highly anticipated scrap between Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle kicked off the UFC 93 broadcast with back-and-forth standup action as expected, but the solid effort failed to live up it’s extreme hype. In the end, Davis walked away with the split decision victory.

UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson Results

• Dan Henderson def. Rich Franklin via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Mark Coleman via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 4:36
• Rousimar Palhares def. Jeremy Horn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alan Belcher def. Denis Kang via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 4:36
• Marcus Davis def. Chris Lytle via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• John Hathaway def. Tom Egan via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:36
• Martin Kampmann def. Alexandre Barross via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:07
• Eric Schafer def. Antonio Mendes via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:35
• Thomasz Drwal def. Ivan Serati via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:02
• Denis Siver def. Nate Mohr via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:27

For complete, blow-by-blow results click here.

Denis Kang

The UFC today announced additional bouts for UFC 93 on January 17th in Dublin, Ireland and UFC 94 on January 31st in Las Vegas.

Announced for the UFC 93 main card, which is headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin and Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, were Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang, Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle, and Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares. Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao, Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati, Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway, and Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr were confirmed for the unaired preliminary card.

A superfight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn is joined on the main card by Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva and Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones. Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares, Jake O’Brien vs. Christian Wellisch, and Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer are officially slated for the preliminary card.

For the latest UFC rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

Serati, who signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC in September, is a Cage Rage veteran who has won five-straight bouts including his most recent victory, an August 30th knockout of Claudio da Silva at a No Limits MMA event in Italy.

Drwal, among Europe’s top light heavyweights, made his unsuccessful debut with the UFC at UFC 75 last September, losing to Thiago Silva via second-round TKO. He had previously won thirteen-straight bouts.

UFC 93 features a light heavyweight clash between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson and a 205-pound battle between UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

For more on UFC 93 check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

No opponent has yet been determined for the 205-pound bout.

Serati, who signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC in September, is a Cage Rage veteran who has won five-straight bouts including his most recent victory, an August 30th knockout of Claudio da Silva at a No Limits MMA event in Italy.

UFC 93 features a light heavyweight clash between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson and a 205-pound battle between UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

The Italian fighter further deepens the UFC’s 205-pound division, which has cemented itself as the sport’s most talent-rich weight class.

A Cage Rage veteran, Serati has won five-straight bouts including his most recent victory, an August 30th knockout of Claudio da Silva at a No Limits MMA event in Italy.

Serati will reportedly make his UFC debut before the end of the year.