Cro Cop (25-7-2) returned to the UFC in June with a first-round TKO of Mustapha Al-Turk, but suffered a third-round submission due to strikes against Junior dos Santos in September.

Rothwell (30-7), a former standout in the IFL, made his UFC debut last month, suffering a controversial second-round TKO to Cain Velasquez at UFC 104.

UFC 110, which has yet to be officially announced, is expected to be co-headlined by Wanderlei Silva’s middleweight debut against Yoshihiro Akiyama.

For the latest UFC 110 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Ratings for the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10 dropped 29 percent to 2.9 million from the series record 4.1 million who tuned in for the TUF 10 debut. [Spike TV]

Pictured: Anderson Silva

A torn eyelid and other damage suffered in the loss will force Cro Cop to be cleared by a doctor before he could return to action.

Rich Franklin, Martin Kampmann, Frank Trigg, Hermes Franca, Cole Miller, and Steve Lopez were all suspended until October 20 after suffering knockout losses on the card.

The remainder of the event’s 26 fighters were issued mandatory minimum suspensions until September 27 or 29.

Check out the UFC 103 category for more UFC 103 coverage.

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.

Spike TV-televised combatant Efrain Escudero failed to make weight on his first attempt, weighing in at 157 pounds, one pound over the the non-title lightweight limit of 156. He, like Belfort, was given time to shed the extra weight and did so, weighing in at 156 pounds on a subsequent attempt.

The rest of the fighters on the 13-bout card, including main card fighters Josh Koscheck and Frank Trigg, successfully made weight on their first attempts for the Spike and pay-per-view televised event.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 103 were:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

• Vitor Belfort (196) vs. Rich Franklin (195)
• Junior Dos Santos (236) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (226)
• Martin Kampmann (169.5) vs. Paul Daley (170)
• Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Frank Trigg (170.25)
• Hermes Franca (159) vs. Tyson Griffin (155.5)^

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

• Efrain Escudero (156) vs. Cole Miller (155)
• Tomasz Drwal (185) vs. Drew McFedries (185.25)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Steve Lopez (154.5) vs. Jim Miller (154.5)
• Nick Lentz (155) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (155.25)
• Brian Foster (170.75) vs. Rick Story (170)
• Jason Brilz (205.25) vs. Elliot Marshall (204.75)
• Vladimir Matyushenko (205) vs. Igor Pokrajac (203)
• Rafael dos Anjos (155.5) vs. Rob Emerson (155.5)

*Belfort and Escudero each weighed-in over the limit for their bouts and have been given additional time to lose the additional weight.
^ These fighters agreed prior to the weigh-ins to meet at a catchweight of 159 pounds.

Stop back tomorrow for live UFC 103 coverage, as well as MMAFrenzy.com’s fight night recap and post-event news.

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

First reported by Dana White at Friday’s UFC 101 Q&A session, and officially announced Monday by Spike TV, The Best of Pride Fighting Championships series starts January 11, 2010 at 11pm on Spike. The show will be a weekly one hour series following a similar format to that of the UFC Unleashed, and will be hosted by former Maxim Magazine “Hometown Hotties” finalist Kenda Perez.

The television series will make use of the extensive library of Pride video footage that Zuffa, LLC (parent company of the UFC) purchased when it purchased the promotion back in 2007. It is expected to include footage of many of the former Pride stars that now compete inside the UFC Octagon, including Dan Henderson, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Anderson Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic, and Wanderlei Silva. Spike has also claimed that they will include Fedor Emelianenko in some of the broadcasts, despite his notable absence from the UFC.

This move by Zuffa was foreshadowed by Owner Lorenzo Fertitta sporting a Pride T-shirt at and around UFC 100 in early July. Since that sighting of Fertitta in the Pride paraphernalia, an official Pride store has been added to the official UFC store on the promotion’s website, and can also be reached by visiting www.pridefcstore.com. The store includes shirts, shorts, hats, and a DVD.

Perhaps Fertitta’s shirt, and the creation of the Pride store were just done in anticipation of the upcoming creation of the The Best of Pride Fighting Championships television series, or maybe all three are foreshadowing another future move by Zuffa, LLC involving the Pride banner. This author believes there may be something bigger brewing with the Pride name, but then I could be completely off base. Only time will tell if I’m right about that, but at least we get to re-watch some great fights.

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta announced the signing on Saturday during a Q&A with fans at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas before UFC 100.

Nearly two years after leaving the Octagon following back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo in 2007, Cro Cop (25-6-2) returned to the UFC in June, defeating Mostapha Al-Turk via first-round TKO at UFC 99. Filipovic’s future in the UFC was jeopardized when he reportedly signed with DREAM following the victory, his third-straight, but UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta was apparently able to convince the popular veteran to return to the Octagon by offering him a contract he “couldn’t refuse”.

Cro Cop is rumored to meet heavyweight prospect Junior dos Santos in a featured bout at UFC 103 on September 19 in Dallas, Texas.

“I think I’ll fight September 19. They took me off the August 29 show,” said dos Santos. “My opponent’s changed. I’ll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I’ll be in really good standing. If that’s truly the case, I’m guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn’t be on the main card.

“To me it’s incredible. When they asked me if they could change the fight date I was a bit bothered, because I wanted to fight right away. I’ve been away for some time now. But the Fertitta brothers asked me and I accepted,” he continued. “After that I found out it would be against Cro Cop and was overjoyed. It’ll be a big opportunity in my career. Lots of good things have happened in my life and this is one more. I’m going to make the most of it.”

Dos Santos (8-1), who’s never gone the distance in any of his 9 career bouts, is currently riding a 3-fight win streak that includes back-to-back first-round knockouts of Fabrico Werdum and Stefan Struve inside the Octagon. “Cigano” had been scheduled to fight Justin McCully in late-August on the UFC 102 preliminary card, but news broke on Wednesday that he was pulled from the event in favor of a better matchup.

Nearly two years after leaving the Octagon following back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo in 2007, Cro Cop (25-6-2) returned to the UFC in June, defeating Mostapha Al-Turk via first-round TKO at UFC 99. Filipovic’s future in the UFC was jeopardized when he nearly signed with DREAM following the victory, his third-straight, but UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta was apparently able to convince the popular veteran to return to the Octagon with a contract he “couldn’t refuse”.

Rich Franklin is likely to headline UFC 103 against an opponent to-be-announced with Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg, and Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller also rumored for the card.

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

[Pictured: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic]

McCully announced on MMAjunkie Radio on Wednesday that he’ll instead fight newcomer Mike Russow at the August 29 event in Portland, Oregon.

Another UFC newcomer, Todd Duffee, who had been slated to fight Russow at the pay-per-view event, will instead take on Tim Hague.

Both McCully-Russow and Duffee-Hague will take place on the unaired preliminary card.

Though no reason has yet been given for lineup changes, it appears likely that dos Santos was pulled from the card for a better matchup at one of the UFC’s fall events. Adding the exciting up-and-comer dos Santos to the main card for the UFC’s September 19 event in Dallas, UFC 103, could supplement a still to-be-booked but likely weaker-than-normal main event, especially if he’s matched against another attention-grabbing heavyweight such as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (should he return to the UFC).

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

[Pictured: Junior dos Santos]