Couture, fighting at light heavyweight for the first time since 2006, edged Brandon Vera in the evening’s main event, battling through stinging body kicks to control the pace of the fight while landing occasional combinations to earn the unanimous nod.

Couture rebounded from back-to-back losses to improve to 17-10,  though he’ll likely need another win to earn a shot at the winner of the upcoming rematch between 205-pound title-holder Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua possible. Vera falls to 11-4 with the loss, snapping a two-fight winning streak.

In the UFC 105 co-headliner, Hardy stunned Mike Swick early then rocked him again in the second and third frames to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Hardy ups his record to 23-6 with the win, including four-straight inside the UFC to earn a shot at welterweight title-holder Georges St-Pierre early next year, while Swick had his four-fight win streak stopped in dropping to 14-3.

In other main card action, Michael Bisping rebounded with a second-round knockout of Denis Kang, Matt Brown scored a second-round knockout of James Wilks, and Ross Pearson earned a second-round TKO of Aaron Riley.

On the UFC 105 preliminary card, John Hathaway, Terry Etim, Nick Osipczak, Dennis Siver, Alexander Gustafsson, and Andre Winner all earned victories.

The complete results for UFC 105 were:

• Randy Couture def. Brandon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dan Hardy def. Mike Swick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Michael Bisping def. Denis Kang via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 4:24
• Matt Brown def. James Wilks via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 2:27
• Ross Pearson def. Aaron Riley via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) — Round 2, 4:38
• John Hathaway def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Terry Etim def. Shannon Gugerty via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 1:24
• Nick Osipczak def. Matthew Riddle via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:53
• Dennis Siver def. Paul Kelly via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:53
• Alexander Gustafsson def. Jared Hamman via knockout (punches) — Round 1, 0:41
• Andre Winner def. Rolando Delgado via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 3:22

For complete UFC coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Both Couture and Vera tipped the scale at 204 pounds, while welterweight contenders Mike Swick (170) and Dan Hardy (171) and middleweight notables Michael Bisping (186) and Denis Kang (185) also made weight without issue.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 105 were:

MAIN CARD

• 205: Randy Couture (204) vs. Brandon Vera (204)
• 170: Mike Swick (170) vs. Dan Hardy (171)
• 185: Michael Bisping (186) vs. Denis Kang (185)
• 170: James Wilks (169) vs. Matt Brown (170)
• 155: Ross Pearson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 170: Paul Taylor (170) vs. John Hathaway (170)
• 155: Terry Etim (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (155)
• 170: Nick Osipczak (170) vs. Matthew Riddle (171)
• 155: Paul Kelly (156) vs. Dennis Siver (155)
• 205: Alexander Gustafsson (203) vs. Jared Hamman (204)
• 155: Andre Winner (155) vs. Roli Delgado (156)

Pictured: Randy Couture

Both UK natives, Taylor (10-4-1) is coming off a decision victory over Peter Sobotta in June, while Hathaway (11-0) has won back-to-back UFC fights over Thomas Egan and Rick Story in 2009.

Osipczak (4-0), a semifinalist on TUF 9 for Team UK, defeated Frank Lester via first-round submission in June in his UFC debut, while Riddle (3-0), a cast member on TUF 7, has won three-straight in the UFC, including his most-recent win over Dan Cramer in August.

Check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section for the latest UFC 105 rumors.

Pictured: Matt Riddle

The complete list of suspensions includes:

• Rich Franklin — Left foot must be X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 14 with no contact during training until July 5.
• Cain Velasquez — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Cheick  Kongo — Suspended until July 29 with no contact until July 14.
• Mostapha Al Turk — Must have left eye cleared by an ophthalmologist or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 29 with no contact until July 14.
• Mike Swick — Must have right hand X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Marcus Davis — Must have nose and face X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until Aug. 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Terry Etim — Must have nose X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Dale Hartt — Must have X-ray and MRI of left shoulder and must have a CT scan of his right orbit or suspended until December 5. Minimum suspension until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Paul Taylor — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Stefan Struve — Suspended until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Rick Story — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.

Silva connected with heavy punches throughout the 195-pound catchweight contest, but Franklin countered with frequent kicks and punches of his own. Both fighters were hurt on multiple occasions during the three-round, 15-minute bout, but the frequency of Franklin’s strikes were enough to earn him the unanimous decision victory.

As was the case with all of the card’s unanimous decisions, the official judge’s scores weren’t announced, but the fight appeared to be closer than the unanimous scores indicated (MMAFrenzy.com scored the bout 29-28 Franklin).

With the win, the former UFC middleweight champion Franklin, who now competes at light heavyweight, improves to 25-4, while Silva, a former PRIDE light heavyweight title-holder who is moving down to middleweight, falls to 32-10-1 following the loss.

In a battle of heavyweight contenders, Cain Velasquez used his superior wrestling to dominate Cheick Kongo en route to a unanimous decision victory in the UFC 99 co-headliner. Velasquez, now 6-0 in his young career with four-straight UFC victories, should meet another contender in the 265-pound division in his next bout with fellow wrestling prospect Shane Carwin among his potential opponents. Kongo, meanwhile, must improve his ground game if he’s to climb back up the heavyweight ladder towards a title shot, as Velasquez easily secured mount and rained down ground and pound throughout the bout.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic successfully made his return to the Octagon at UFC 99, dispatching of Mostapha Al-Turk with punches midway through the opening round of their heavyweight fight. An accidental eye gouge that set up Cro Cop’s finishing flurry was the only blemish on the bout, but appeared to have little affect on the result as Al-Turk had been staggered with punches moments earlier. Unbeaten in his last four fights, Cro Cop improves to 25-6-2, while Al-Turk falls to 6-5, including an 0-2 mark in the UFC, and should soon find himself released by the promotion.

Mike Swick stopped Ben Saunders with punches in the second round of their welterweight contest on Saturday at the Lanxess Arena, lining himself up for a fight against a 170-pound contender, with the loser of July’s matchup between current champion Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves, Martin Kampmann, or Carlos Condit among the possibilities. Swick is now 14-2 on his career with wins in 9 of 10 UFC bouts, while Saunders drops to 7-1 with the first loss of his career.

In other main card action, Spencer Fisher spoiled Caol Uno’s UFC return with a unanimous decision victory and Dan Hardy won the biggest fight of his career by outpointing Marcus Davis via unanimous decision in the pay-per-view opener.

The event’s official results were:

• Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision
• Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision
• Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Mostapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:06
• Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:47
• Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision
• Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz via submission (D’Arce choke) — Round 2
• Denis Siver def. Dale Hartt via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1
• Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision
• Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado via unanimous decision
• Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 2, 2:37
• John Hathaway def. Rick Story via unanimous decision

[Pictured: Rich Franklin]

Surprisingly, the staredown between Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy appeared tame compared to the shoving matches that broke out between preliminary card fighters Roli Delgado and Paul Kelly and Denis Stojnic and Stefan Struve.

MMAFrenzy.com will have live coverage of UFC 99 tomorrow beginning at noon ET.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 99 were:

• 195: Rich Franklin (194) vs. Wanderlei Silva (194)
• 265: Cain Velasquez (239) vs. Cheick Kongo (230)
• 170: Ben Saunders (169) vs. Mike Swick (169)
• 170: Marcus Davis (171) vs. Dan Hardy (170)
• 155: Spencer Fisher (154) vs. Caol Uno (155)
• 265:Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (233) vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (236)
• 155: Justin Buchholz (155) vs. Terry Etim (156)
• 155: Dale Hartt (156) vs. Denis Siver (156)
• 170: Peter Sobotta (169) vs. Paul Taylor (169)
• 155: Roli Delgado (155) vs. Paul Kelly (156)
• 265: Denis Stojnic (241) vs. Stefan Struve (248)
• 170: John Hathaway (170) vs. Rick Story (169)

Rich Franklin

On the heels of their official announcement of UFC 98: Lesnar vs. Mir 2, the UFC officially announced today UFC 99: The Comeback, which is slated to take place on June 13th at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE title-holder Wanderlei Silva will meet in a  in a 195-pound catchweight bout to headline the UFC’s first trip to Germany.

Tickets for UFC 99 are priced from 250 Euro to 45 Euro and go on sale to UFC Fight Club members on Monday, March 9th and for UFC Newsletter subscribers on Wednesday, March 11th. Tickets, which are available via eventim.de or from the Lanxess Arena, will then go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 13th.

Unofficially confirmed bouts for UFC 99 include Caol Uno vs. Spencer Fisher, Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy, Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders, and Cain Velasquez vs. Heath Herring. Paul Taylor and Stefan Struve are also expected to be in action on the card.

UFC 99 will air in the United States on tape-delayed pay-per-view beginning at 10pm ET.

For the latest UFC 99 fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Luiz Cane scored his second-straight UFC victory with a second round TKO due to strikes of feared light heavy knockout artist Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou to earn the “Knockout of the Night” bonus.

Making his UFC debut, lightweight Jim Miller submitted David Baron with a textbook rear naked choke midway through the third round of their preliminary fight to win the “Submission of the Night” award. This bout is now available for viewing on UFC.com.

Welterweights Chris Lytle and Paul Taylor went toe-to-toe in a three-round standup brawl to earn “Fight of the Night” honors.

While still a large sum, especially for preliminary card fighters, the $40,000 bonuses are down from the $60,000 “Fight Night” bonuses following UFC 88 in September, which aired on pay-per-view, and $50,000 bonuses for UFC 85 in June, which also took place in the UK and aired on Spike TV.

For a complete recap of UFC 89 “Bisping vs. Leben” click here.

Despite entering the bout in his best physical and mental shape of his career, Leben pressed forward but was unable to connect with his knockout power, while Bisping employed a perfect strategy to top Leben on the judge’s scorecards, avoiding Leben’s power while countering with precision strikes.

Leben opened the bout aggressively with leg kicks but Bisping took control midway through the close opening round, countering with punches and bloodying the nose of his opponent. In the second it was all Bisping, who dodged Leben’s attacks while carefully countering with punches. In the close final round (which MMAFrenzy.com scored in favor of Leben), a desperate Leben was again aggressive, chasing Bisping down with wild strikes, but was unable to score a knockout.

The judges rendered a unanimous decision victory in favor of Bisping with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 in favor of the English fighter.

With the win Bisping improved to 17-1 on his career, including a perfect 3-0 record at 185-pounds, and moved closer to a middleweight title shot, though when questioned on a potential title fight after the victory, Bisping said he feels he needs several more wins over quality opponents before he’d be prepared for the middleweight title holder.

Up next for Bisping is a stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 9 with a key middleweight matchup against Dan Henderson or Rich Franklin looming in 2009.

The obviously-improved Leben dropped to 18-5 in the loss, but was gracious in defeat, thanking the UK fans and Bisping for a fight he called the most-enjoyable of his career, despite being a losing effort.

In the co-main event of the evening, Keith Jardine defeated Brandon Vera via split decision after three close rounds. After a exchanging early, Jardine captured the first round with a takedown and ground and pound, escaping a near-submission by the Jiu Jitsu brown belt to punctuate the round with a late-flurry of strikes. Vera countered by winning the second with a knee-buckling kick and better striking, but Jardine rebounded to win the final frame on two of the judge’s scorecards to take the split decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.

Despite losses in two of his last five fights, the win moves Jardine, now 14-4-1 on his career, back into the light heavyweight title picture with wins over current light heavyweight title-holder Forrest Griffin, former champion Chuck Liddell, and now the former heavyweight contender Vera in three of his last five.

Vera, suffering his third loss in his last four bouts inside the octagon, saw his record drop to 9-3 in the loss, including a 1-1 mark at 205-pounds.

In other main card action, Luiz Cane stopped Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou for the “Knockout of the Night” with strikes late in the second round, Chris Lytle and Paul Taylor went toe-to-toe in the “Fight of the Night” with Lytle walking away with a controversial unanimous decision win (29-28, 30-27, 29-28), and Marcus Davis submitted Paul Kelly via guillotine choke midway through the second round in the first televised bout of the evening.

The wins likely line up Davis and Lytle for an early-2009 meeting at UFC 93 in Ireland.

Lytle, Taylor, Cane, and Davis each took home an extra $40,000 bonus for their efforts.

On the preliminary card, Dan Hardy topped Akihiro Gono via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), Shane Carwin pounded out Neil Wain early in the first round, David Bielkheden defeated Jess Liaudin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27), Terry Etim topped Sam Stout via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27), Jim Miller earned “Submission of the Night” honors by choking out David Baron with a rear naked choke midway through the third round, and Per Eklund forced Samy Schiavo to submit to a rear naked choke early in the third round of the opening bout of the evening.

The UFC’s next event is just one week away as the promotion returns to the US and heads to Chicago, Illinois for UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote”. The middleweight title will be on the line in the main event as UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva battles top contender Patrick Cote. Welterweights Josh Koscheck and Yoshiyuki Yoshida are set to clash in the evening’s co-main event.

As always, MMAFrenzy.com will have extensive live coverage of UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote” on Saturday, October 25th.

UFC 89 “BISPING VS. LEBEN” OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Michael Bisping def. Chris Leben via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Keith Jardine def. Brandon Vera via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Luiz Cane def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 4:15
• Chris Lytle def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Marcus Davis def. Paul Kelly via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 2:16
• Dan Hardy def. Akihiro Gono via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shane Carwin def. Neil Wain via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:31
• David Bielkheden def. Jess Liaudin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Terry Etim def. Sam Stout via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Jim Miller def. David Baron via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 3:19
• Per Eklund def. Sammy Schiavo via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 1:47

England’s own Michael Bisping topped fellow middleweight contender Chris Leben via unanimous decision to headline the the eleven-bout UFC 89 card.

• Michael Bisping def. Chris Leben via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Keith Jardine def. Brandon Vera via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Luiz Cane def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 4:15
• Chris Lytle def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Marcus Davis def. Paul Kelly via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 2:16
• Dan Hardy def. Akihiro Gono via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shane Carwin def. Neil Wain via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:31
• David Bielkheden def. Jess Liaudin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Terry Etim def. Sam Stout via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Jim Miller def. David Baron via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 3:19
• Per Eklund def. Sammy Schiavo via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 1:47