UFC 93 "Franklin vs Henderson" 1/17/09 Re-Cap

UFC 93: "Franklin vs Henderson"

Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (20-5) vs. Chris Lytle (36-16-4)

Looks like we are starting out with the fight on paper that should be FOTN. Davis beat Paul Kelly by submission in his last fight in October at UFC 89 and at the same show Chris Lytle scored a unanimous decision over Paul Taylor. Both guys have professional boxing experience. Lytle is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Marcus Davis comes out the House of Pain's "Jump Around." Both guys have won the majority of their fights by submission. Davis has a 2" reach advantage. Davis is the overwhelming fan favorite in this fight since he is the "Irish Hand Grenade."

"Ole" chant goes out from the crowd as the fight starts.

R1- Lytle attacks early and briefly knocks Davis back against the cage. Lytle is the aggressor but Davis is hitting some counter punches. Davis caught a kick with two minutes left in the fight and threw Lytle to the ground but didn't follow him down. Lytle went down again, on a possible slip or push, and Davis went down and tried some Ground and Pound but Lytle got back up and then ate a knee. Davis has a cut under his left eye. Good first round and really close to score. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. Very close fight so far.

R2- Lytle backed Davis up against the cage and threw bombs to open up the fight but Davis survived. Davis caught him with a body shot that knocked Lytle down. Davis hits a body kick and then some knees. This was a close round. Davis seemed like he hit more shots, Lytle seemed like he hit heavy shots. I think we've got a 19-19 fight here but I could honestly see it legitimately being scored 20-18 right now in favor of either fighter. It's a really close fight so far. Davis has a couple of minor cuts.

R3- Lytle throwing and missing with some wild shots this round. He's still pushing forward but looks like he's slowing. With about a minute and a half left they both throw punches against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round. Really good fight. I've got Davis 29-28 but I would be surprised if this wasn't a split decision.

The judges score the fight: Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28

Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Split)

Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (12-4) vs. Denis Kang (31-10-1)

This is Kang's UFC debut. Belcher is coming off of a questionable split decision victory over Ed Herman in September and has won 3 of his last 4 fights. The last time I saw Denis Kang he was getting submitted by Gegard Mousasi in the first round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. Kang is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Belcher is a Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt.

R1- Kang got an early take down and controlled the action early. Kang got his second take down of the round with two minutes left. Knag went for a kimura but couldn't get it locked in. Really strong round for Kang as he dominated but didn't inflict too much damage on Belcher. 10-9 Kang after one round.

R2- Kang got a take down one and a half minutes into the round. Belcher pulled guard near the end of the round and caught Kang in a guillotine and tapped him. It looked like Kang had run out of gas prior to getting caught. Kang was controlling this fight but not dominating. Very disappointing debut by Kang but I think you could see it coming after he got subbed by Mousasi in very short order last April.

Winner: Alan Belcher by Submission (Guillotine) R2 4:36

Post-fight interview Belcher says he thinks he needs one or two more fights before calling out Anderson Silva. No shit sherlock.

Michael Bisping is shown in the crowd and they hype up the fact that he will be one of the coaches on the next installment of TUF.

Middleweight Fight- Jeremy Horn (88-18-5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (17-2)

Palhares is coming off of a decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88 in a close fight that I scored in favor of Henderson 29-28. Palhares is an aggressive submission fighter and a jiu jitsu black belt. Horn has a 3" reach and 6" height advantage. Horn has over 50 submissions in his MMA career and has fought in over 100 career MMA fights.

R1- Horn pulled guard early but Palhares quickly took his back but Horn survived and was able to roll over. Palhares missed with a leg lock and Horn missed with a triangle. Palhares really controlled and almost dominating first round. This was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of Palhares.

R2- Palhares got a big slam and take down about 15 seconds into round two. Palhares has been warned a couple of times about grabbing onto the cage. Horn survived and got a single leg and then mounted Palhares and got him in an arm triangle but couldn't clamp it in right. Horn hit some stand up but then Palhaes got a take down. Very close first round with Palhares controlling the beginning and end and Horn controlling the middle. I've got Palhares 20-17 so far but I could see it as close as 19-19 depending on what the judges favor when they score.

R3- Huge suplex by Palhares to start off the round. Palhares just controls this round as Palhares was winded but Horn couldn't do anything. Palhares is going to take this by unanimous decision.

Judges say: 30-27 for all three judges.

Winner: Rousimar Palhares by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway

This is a pre-show fight. Egan got a huge response from the crowd. This is the UFC debut of both guys. Hathaway has more experience.

R1- Hathaway dominated on the ground early. The crowd was really behind Egan. Hathaway finished Egan in the final minute of the round due to ref stoppage. Hathaway looked really good. Egan got in virtually no offense.

Winner: John Hathaway by TKO (strikes) R1 4:36

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mark Coleman (15-8) vs. Shogun Rua (16-3)

This is a re-match from their much talked about Pride fight where Rua broke his arm and then their was a post-fight melee in the ring. Coleman comes out to AC/DCs "Back in Black." This is the "Co-Main Event."

R1- Coleman rushes in early and eats a Shogun knee but got the take down. Rua going for a knee bar but Coleman escaped. Rua with a knee but Coleman took him down. Basically this fight is Coleman trying to Ground and Pound and Shogun trying to go for subs. Shogun is starting to come on at the end of the round with some good leg kicks. Coleman looking tired towards the end of the round. Shogun hit a good knee and Coleman dove at his leg. Big left hand from Rua and Coleman crumbles to the floor but grabs onto Rua's leg. Rua 10-9 in this round as Coleman just ran out of gas.

Phil Baroni is in Coleman's corner and telling Coleman that he's hurt Rua badly and that Rua is looking for a way out as Coleman has trouble finding his corner.

R2- Coleman got a take down after he ate a couple of strikes. Rua hitting more strikes and Coleman is having a difficult time keeping his hands up. Coleman got a take down with about 2 minutes left but couldn't hold him down. Rua peppered Coleman with some shots and Coleman got another take down. Rua got a shoulder lock. Both guys look tired. Coleman survives to fight another round if he can make it back to his corner. Rua is up 20-18 but not looking particularly good so far.

R3- Coleman got a take down and is laying on top of Rua. Rua is going after Coleman's leg and Coleman is continually grabbing the cage to help against the move. Coleman back on top and is on Rua's back and is taking some shots. Rua escaped and hit a knee to Coleman where Coleman's knees were on the ground. The ref separated them but on replay it was to the body which was a legal shot. Both guys are just gassed. Rua hitting Coleman with some shots and knocks him down and the ref stops the fight.

That was hard to watch. Both guys clearly didn't have the stamina needed to be ready for this fight. After Rua's interview with Rogan, Rua and Coleman shake hands and embrace a couple of times to squash their feud.

Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:36

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rich Franklin (26-3-1) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)

Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares by decision at UFC 88 and Franklin's last fight was a win at the same show when he finished Matt Hamill. Henderson is a two-time Olympic wrestler and the only fighter to hold two belts at the same time in Pride. Both of these guys have recent losses to Anderson Silva so they are basically the #2 and #3 fighters in the Middleweight Division but are fighting at Light Heavyweight as Silva has basically forced them to move up. The winner is going to coach opposite of Michael Bisping in the next TUF installment.

R1- Henderson got a couple of good strikes in early, slipped but then got on top of Franklin. Franklin took some punishment but made it back to his feet about half way through the round. They exchanged on their feet as both guys got in shots. Henderson hit Franklin with an accidental headbutt that opened up a cut on his forehead. Henderson up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- Pretty even round but Henderson got a take down at the two minute mark and controlled for the rest of the fight. Henderson is up 20-18 so far so Franklin needs to finish if he wants to get a win.

R3- They mix it up at the beginning of the round with Franklin avoiding a take down but he couldn't avoid a second. Franklin started to land some good shots toward the end of the fight but then Henderson hit him with an eye poke and they had to take a break in the action. Not much action after the eye poke. Henderson takes this 29-28 in a rather boring fight for a Main Event.

Judges scores are: 29-28 Henderson, 30-27 Franklin and 29-28 Henderson. What's up with the 30-27 Franklin? Not a dominant win for Henderson but based on MMA scoring criteria he won the fight.

Winner: Dan Henderson by Decision (Split)

Not a great show from UFC but about what I was expecting. Davis/Lytle was Fight of the Night. BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre is just two weeks away!