Review for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort

Older UFC fans will remember Vitor Belfort as a nineteen year-old hot prospect who ran through UFC 12's heavyweight tournament and became the youngest ever victor inside the octagon.

Then he was the man that Randy Couture steamrollered to make his now legendary name inside the octagon. Belfort then made off to Japan, but not before destroying a young Wanderlei Silva inside a minute. In PRIDE Belfort became one of the first victims of the 'Gracie Hunter' Kazushi Sakuraba.

Four more wins and a brief stint back with the UFC followed but he suffered defeats to up and comers Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz as well as a second defeat to Couture.

Since then Belfort has found himself in the wildernesses of Cage Rage and Affliction but Dana White and Joe Silva saw something of the old Belfort in his 37 second dismantling of Matt Lindland, and it was decided that he could be a realistic contender to middleweight champ Anderson Silva's thrown.

His opponent, Rich Franklin, finds himself in proverbial limbo. Always the go to guy for White and Silva, Franklin is fighting his second fight at a catch-weight of 195lbs. Despite coming off a win over Wanderlei Silva himself, Franklin needs to find a home at 205lbs, and a defeat here could really set him back in his run at that division. 

It makes for an interesting match-up and one of a few on this card.

Another man considered a legend is Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic. Just type his name into youtube and you will see plenty of kicks that back up that claim. But the former PRIDE star looks a shadow of his old self inside the octagon and with the explosive up and comer Junior Dos Santos his opponent, it could be a long night for the Croatian.
 
Finally, after Mike Swick dropped out through injury, Martin Kampmann will meet Brit Paul Daley. 'Semtex' as he is known, has been knocking people out in Britain for years, but he will face a step up in competition here as Kampmann was fancied for a title shot. A win would put Daley right in the mix in the welterweight division.

Video 

Video is presented in 4:2 PAL, and like all UFC DVDs is very good. Lighting and camera-work are, as always, excellent and I can have few complaints.

Audio 

Audio is 2.0 Dolby Digital and you wont miss a word from the lips of commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.

Extras

We get the usual, behind the scenes show, weigh-in show and countdown to UFC 103 here.

The behind the scenes show is, as it generally is, the most interesting of the three, as we go inside the camps of Belfort and Franklin as well as Josh Koscheck and Frank Trigg. It is always interesting to see the personalities of each fighter and the camaraderie in the locker rooms before and after fights. This is certainly a good watch, although on a personal level I was a little disappointed we didn't see more of Cro Cop and Dos Santos.

Conclusion 

Sometimes you get the feeling the UFC puts on some 'super-shows' and some 'fillers,' this pay-per-view certainly comes under the latter category. But try to not be put off by the lack of title fights or highly ranked fighters. This still turns out to be an exciting event and if you like stand-up wars, well this ones for you.

There are punches, kicks, elbows and knees galore in this one and with not a single fight on the main card goes to a decision. There is no shortage of controversy either, with two stoppages being disputed by the respective losers.

The main event sees one fighter, naming no names, living up to his billing, whilst the other must pick himself up and start again. 

The only complaints I can have are the extras, which, if you buy UFC DVDs, get a little repetitive once you know the format.