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Tonight's card features a main event battle between former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, fighting in the UFC for the first time in more than five years, and former middleweight champ Rich Franklin. The two are meeting at a catch-weight of 195 pounds.

The co-main event is a heavyweight war between Junior Dos Santos, a Black House MMA fighter alongside the likes of Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Pride legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.

UFC 103 also sees the return of Frank Trigg to the organization for the first time in a little more than four years, the UFC debut of South Bend fighter Steve Lopez, the debut of H.I.T. Squad fighter Brian Foster (a Matt Hughes protege) and an important fight for Miletich Fighting Systems (Quad Cities) fighter Drew McFedries.

So stay tuned all night and keep up with all the action, only at nwi.com!

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PRELIMINARY CARD

Lightweight: Rafael dos Anjos (11-4, 0-2 UFC) vs. Robert Emerson (10-7, 1 NC, 2-1, 1 NC UFC)
Round 1: A solid leg kick from Dos Anjos is the first real action in 45 seconds. Emerson shoots, but can't take Dos Anjos down. Another nice kick from Dos Anjos to the ribs. The two exachage crosses and continue to work kicks. Emerson lands a nice kick. It's been all kickboxing so far. Dos Anjos shoots at 1:50, but Emerson fends it off. Dos Anjos works another stinging inside leg kick. Dos Anjos again shoots and is stuffed by Emerson, but he has him against the cage and keeps working a single leg. He finally gets him down and is in top position working for elbows with 10 seconds left. It is enough for him to win what was up to that point a close round on MattE's scorecard; he thinks it's 10-9 Dos Anjos.
Round 2: More standup for the first minute. Emerson lands a few jabs and looks like he wants to get some momentum. Dos Anjos shoots again and is stuffed. Emerson connects wiht a few uppercuts, but not flush enough to rock Dos Anjos. Another shot by Dos Anjos has Emerson against the cage. Dos Anjos lifts him quickly and takes him down, but they're back to the feet just as quickly. Dos Anjos slips as he throws a right hook at the 1:40 mark, but he comes back with a left inside leg kick. At the 30-second mark, Dos Anjos nearly trips Emerson with a big kick. It looks like it may have hurt Emerson just a little. It's another close round, but MattE sees it again for Dos Anjos, 10-9.
Round 3: Another big kick from Dos Anjos similar to the one we saw nearly take out Emerson's left leg last round. HE shoots, Emerson sprawls, but ultimately it's Dos Anjos on top. He then briefly works around to Emerson's back and works for a rear naked choke that he can't sink in. Emerson gets back to guard, where Dos Anjos works the elbows and punches from top position. Dos Anjos briefly lets Emerson up, but dives back in and has side control, looking to mount. Emerson works back to his feet and pushes Dos Anjos against the cage, but Dos Anjos reverses and works knees in the clinch. Then he tries for a single-leg takedown, but can't get it and we're back to standing at 1:15. Emerson has a nice kick, countered by one from Dos Anjos. This is Dos Anjos' fight to lose at this point, and another hard kick to the knee scores some more points. Dos Anjos again hits a big kick. With 10 seconds left, he's in control, but he's not running. He works a few more kicks. MattE sees the final round for Dos Anjos, 10-9, and the fight for him 30-27. Won't be surprised if one or two judges go 29-28, though.
RESULT: Dos Anjos, unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards.

Light Heavyweight: Igor Pokrajac (21-5, 0-0 UFC) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (22-4, 3-2 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Pokrajac is making his UFC debut. He's the sparring partner of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, so we can be sure he's a fairly good striker. Prior to tonight's fight card, in a short conversation with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and WEC public relations manager Dave Sholler, Silva said he's most excited to see the debut of Pokrajac tonight. Pokrajac comes to the Octagon to "Back in Black" by AC/DC. Matusyenko is making his return to the organization for the first time since UFC 44. On his resume is a loss to Tito Ortiz, who is in attendance tonight with his wife, Jenna Jameson.
Round 1: Pokrajac stuns Matyushenko early, then clinches on the cage. But Matyushenko is controlling the pace. Pokrajac works back to the middle and tries a Superman punch. The arena is quiet. One fan yells out "Sweep the leg!" in reference to "The Karate Kid." Another answers with "Put 'im in a body bag!" And still another yells out a Rob Schneider reference, "You can do it!" Pokrajac hits with several strikes, but Matyushenko bullies him to the ground. After a bit there, he stands up and won't let Pokrajac up. He then gets back on top of Pokrajac in his guard before standing again. Matyushenko then sweeps his left leg and gets side control, then full mount, then briefly on Pokrajac's back. The round ends with Pokrajac on top. It's a close round, but it probably goes to Matyushenko, 10-9.
Round 2: We stay on the feet and trade punches for the first 90 seconds with both fighters getting a few decent shots in. It really looks like at any time, one of them could be the one that shuts the lights out. Matyushenko hits several punches in a row, and Pokrajac backs away smiling. He is clearly stunned, and Matyushenko then performs a beautiful hip toss that drops Pokrajac with a thud. Matyshenko gets on top and has an armbar, but Pokrajac gets out of that. Then Matyushenko takes his back and works for a rear naked choke. He is in complete control and when the choke slips out he works punches and knees. He gets Pokrajac up against the cage and works for a guillotine. It looks like Pokrajac will survive the round, but it's a dominant one for Matyushenko 10-9.
Round 3: Around 3:30, after some jabs and feints, Matyushenko is on top in Pokrajac's guard. At 2:50, with no action, the ref separates them and stands them up. They clinch, and at 2 minutes, the ref separates them again. With 1:30 left, Pokrajac needs to mount some offense, and fast. He gets a takedown at 1:10, but nothing is happening. Matyushenko rolls him over and it's going to end with Matyushenko on top. MattE has the third round for Matyushenko 10-9 and the fight 30-27, a little bit mundane for what had potential for some real fireworks.
RESULT: Matyushenko, unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards

Light Heavyweight: Jason Brilz (17-1-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Eliot Marshall (7-2, 2-0 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Brilz walks out to "Bulls On Parade" by Rage Against the Machine -- RATM is always a pretty sure bet to fire fighters and fans up.
Round 1: Lots of dancing and a few punches in the first two minutes. Brilz shoots, but Marshall defends. Brilz then hits a pretty solid shot and pushes Marshall against the cage. More dancing ultimately leads to Brilz hitting a few more punches and Marshall backpedaling. A nice kick by Marshall with 20 seconds to go isn't enough to win him the round, and Brilz closes with some more shots. MattE sees Round 1 10-9 for Brilz.
Round 2: Brilz shoots again for a single, but Marshall's takedown defense is solid. He again shoots after the action moves back to the middle, but again can't take Marshall down. In a clinch scramble against the fence, Brilz accidentally catches Marshall with a shot to the groin. After about a minute, the two touch gloves and get back to work. Brilz hits a few shots and has Marshall backing up. Marshall then connects. Another single from Brilz winds up with a sloppy ground scramble, and at 50 seconds we're back to the middle standing. Round 2 ends with another scramble. MattE sees it much closer, but again for Brilz 10-9.
Round 3: More of the same in Round 3. Some strikes that don't do much damage, and some shots from Brilz that Marshall defends. The crowd begins booing around the 2-minute mark, wanting to see more action and probably a little anxious for some action after two straight fairly boring decisions leading into this. Brilz swings wildly at 1:25 and hits, but Marshall doesn't go down. Marshall throws a kick that Brilz atches and they clinch against the fence. Marshall looks for something to end it, but so does Brilz. MattE sees the third 10-9 for Brilz and the fight 30-27 for Brilz. But really, who the heck knows -- this could be a split decision depending on how the judges score Marshall's takedown defense.
RESULT: Marshall split decision, 27-30, 30-27, 30-27

Welterweight: Brian Foster (14-3, 0-0 UFC) vs. Rick Story (7-3, 0-1 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Foster is a H.I.T. Squad fighter -- that's Matt Hughes' gym in Granite City, Ill. He's being cornered by Marc Fiore and Robbie Lawler. Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber and some of his crew from Team Alpha Male in Sacramento are in the house now and have made their way down to the floor.
Round 1: Wow. Great start as both guys come out swinging. Foster's got an uppercut that he brings from practically the canvas floor. He nearly has a guillotine choke in, but he can't hold it and he falls back into guard. Story has a good grip on him and works for a takedown once they're back on the feet, and he gets it. Foster scrambles, but is on the bottom. Story keeps control from on top. When they finally get back to the feet around 35 seconds, Foster hits a nice cross. Story is bleeding from the nose from earlier Foster shots, but he has done enough to win this round by lay-and-pray. The crowd loves the action. MattE sees the first round for Story, 10-9.
Round 2: A scramble early sees Foster working off his back out of guard. Story sinks in an arm triangle choke, though, even from guard, and Foster is in trouble. The ref grabs his arm once to see if he's out and Foster raises it. But a few seconds later he's tapping.
RESULT: Story, submission (arm triangle choke), 1:09 Round 2

Lightweight: Rafaello Oliveira (9-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Nik Lentz (18-3-1, 0-0 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Oliveira is a BJJ black belt from Brazil. And Lentz wrestled collegiately at Minnesota. Both guys are making their UFC debuts tonight. In between fights, Bruce Buffer, the Voice of the Octagon, does hand shaking with some of the fans in the floor seats and waves to other fans yelling his name.
Round 1: Oliveira opens with a kick or two, then works knees. Lentz seems game and throws some kicks and punches of his own. Oliveira shoots and Lentz gets him in a guillotine, but it's not tight enough and Oliveira slips out. The two get back to standing with Oliveira thorwing some shots, one of which catches Lentz. Lentz, though, stays the course and he gets a standing guillotine. It's in. Oliveira throws him to the mat on his back, and it might be just enough to loosen it. Oliveira gets out and then gets another takedown. Lentz keeps working for that choke, though, and Oliveira keeps putting himself in position for Lentz to get it. The two exchange big punches in a flurry around 50 seconds left. Lentz gets a big takedown with about 10 seconds left. That may have pushed him over the top for the round. MattE sees it 10-9 for Lentz.
Round 2: Lots of punches and kicks leading to lots of nothing so far. About 2:30, Oliveira gets a takedown and Lentz works out of guard. Oliveira tries to pass guard and gets close, but Lentz falls back in. A little ground scramble sees Oliveira in side control working elbows. A fairly generic second round that MattE sees 10-9 for Oliveira.
Round 3: A scramble on the feet 45 seconds in winds up with Lentz working from his back again. He again tries to hold a guillotine choke when he goes down, but to no avail. At 2:30, Lentz gets the fight back to the ground and in top position. He works to pass guard, but can't and stands back up and works punches to the midsection from his feet.  Oliveira looks for upkicks. Back on the ground in side control, Lentz works some really nice shots to Oliveira's chin. He is winning this round for sure, and this could give him the fight. MattE sees the third round for Lentz 10-9 and the fight for Lentz 29-28.
RESULT: Lentz, unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

We'll take a short break before coming back with the UFC debut of South Bend fighter Steve Lopez against Jim Miller. Then at 8 p.m. Central, the last two preliminary fights go live on Spike TV.

Lightweight: Steve Lopez (12-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Jim Miller (14-2, 3-1 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Lopez looks sincerely thrilled to be walking out for his UFC debut. He was a high school wrestler for South Bend Washington, then wrestled at Bethel College. Now he fights for Bulldog Fight team out of South Bend. But he's got a tough task in Jim Miller. Miller is a prohibitive favorite at 6-to-1 in the bout. Jorge Gurgel, who will corner Rich Franklin in the main event tonight, is milling about near the floor seats getting some pictures with fans.
Round 1: Miller throws a shot and Lopez ducks under. Lopez hits a jab. Then another. He fakes a knee. Miller kickes and misses. Lopez's hands are low, and Miller connects adn stuns Lopez briefly. Lopez hits a nice cross. He backs away from a kick, then another. Lopez continues to work the jabs, and he is not shy about pushing the pace. Miller shoots, and Lopez stuffs it. They stay at their feet halfway through the round. Miller may have taken an accidental finger to the eye. But he brushes it off and catches Lopez flush with some strikes that Then he tries to sink in a guillotine that Lopez sneaks out of. Miler throws more punches at the grounded Lopez. Lopez is staying defensive with a minute left, trying to stay in guard. With 50 seconds left, the ref tells the fighters to stay busy. Miller stands up briefly, and throws more punches before it's back to guard. A promising looking start to the round for Lopez ends all Miller. MattE sees it 10-9 for Miller.
Round 2: Lopez doesn't look that much worse for the wear considering some of the shots Miller hit in Round 1. He throws a punch, and then it's all over. He throws his shoulder out. His shoulder is completely separated. It's all over. He waves it off and the ref rushes in to make sure he doesn't take any punishment. Disappointing start for Lopez in his UFC career, because who knows what might have happened had it continued.
RESULT: Miller, TKO (verbal tapout)

We'll be back and live on Spike TV at 8 p.m. Central for the last two prelim fights!

SPIKE TV PRELIM BOUTS

Middleweight: Tomasz Drwal (16-2, 2-1 UFC) vs. Drew McFedries (8-5, 4-4 UFC)
Round 1: Both fighters come out slugging. Drwal hits a couple, but McFedries connects with an uppercut. Then Drwal throws combos and pushes McFedries to the cage. Both fighters look for position for the next minute. Drwal gets a bearhug from behind and takes McFedries down right in front of his corner. Drwal works knees to McFedries' left leg before McFedries can push off. McFedries backs Drwal up with a few shots. Then the two start slugging it out with each fighter getting a few in. Drwal hits. Then McFedries backs away. Drwal motions him foward with his hands. McFedries slips off his feet and Drwal tries to work strikes from on top. He gets McFedries' back, but it's too late to do anything. MattE sees the first round for Drwal 10-9.
Round 2: Drwal hits a few strikes to open the second and gets McFedries on his back and in side control. He quickly transitions to mound and McFedries gives his back. it's all over that quickly. Rear naked choke.
RESULT: Drwal, submission (rear naked choke), Round 2

Lightweight: Cole Miller (15-3, 4-1 UFC) vs. Efrain Escudero (12-0, 1-0 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: UFC president Dana White is walking along the barricade in the first row taking pictures with fans, signing autographs and shaking hands as the fighters walk out for our second live Spike prelim fight.
Round 1: Both fighters dance and look to throw kicks. No one connects solidly in the first minute, and the crowd starts to show its displeasure. Miller throws a kick that Escudero catches and a quick body punch helps send Miller to the ground. He gets back to his feet and again looks to trade. Miller catches him with a right. They clinch and Escudero looks for a knee. Miller ooks for a spinning backkick. a scramble leads to Escudero throwing Miller in massive fashion. And then another quick scramble has Escudero catching Miller withan absolutely massive shot to the jaw that drops him. Three more shots on the ground and the ref is in to stop it. It's got Knockout of the Night bonus written all over it. And after the ref pulls Escudero off, Miller reaches for his head and is still perhaps trying to fight. It's a brutal knockout for Escudero. And it's the exciting fight the UFC was hoping for on this Spike TV special.
RESULT: Escudero, TKO, 3:36 Round 1

MAIN CARD

Lightweight: Hermes Franca (20-7, 6-4 UFC, 3-0 WEC) vs. Tyson Griffin (13-2, 6-2 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Bruce Buffer gives The Times' MMA blog a big thumbs up and the blog responds with the "hang loose" sign. Remember when Buffer did the sweet Q&A with us back in the day? He's good people. Franca comes out to "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne and the crowd erupts. Franca turns and signals to the crowd before he runs into teh cage. His curly mop of hair is died blond and purple. And Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger" -- appropriate on a night when MMA is going toe-to-toe with boxing for pay-per-view dollars.
Round 1: The two trade kicks and a few combo attempts in the first two minutes. Griffin's kicks pack a ton of power. The crowd grows restless, though, as not much is happening halfway through the round. Griffin hits a few shots, then a kick to the back of Franca's leg. Griffin kicks and Franca looks to counter with a punch. Again the crowd boos, and this time loudly with 90 seconds left. Griffin knocks Franca to one knee with a punch, but it doesn't do much. A Griffin kick is followed with a punch counter from Franca. The crowd boos some more as the round ends. MattE sees it 10-9 for Griffin, easily, as Franca made no major efforts to engage.
Round 2: Finally, there is some action. Wild, absolutely crazily wild punches start flying from both guys. The crowd now goes ballistic. Franca catches Griffin's right leg as he kicks and they still keep hitting each other. Not quite sure who got the better of the other in the exchange, but it was a fun one and the crowd responded. Griffin catches Franca with a big overhand right. Then some jabs. Then a few kicks. Franca continually looks to catch the kicks. A huge uppercut right from Franca  barely misses. Then Griffin catches him with a really solid straight right. The assault is on. Franca is taking a lot of shots on the ground, but he's still reasonably defending himself. But finally the ref has to step in and shut it down. Big barrage by Griffin to finish -- an exciting end to a fight that started out really boring in the eyes of the fans.
RESULT: Griffin, KO, 3:26 Round 2

Welterweight: Frank Trigg (19-6, 2-3 UFC) vs. Josh Koscheck (14-4, 10-4 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Trigg comes out to "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J, featuring that classic opening line of "Don't call it a comeback -- I've been here for years." Kos comes out to "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Both are crowd-pleasing walkout songs. And the crowd cheers for Tito Ortiz as he walks past Press Row to his seat. The Octagon Girls are up from their seats and dancing on their feet to the music. Yes, life is pretty tough when you're covering this sport sometimes.
Round 1: Big right from Koscheck opens things up. Then the two look to trade punches. With 3:45 left, Koscheck absolutely drills Trigg with a right and drops him. He pounces and the ref is in pretty quickly to shut it down. Dana White is gonna have a tough decision on his hands for awarding the Knockout of the Night bonus award.
RESULT: Koscheck, TKO, 1:29 Round 1
Behind the Scenes: Koscheck says he will fight every month if he could, and he wants to fight Matt Hughes.

 Welterweight: Paul Daley (21-8-2, 0-0 UFC) vs. Martin Kampmann (15-2, 6-1 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Kampmann comes out to a great one -- "It's a Fight" by Three-6 Mafia. Just a great, great walkout song. Daley is stepping in on pretty short notice for Dallas native Mike "Quick" Swick. This fight was supposed to determine the No. 1 contender for Georges St-Pierre's welterweight belt. Not sure about that anymore, though a win from Kampmann would put him at 7-1 in the UFC and certainly warrant major consideration.
Round 1: Both fighters are swinging and Daley gets the better in an exchange right in front of us on the fence. Daley looks very powerful and catches Kampmann with a few more shots. Daley stuns Kampmann then pounces hon him and the ref calls it off. Kampmann was out on his feet. It's a very big upset -- Kampmann was a 3-to-1 favorite. The crowd is booing the replays, believing it's a bad stoppage. But the consensus in Press Row is that Kampmann was out on his feet and this was a pretty good and safe stoppage.
RESULT: Daley, TKO, Round 1
Behind the Scenes: Swick is shown on the big screen and he points at the Lone Star State on his shirt and blows a kiss to the crowd.

Heavyweight: Junior Dos Santos (8-1, 2-0) vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (25-6-2, 2 NC, 2-2 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Dos Santos has won his first two UFC fights. His debut at UFC 90 in Chicago last October was a stunning upset knockout of Fabricio Werdum that absolutely put the UFC's heavyweight division on notice. He comes out to the classic "Rocky" theme "Gonna Fly Now." Dos Santos is being cornered by his Black House teammates, including Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. And Cro Cop, in a sure sign of the apocalypse, is walking out to "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran. Awe. Some. The crowd goes absolutely wild for Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Cro Cop. This will be fun.
Round 1: No glove touch as they move to the middle. Dos Santos moves in first. Cro Cop follows with an inside leg kick. Big high kick from Cro Cop is hand-checked by Dos Santos. Dos Santos is playing the aggressor. He pushes Cro Cop to the cage and catches him with a few punches. Then he chases him to right in front of us and they clinch. Dos Santos is perhaps looking for a takedown, but it's just dirty boxing and knees for now. They separate at 2:50 on the clock. Dos Santos throws big punches and then clinches. The crowd begins chanting for Cro Cop. They exchange inside knees. then Dos Santos gets the takedown, but they pop up quick. With a minute left, they clinch briefly, then separate. Cro COp covers up as Dos Santos hits him a few times. They clinch for the last 30 seconds of the round. MattE gives it to Dos Santos 10-9.
Round 2: Quick shot by Dos Santos gets Cro Cop's attention. Cro Cop brings a high kick that misses, but gets the crowd's attention. Dos Santos pushes in again and again gets the better of an exchange. Not enough to drop Cro Cop, but enough to serve notice again. Another scuffle has Dos Santos connecting more. Cro Cop misses another kick, then covers up as Dos Santos counters. The crowd boos at 2:10. Dos Santos again hits a few more shots. Cro Cop is either backing up or covering up so far this whole fight. Or eating punches. With a minute to go in the second, it appears if he wins this fight it will have to be with a knockout -- he won't iwn a decision tonight. And with an inside leg kick, Cro Cop hits Dos Santos flush in the groin. He immediately raises his hand to apologize and Dos Santos goes to his knees he is given time to recover.They touch gloves on the restart this time with 41 seconds to go. Dos Santos just misses a big uppercut in the last 10 seconds. MattE has it again 10-9 for Dos Santos.
Round 3: Cro Cop is bound to be more aggressive now that he is down two rounds. And sure enough, he shows a litlte more urgency early. Big knee from Dos Santos, and then Cro Cop wobbles. And another knee. Then a right. Then a knee to the head. Cro Cop is wobbled. Dos Santos is owning him. He grabs a Muay Thai plum and looks for knees to Cro Cop's face. Cro Cop covers up, but he is clearly done. And just like that, Cro Cop waves it all off. He stops the fight himself. Dos Santos screams out in celebration. The referee looks confused. He's not calling it off yet. Then he waves it off. It appears that Cro Cop took a shot to the eye and he could not see. Cro Cop is not sticking around to hear the result. Cro Cop continues to find it hard to get success in the UFC.
RESULT: Dos Santos, TKO (verbal submission), Round 3

Catchweight (195 pounds): Vitor Belfort (18-8, 7-4 UFC) vs. Rich Franklin (27-4, 1 NC, 12-3 UFC)
Behind the Scenes: Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has joined us right next to Press Row to watch Belfort. Franklin, a native of Cincinnati who used to be a math teacher, comes out to his customary "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" by AC/DC. His cornermen include good friend and former UFC fighter Jorge Gurgel. The fighters are in the Octagon and Bruce Buffer is about to get things started for the main event.
Round 1: They high five to start the fight. These two guys are both known to be absolute gentlemen and are fond of each other. Till this moment, of course. Belfort throws a kick that misses. Franklin has the center and is looking to engage. Very little for the first 90 seconds. Franklin throws a kick that Belfort catches and pushes out of the way. Belfort throws a kick, and Franklin counters with one. Halfway through the round, there is nearly no action. The crowd is letting that be known. Finally, an exchange and Franklin is absolutely out cold. He drops to the canvas face first. Belfort hits him with one to the back of the head, inadvertantly, but then a few more and it's done.
RESULT: Belfort, TKO, Round 1

Minotauro, when asked if his brother would ever fight in the UFC, said that his brother had already had discussions with the UFC and that he was "coming for sure."

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts train at Black House in Miami with Anderson Silva and are arguably the most successful MMA brother combination in history. Minotoro is 17-3; Minotauro is 31-5.

Minotoro has fought most notably for Pride and Affliction and, unlike his heavyweight brother, fights at light heavyweight.

UFC 102 takes place Aug. 29 from the Rose Garden in Portand, the UFC's first trip to the Pacific Northwest, and features a great heavyweight tussle between Couture and Big Nog that fans have been wanting to see for the better part of 10 years now.

At 31-5-1, Minotauro has fought some of the best in the world -- though his UFC resume has just three fights on it. In the two years he's been in the UFC, since Zuffa acquired Pride, Big Nog is 2-1 with wins over Heath Herring (and two other wins over him earlier in his career) and Tim Sylvia and a loss to Frank Mir last December. He's 1-1 against Josh Barnett, widely considered the world's No. 2 heavyweight before his steroid scandal last month. He's fought Fedor three times -- taking him the distance twice, though both were losses; a third fight was a no contest from an accidental cut on Fedor from an accidental headbut. He's beaten Fabricio Werdum, Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro Cop, Ricco Rodriguez, Bob Sapp, Mark Coleman, Gary Goodridge. Simply put, he's a legend.

But so is Couture. With three legendary fights with Chuck Liddell (1-2), an amazing domination of Tim Sylvia when he came out of retirement to win the UFC heavyweight title again, wins over Tito Ortiz, Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, Gabriel Gonzaga and Jeremy Horn, "The Natural" is one of the founding fathers of the sport.

And he lived in Corvallis, Ore., for years while working as an assistant wrestling coach at Oregon State. So this is somewhat of a homecoming for him.

I'll have all the details later with what goes down on the call -- but I don't expect any fireworks. It's hard to find two more respectful fighters out there than Randy and Big Nog.

(Pictured: Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira as he prepares to talk to the media at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Photo by MattE.)

Thanks to some inside sources, as well as some reasonable assertations, I believe we'll see the following things going down on the media call:

• Dana's official take on the Affliction MMA collapse, plus details about Affliction being a UFC sponsor once again. We may also hear about the UFC picking up contracts of some Affliction fighters now that they don't have a home there.
• Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC and will fight perhaps at UFC 104 in Los Angeles -- he is "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," after all.
• Those Affliction contracts might include Fedor, universally regarded as the best heavyweight in the world, and by most as the best pound-for-pound. But it's not looking likely at this point -- despite the items from a few sources earlier this week saying it was a done deal.
• More than likely, though, White will hit on some new deals to come out of the Affliction collapse, including the signing of Ben Rothwell, which has already been reported. And perhaps one that no one is reporting yet except for me, right here -- Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 103 in Dallas. A source close to Franklin's camp tipped me off that this was going to be the case. White mentioned last month that he hoped to get Belfort over to the UFC. Affliction's demise made that possible. He thinks Belfort can challenge Anderson Silva's middleweight supremacy. So could we see Belfort-Silva for the strap if Belfort gets past Franklin? Maybe. The Demian Maia-Nate Marquardt winner is also in the mix, though. Could get interesting -- because we also hear from a source that Silva has one fight left on his deal after the Forrest Griffin fight next week.
• A partnership with ESPN, at least in the UK. But we have a source telling us that ESPN in the USA will be announced, as well -- and that this will include a studio show in the same way that ESPN has studio shows for baseball, football, etc. This would be a HUGE step in the mainstream direction for MMA.

I suppose if I was guessing, I'd say I have 10 Affliction shirts, 12 Xtreme Couture shirts, four Warrior Wear shirtss, three Stagr shirts, two Tapout shirts, one Riot Gear shirt, one MMA Elite shirt, three Ecko MMA shirts, one One More Round shirt and one One More Round hoodie, one Hostility hoodie, and a pretty good handful of UFC and WEC shirts.

And then there's the hats ... and shorts ...

So when I find a good sale, I typically jump all over it. Right now, I wanna pass on to you that Tapout has a pretty sweet summer sale going on.

If you spend $50, not only do you get FREE SHIPPING, you also get a free pair of board shorts.

The shipping alone for a couple of shirts, using UPS Ground, saves you $14.99. And while the shorts are THEIR CHOICE (you tell them the size and they pick the style), at a bare minimum, you're going to get their cheapest board shorts -- $29.95.

So in essence, if you spend $50, you're going to get about $45 in freebies. That's pretty hard to beat.

There are a ton of brand new styles of shirts in stock and most of them are $24 each for guys. If you pick up two shirts, that gets ya to $48 ($52 if you're an XXL). So throw in a $3 sticker to your order and you'll be over the $50 mark and you'll get your free shipping and your free shorts.

Check it out at Tapout's online store.

Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross published a report in the wake of that citing a source saying the two sides aren't close to a deal, and our good buddies over at MMA Junkie backed that up this morning with similar claims.

The Times can also confirm that it has talked to a source with ties to Fedor who says a deal between the heavyweight regarded as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter and the world's top promotion is very unlikely.

That source said a deal is unlikely to happen because of the amount of money Fedor makes on pay-per-view fights in Russia. Another major sticking point is Fedor's manager, who owns M-1 Global. He insists that any fight with Fedor be promoted in full or co-promoted by M-1 Global -- and that's something the UFC has never been down for in the past.

Fedor was to fight Aug. 1 against Josh Barnett as the headliners of the Affliction: Trilogy card in Anaheim. But a failed drug test for Barnett (the second of his career), allegedly for a banned anabolic steroid, resulted in his license being pulled by the California State Athletic Commission. That meant the fight with Fedor was off, and it left Affliction scrambling to find a replacement. Without a suitable one, the event was canceled.

The next day, Affliction scrapped its fight promotion business altogether and went back to just being a clothing company, hooking back up with the UFC to be one of its major sponsors after more than 18 months of bad blood between the two parties.

A source close to Affliction, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times that Affliction lost in the neighborhood of $2 million from the cancellation of the card. That source said the card was canceled because it would be too costly for the company to change out all its promotion and advertising for a new Fedor opponent. The source also said Affliction was highly concerned over the amount of refunds it would likely have to give out for the pay-per-view buys it had already sold at $44.95 each.

When Affliction folded, Fedor became a free agent. UFC president Dana White said after UFC 100 in Las Vegas on July 11 that he fully intends to get Fedor to the UFC and to make a fight between him and heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar happen.

We're back.

Where did we go? Well, we really didn't go much of anywhere. But some technical difficulties beyond our control gave us some much-needed time to decompress and breathe again. (These things will happen in the World Wide Blogosphere, we're told.)

Now we hope to be reincarnated and better than ever in a few new homes. And if we're not better than ever, we'll adjust so that we are.

This is the new home of The Times' MMA Blog. Bookmark it. Come back often. Contribute. Join the discussion. Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport in the world; that's just the cold, hard math, kids. We're along for the ride and want to bring you as much coverage as we can. Check in every day right here for the latest news, rumors, links, videos ... all kinds of fun stuff.

And if that's not enough, we have in the works something pretty sweet. The Times' sports section at nwi.com will have its very own MMA site. That's right -- MMA breaks through to the mainstream with The Times! Now when you want your latest sports news, you can pick from the NFL, MLB, NBA and other tabs at the top ... and MMA will be right there in the mix. Our latest breaking news, original features, profiles, Q&As and much, much more will be more easily accessible to you than ever before! We are VERY happy about this. VERY happy.

So be sure to bookmark us here and come back often. Tell your friends. Link to us everywhere you can. And sign up right here at my.nwi.com to more easily join in the discussion. You don't need to have an account at my.nwi.com to read all the great content we'll provide here, but it'll help you get in the mix.

So spread the word ... and we'll be back with more soon.