It’s dream match-up time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Following Couture v Nogueira, Rich Franklin takes on the returning Vitor Belfort, headlining a strong show at UFC 103: Franklin versus Belfort, shown live in the early hours of this past Saturday morning on ESPN in Britain, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast actually began with a first, with four preliminary fights that were being shown for free on Spike across the pond (although we Brits still had to pay for them!). They began with a middleweight fight between Drew McFedries and Tomasz Drwal. This certainly proved to be an interesting fight. While Drwal looked great, at the opposite end of the scale, McFedries looked very disappointing, almost straining to unleash any blow, so it really came as no surprise when Drwal got the win in the second round, rocking McFedries early on before taking him down, quickly taking his back and synching in a rear naked choke, with McFedries tapping soon afterwards. A good performance by Drwal here.

Then it was down to welterweight for Rick Story against Brian Foster. This proved to be a great contest, with some good action from both men in the first round which continued into the second. When the fight went to the ground, Story went for an arm triangle choke from within the guard, something which hasn’t really been seen before. The referee checked if Foster was okay, but it wasn’t long before he tapped out. This was a very good fight, with Story winning the submission of the night award for his efforts.

Efrain Escudero against Cole Miller at lightweight was up next. This one started slowly, with Escudero scoring with a take down and letting Miller back up, before knocking him back down to the ground with a hard right, following up with the ground and pound before the referee stepped in, giving Escudero the TKO win. Nice stuff.

The final fight of the prelim show saw more lightweight action, this time between Jim Miller and Steve Lopez. Miller was clearly on top in the first round, with a couple of blows that sent Lopez down. Lopez looked a bit lethargic, although he was able to escape from Miller’s guillotine attempt. He looked a bit better in the second round, but unfortunately he injured his shoulder while throwing a left, and immediately pulled out of the fight, giving Miller the TKO win. With the way that he was starting to come back you couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed for Miller here. Maybe these two will hook up once again when Lopez is fit and ready to go.

Then it was on to the main show, beginning with Tyson Griffin against Hermes Franca. Franca came into this one with a crazy blue rinse hairstyle, but his main problem here was that he didn’t actually make the lightweight limit. Whether this played on his mind, I don’t know, because he certainly put in a disappointing performance, looking very sluggish throughout the first round. The second saw Griffin knock Franca down with a big right, before knocking him out with the ground and pound. A top performance from Griffin here, but I’m left to wonder what was wrong with Franca her.

Then we saw the first big return of the night, with Frank Trigg taking on Josh Koscheck in the welterweight division. This one took a while to get going, but when it did it was explosive, with Koscheck connecting with a big right that sent Trigg down to the ground. Koscheck went for the ground and pound, and the referee quickly stepped in and called a halt to proceedings. Trigg complained about an early stoppage, but replays showed that he’d made the right call. A very good performance from Koscheck here over the former champions.

More welterweight action followed, with Martin Kampmann facing my fellow Brit Paul Daley, so I think you can guess who I was rooting for here. A tremendous performance from Daley in his UFC debut saw him rock the Dane with a relentless torrent of blows, with the referee stepping in when he saw that Kampmann was out on his feet. Daley looked great here, and hopefully he’ll go on to big things in the UFC.

Filler material was next, with Robert Emerson facing Rafael Dos Anjos at lightweight. This was a very enjoyable three round encounter, with Dos Anjos putting in a very good performance. The way he was centring his attack on Emerson’s right leg was brutal at times. I hadn’t seen that much bruising since a wrestler punched me in the right arm and I had bruising from my shoulder to my elbow! In all though it was great stuff from Dos Anjos, who controlled Emerson in almost every aspect here, earning himself the unanimous decision.

The co-main event was up next, with Mirko Cro Cop taking on Junior Dos Santos in the heavyweight division. I was expecting big things from the Croatian here. Needless to say that I was a little disappointed. Although Cro Cop looked good in the first round, Dos Santos took over from the second, showing much better striking as the fight went on. All Cro Cop seemed able to do at times was push the Brazilian off him. The end came in the third round. After Dos Santos had scored with a series of knees to the head and body, he connected with a big right to Cro Cop’s left eye. Cro Cop immediately complained that he couldn’t see, and verbally submitted, giving Dos Santos the biggest win of his short career, and leaving many to wonder if there’s anything left for Cro Cop to give.

The main event saw Rich Franklin going up against the returning Vitor Belfort in a catch weight contest, made at 195 pounds. This one started very slowly, with a long feeling out process, before Belfort suddenly sprang into action, knocking Franklin off his feet with a left, and then knocking him out with a series of lefts on the ground, getting the KO win. Well, this was slow to start, but at least we all got to see the Belfort who had impressed everyone all those years ago.

With plenty of time to spare, two more preliminary fights were shown. The show ended with a second showing of the Rick Story/Brian Foster fight, but before that we got a three round battle between Nik Lentz and Rafaello Oliveira at lightweight. This was a very enjoyable contest. Oliveira looked good in the first round, as did Lentz, whose favourite submission hold seemed to be the guillotine choke. I actually lost count of the number of times he went for that hold in the first round. As the fight went on Oliveira began to visibly tire, while Lentz just got better, taking more control over the fight, and getting the judge’s unanimous decision.

In conclusion - once again the UFC impressed. Once again there were no bad fights here, and the addition of the preliminary fights before the main show was a nice touch, reminding this old wrestling fan of the Free For All shows that WWE used to put on before their pay-per-views. Let’s hope they continue with this.

As for the performances, I agree with Rick Story getting submission of the night, and Belfort getting knockout of the night. Our esteemed commentators began to wonder if Belfort could now challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight crown. That would certainly be a mouth watering prospect.

As for Cro Cop, I’ve been a big fan of the guy ever since I saw him KO Bob Sapp in a K-1 fight years ago, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been disappointed by his tenure in the UFC. Has he lost it? Should he retire? If he doesn’t call it a day, then maybe Dana White and his band of merry men should give us the fight that Gabriel Gonzaga took away from us a couple of years ago - Mirko Cro Cop versus Randy Couture.

As an appetiser to this Saturday’s coming show, the Ultimate Fighting Championship travelled to Oklahoma City for their nineteenth Ultimate Fight Night show, shown live her in Britain in the early hours of Thursday morning, and headlined by a lightweight battle between Nate Diaz and Melvin Guillard. Commentary for this one was handled by Mike Goldberg and Kenny Florian.

The broadcast began with middleweight action as Nate Quarry faced off against Tim Credeur. This was a great fight to start the show off with. Credeur almost got the win in the first with a rear naked choke, which Quarry managed to escape from. From there, Quarry really upped his game, getting the better of Credeur in both the stand-up and ground games, and looking like he could get the win any minute with his ground and pound. Credeur was on the defensive for the rest of the fight, save for the brief moment when he went for a heel hook. With the fight going the distance, it really came as no surprise when Quarry got the majority decision, and rightfully show.

The second fight saw former WEC star Carlos Condit take on Jake Ellenberger at welterweight. With the way that the first fight panned out, this one had a lot to live up to, and not only did it match the first fight for action and drama, it exceeded it. This one was a back and forth encounter in which both fighters put in great performances, with Ellenberger, a relatively late replacement, looking exceptional. This was one of those fights you just couldn’t take yours eyes off, and another that went the distance. With two great performances, it was surprising that the judges had differing views, with the split decision going to Condit. Condit did well here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see these two paired with each other again.

Fight three saw Gray Maynard facing Roger Huerta at lightweight. After two great fights, this one also had a lot to live up to, and succeeded in being just as good as those that went before it. The first two rounds saw some good exchanges between the two fighters, with both men getting some good shots in, and it wasn’t until the third round that the fight went to the ground, with Maynard scoring with some great looking takedowns. Huerta tried to escape, but Maynard just took him down again, and it wasn’t long before Maynard went for a kimura. Huerta’s arm was at a really hideous angle, and while everyone, myself included, thought he would tap, he actually escaped. This was the third fight in a row to go the distance, and again the decision was split, with Maynard picking up the win. Two more good performances here.

The main event saw more lightweight action, with Nate Diaz going up against Melvin Guillard. You just knew that this was going to be intense when you saw their stare down. The first round looked pretty even, with both men getting take downs, although Diaz was soon sporting a nasty cut above his right eye. He didn’t have to worry about the cut for long though. Although Guillard was able to get a messy looking take down early in the second, it wasn’t long before Diaz was on the offensive, synching in his modified version of the rear naked choke, with Guillard soon tapping and giving Diaz the submission victory. An exciting match up, and a fitting way of bringing the evening’s proceedings to an end.

In conclusion - as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this show. The fights just seemed to get better and better as the show went on. We had three great tactical battles, nicely topped off with a great submission win. These may not have been the UFC’s marquee names on display here, but they’ve certainly set the stage for Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort on Saturday night. Let’s hope that they can pick up the ball and run with it.

Over the past couple of years I’ve had quite a bit of contact with a guy called Tom Tailford. Tom is a mixed martial arts fighter, based in sunny Lowestoft, who also works for the Fight Factory promotion and website. He also spends a lot of time travelling the country filming various MMA shows.

Recently Tom was kind enough to send me a batch of DVDs to review, but instead of reviewing one of them, I’m going to take a look back at the promotion Tom was involved with a couple of years ago, the short-lived Cage Fight Series. They held their debut show in May 2007, at Trinity Park in Ipswich. Most of the fights were uploaded to their website, so yours truly downloaded them and burned them onto DVD, and it’s these matches that I’m going to take a look at now.

First up was a welterweight contest, featuring Jared Ferre against Daniel Thomas. This was a very enjoyable opener in a way, although I’d hardly describe the action as top notch, as it was somewhat messy at times, although both fighters did show a lot of raw talent. Thomas came out on top in this one, with Ferre submitting to a guillotine choke in round three.

The second fight veered away from MMA, and saw young ladies Shalina Roberts and Alexis Rufus taking part in a cage boxing bout. I always though that cage boxing was an interesting concept, one that, sadly, the Cage Fight Series guys couldn’t get off the ground, mainly because they had to cancel their first show because for logistical reasons. This certainly was a good contest, fought over three rounds, in which both women put on a good showing, with Rufus winning by majority decision. My only criticism of this is that it could have done with a few more rounds.

Then it was back to MMA action, with Lee Doski facing Kevin Reed in welterweight action. This was a great little fight, with good stand-up action, and ever better action on the ground. Doski looked very impressive here, getting the win in round two, unleashing with the ground and pound on Reed, with the referee stepping in and calling a halt to the action.

Lightweight action followed, with Vaclav Pribyl taking on Lautaro Arborelo. I had been really impressed with the Spanish contingent during my recent Ultimate Combat DVD reviews, so I was looking forward to seeing Arborelo in action. His performance was both good and bad. He totally dominated Pribyl at times, but even though he was overwhelming his opponent for the most part he just couldn’t find that extra push to put the guy away. Pribyl was clearly getting frustrated though, and was warned by the referee for elbowing Arborelo in the back of the head. The fight went the three round distance, with Arborelo getting the unanimous decision.

Tim McCory against Florian Muller at light heavyweight was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair here. Muller avoided McCory’s take down attempt, took his back, and synched in a rear naked choke for the 44 second victory. Impressive stuff from Muller here.

The next fight saw another Spanish fighter, Oriol Gaset, taking on Che Mills at welterweight. Gaset didn’t do as well as his countryman. This one began quickly, and soon went to the ground, with Mills getting the win with a rear naked choke. A good display from Mills here.

Then it was on to Phil Harris against Michal Hamrsmid at featherweight. This one had a rather unfortunate ending. When Hamrsmid slammed Harris down to the mat close to the fence, some of the protective padding came loose, and Harris sustained a cut to the back of his head. The referee stopped the fight immediately, ruling it a no contest.

The final fight saw Jake Blyth face Paul Jenkins at middleweight. This was a great way to end the show. Blyth took the fight to the ground early, and worked well with the elbows and the ground and pound, opening up a nasty cut above Jenkins’ left eye. Jenkins survived the round, but was pulled out by the doctor shortly afterwards, giving Blyth the win.

In conclusion - this was a very enjoyable show. There were some good fights here, although things did seem a little rough around the edges at times. Production wise it was okay, although there were no pre-fight introductions from announcer Ian Freeman, which made things a little confusing at times.

Now while this event is not commercially available on DVD, some of the fights are available on my Youtube page at www.youtube.com/twosheds316.

It’s the stuff dreams are made of, two of the top heavyweight MMA fighters in the history of the sport finally facing off against each other, and it finally happened when “The Natural” Randy Couture squared off against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast began with Brandon Vera taking on Kryzysztof Soszynski in a light heavyweight contest. Vera has done really well since stepping down a division, and this was another great example of that. The Polish Experiment tried to stay up with Vera, but as the fight progressed Vera proved to be both technically and tactically better than Soszynski, so when the fight went the three round limit it came as no surprise when Vera got the unanimous decision, and rightfully so.

Middleweight action, with Chris Leben facing former WEC star Jake Rosholt, followed. Leben was the home town hero in this one, and was looking for a convincing win. Sadly, things didn’t go to plan. Leben showed some good skill, particularly on the ground, but I guess someone didn’t send Rosholt a copy of the script as, in the third round, he locked in an arm triangle. Leben tapped, but for some reason the referee didn’t see this, and he only stopped the fight when Leben slipped into unconsciousness. This tapped off a very impressive display from Rosholt, who looks like he could go far in the division.

The big boys came out to play next with Tim Hague and Todd Duffee in the heavyweight division. This was a quick one. A Duffee left sent Hague crashing down to the mat. Duffee went in for the kill, and the referee quickly stepped in when Hague was knocked out. The official time - just seven seconds, a new UFC knockout record.

The feature light heavyweight clash followed, with Keith Jardine facing Thiago Silva. This was another one that was relatively quick. Both guys got in their shots before Silva sent Jardine down with a left hook. The Brazilian went in for the ground and pound, with the referee quickly calling a halt to proceedings, giving Silva the victory. I’m now left to wonder just where Jardine will got in the UFC’s marquee division.

Filler material in the form of Ed Herman taking on Aaron Simpson at middleweight followed. This was another great match up that had a rather unfortunate ending. Both men put in a great account of themselves, in particular Simpson, who definitely looks like a star in the making. However, when Simpson scored with a takedown late in the first round, Herman suffered a knee injury, and even though the doctors checked him over between rounds, Herman insisted on going on with the fight. He lasted just a few seconds of the next round. After Simpson caught his right kick attempt, Herman crumpled to the ground clutching his knee, and the referee stopped the fight immediately, giving Simpson the win. It’s a shame that the fight had to end this way, but who knows, when Herman’s back up and running we might see these two go at it again.

Then it was on to the main event, the dream match, pitting Randy Couture against Antonio Nogueira. This is the kind of fight that makes you feel great about being an MMA fan. It looked like it was going to end early, with Nogueira locked in an arm choke, but releasing the hold when he realised he wasn’t going to get the submission. It was a statement of intent for the rest of the fight, a truly wonderful encounter with the Brazilian once again proving just why he’s one of the best heavyweights in the history of MMA, and even though you knew he was winning, you couldn’t help but hope that Couture would somehow come out on top, finding that one big punch or move that would give him victory. But sadly, the sentimental favourite just didn’t do enough for the judges, who gave the unanimous decision to Nogueira. It’s a shame that this wasn’t fought over five rounds. Perhaps the Natural would have been able to fight his way back then.

The final fight of the show saw more filler material, a lightweight battle between Marcus Aurelio and Evan Dunham. This was the proverbial game of two halves as it were. Dunham looked great in the stand-up game early on, and his defence against Aurelio’s take downs was top notch. With both men having their moments in the second, the third proved vital for Aurelio, who finally asserted his ground game, with the fight ending with both men exchanging blows. In the end the judges gave the split decision to Aurelio, a decision you can’t really argue with, although it really could have gone either way.

In conclusion - a very good show from the Ultimate Fighting Championship here. Of course, everyone will be talking about the Couture/Nogueira fight, but from top to bottom this was a very strong card, another example of just why the UFC are the best they are at what they do.

ESPN’s handling of the event was a vast improvement on last month’s outing. We still had commercial breaks, but instead of putting them in between the rounds, they saw sense and put them in between the fights. Goldberg and Rogan were still cut off in mid-sentence at times, but this time we were able to see what was happening in the corners between the rounds.

So in all, well done UFC, and to ESPN. Let’s hope that Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort can continue the good work in a few weeks.

Following their return to British television last month, Ultimate Challenge  UK presented their second show on Sky Sports this past Saturday night with Payback, held at The Troxy in London and shown on a seven day delay, mixing UK1 kickboxing bouts with mixed martial arts encounters. Dave O'Donnell and O.J. Borg presented the show, with Malcolm Martin and Rob Nutley handling commentary duties.

First up was a fight fought under UK1 kickboxing rules, with Azran Quasio facing Jason Young for the UK1 Lightweight title. These stand-up fights are proving to be a great addition to these shows. Fought over three two minute rounds, this one proved to be quite lively, with Young dominating the first two rounds with his superior work rate, although he stepped off the pedal a little bit in the third, perhaps realising that he'd won the fight by then. It really came as no surprise that Young took the unanimous decision, deservedly winning the vacant title.

The rest of the broadcast saw MMA action, beginning with Ashley Pollard facing Ian Hawkins in the heavyweight division. Certainly not the prettiest fight I've ever seen. Pollard began by attempting a couple of high kicks, but it wasn't long before they were on the ground. Hawkins went for a guillotine, but Pollard was able to escape, and it wasn't long before Pollard tried a guillotine of his own. Then, after a period of inactivity, the referee stood the fighters up, and during a rather ugly exchange in which both fighters were swinging for the trees Pollard got the better of Hawkins, and as Hawkins turned his back, a bloodied mess, and began to move away from Pollard, the referee stepped in to stop the fight, giving Pollard the TKO win. Well, I guess a win is a win, not matter how ugly the fight was.

Lightweight action followed, with Danny Fletcher taking on Wesley Johnson. Now this was a lot better. Some nice grappling at the beginning saw both men jockeying for position, before Johnson quickly applied a jumping triangle choke for the submission win. Nice action here, showing the beauty after we'd had the best.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division, and Shaun Lomas taking on Jamie Hearn. A very exciting and back and forth fight saw both men put in a good account for themselves. Hearn looked very impressive with his combinations, while Lomas looked great on the ground. The pace slowed down as the round went on, and after the fighters were stood up for inactivity on the ground, Lomas locked in standing guillotine, which Hearn was unable to escape from, tapping out seconds later. Great fight this, and I wouldn't mind seeing these two in the future.

Then it was on to title action, with Dave Lee challenging Brad Pickett for the Featherweight title. Once again Pickett showed what a great fighter he was. Lee dominated the early parts of the round, scoring with the first take down and showing some good work on the ground. But it wasn't long before Pickett gained the upper hand, synching in a guillotine choke for the submission win, retaining his title with a good comeback performance.

The last fight of the show saw Luke Blyth challenge Jimi Manuwa for the Light Heavyweight title. The first fight of the broadcast to have any sort of feeling out process saw Manuwa dominate the first round, getting the first take down of the fight and controlling the action with his superior ground and pound, opening up a couple of cuts around Blyth's eyes. Blyth came back well in the second, putting together some good combinations, and almost getting the win with a triangle choke, but the referee standing them up was the beginning of the end for the challenger. Manuwa connected with a hard left hook, and Blyth went down like the proverbial sack of spuds, completely out of it, giving Manuwa the knockout win. A very good fight, and definitely the best one on the show.

In conclusion - UCUK's combination of kickboxing and mixed martial arts fights has once again made for a good show. It's not the best Dave O'Donnell show I've seen, but there wasn't bad fight to be found here though. I did find the editing a little off putting though, as it seemed to jump about quite a bit, especially during the fighter entrances. I hope that the powers-that-be do something to rectify this for next month's show, because with BAMMA having gone out of business without actually telling anyone, Ultimate Challenge UK have a great chance of cementing their place as Britain's top MMA promotion, especially as they're now the only British promotion with regular television coverage.