UFC 93: “Henderson vs. Franklin”
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today confirmed several bouts for its first-ever event in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17, 2009.
UFC 93: “Henderson vs. Franklin,” which will take place at The O2, features the highly anticipated light heavyweight clash between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former Pride FC dual welterweight and middleweight
champion Dan Henderson.
Dan Henderson is the former PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champion. He’s a world class wrestler, known for his great chin and his one-punch knockout power. He defeated formidable Brazilian submission specialist Rousimar Palhares in September.
 Franklin remains one of the UFC’s most popular fighters. He began his career as a light-heavyweight before moving down to middleweight and capturing the UFC title in 2005. He made two successful title defenses against Nate Quarry and David Loiseau before losing the title to Silva. Franklin moved back up to 205 pounds in 2008 and scored an impressive third-round TKO over standout wrestler Matt Hamill.
In the co main event of the pay-per-view (PPV) event, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will look to once again begin establishing himself as the top 205-pound fighter in the world when he rematches the most recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee, former UFC heavyweight champion and 2000 Pride FC Open Weight Champion, Mark Coleman.
In February 2006 Coleman defeated Rua at PRIDE 31; Rua suffered a broken arm in the fight, and the bout was halted after just 49 seconds.
Coleman, meanwhile, will return to the octagon for the first time in more than nine years. After his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame earlier this year, Coleman announced he had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC so he could return to competition. He was slated to fight Brock Lesnar in August at UFC 87 but was forced to pull out of the event with an injury.
Denis Kang (31-10-1) will be fighting Alan Belcher (13-5) on Jan. 17 at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.
Kang, 31, has recently bounced back from high-profile losses in Japan’s K-1 Hero’s promotion with back-to-back victories in the last three months. They included a speedy knockout of Jae Young Kim in Spirit MC on Aug. 31 and a 48-second TKO of Marvin Eastman at Raw Combat on Oct. 25.
Belcher (13-5) rebounded from his April loss to Jason Day at UFC 83 in Montreal with a split decision over Team Quest fighter Ed Herman at UFC Fight Night 15 in September. Belcher is 4-3 in the Octagon, but has been noted for his exciting performances.
UFC 93 Main event:
205 lbs.: Rich Franklin (24-3) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)
Main card (Televised):
205 lbs.: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-3) vs. Mark Coleman (15-8)
185 lbs.: Denis Kang (31-10-1) vs. Alan Belcher (13-5)
170 lbs.: Marcus Davis (15–4) vs. Chris Lytle (26-16–5)
185 lbs.: Rousimar Palhares (8-2) vs. Jeremy Horn (80-18-5)
Under card (May not be broadcast):
205 lbs.: Andre Gusmao (5-1) vs. Antonio Mendes (15–3)
155 lbs.: Nate Mohr (8-5) vs. Dennis Siver (12-6)
205 lbs.: Ivan Serati (10-2) vs. Tomasz Drwal (14-2)
170 lbs.: Thomas Egan (3-0) vs. John Hathaway (9-0)
UFC 93 Results
Dan Henderson defeated Rich Franklin in a hard-fought split decision to win the main event at UFC 93 in Dublin.
Henderson will now be one of the coaches on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, and will fight the other coach, Michael Bisping, this summer.
Henderson did most of his damage with two accidental fouls: An accidental head butt in the first round opened a major gash on Franklin's forehead, and an accidental eye poke with 37 seconds left in the third round caused Franklin a lot of pain.
The main card and undercard results are below:
Main card:
Dan Henderson beats Rich Franklin by split decision.
Marcus Davis beat Chris Lytle by split decision
Alan Belcher beats Denis Kang by second-round submission (guillotine)
Rousimar Palhares beat Jeremy Horn by unanimous decision.
Shogun Rua beats Mark Coleman by third-round TKO
Undercard:
Dennis Siver beat Nate Mohr by third-round TKO (strikes)
Tomasz Drwal beat Ivan Serati by first-round TKO (strikes)
Eric Schafer beat Antonio Mendes by first-round TKO (strikes)
Martin Kampmann beat Alexandre Barros by second-round TKO (strikes)
John Hathaway beat Thomas Egan by first-round TKO (strikes)
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