UFC 103

Background

This was the first UFC event to air a portion of the preliminary card live and commercial-free during an hour long block on Spike. The Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller, Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal, Rick Story vs. Brian Foster, and the Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez fights were shown on Spike.

As a part of the UFC/ESPN UK regionalization strategy the bout of Paul Daley vs. Brian Foster was to air on ESPN (UK) prior to Daley replacing Mike Swick against Martin Kampmann.

The event was aired the same time Floyd Mayweather fought Juan Manuel Márquez. Mayweather/Márquez drew a smaller crowd (13,116) but its gate was considerably higher at $6,811,300. It also sold more PPV buys (1,000,000).

To date, this PPV had the largest amount of fights broadcast by the UFC (13).

It was announced on July 20, 2009 that Rich Franklin would headline UFC 103 against Dan Henderson. It was then announced on July 31, 2009 that fans were not happy with the announced headliner of Henderson-Franklin 2 so they changed the main event to feature Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort. "Fans didn't like it, so we changed it," UFC President Dana White said.

A previously announced bout featuring Steve Steinbeiss was moved to UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard. A previously announced bout featuring Aaron Simpson was moved to UFC 102.

A knee injury forced Matt Wiman out of a bout with Rafael dos Anjos on July 23. Rob Emerson filled in.

A knee injury forced Thiago Tavares out of his bout with Jim Miller on August 20. Tavares was replaced by UFC newcomer Steve Lopez.

A back injury forced Dan Lauzon out of his bout with Rafaello Oliveira and he was replaced by Nik Lentz.

An injury forced Mike Swick out of his bout with Martin Kampmann and Paul Daley moved up from the undercard to face Kampmann.

Results

|Middleweight |Vitor Belfort |def. |Rich Franklin |KO (punches) |1 |3:02 | |Heavyweight |Junior dos Santos |def. |Mirko Cro Cop |TKO (submission to punch) |3 |2:00 | |Welterweight |Paul Daley |def. |Martin Kampmann |TKO (knee and punches) |1 |2:31 | |Welterweight |Josh Koscheck |def. |Frank Trigg |TKO (punches) |1 |1:25 | |Catchweight (159 lb) |Tyson Griffin |def. |Hermes França |KO (punches) |2 |3:26 | |Lightweight |Efrain Escudero |def. |Cole Miller |TKO (punches) |1 |3:36 | |Middleweight |Tomasz Drwal |def. |Drew McFedries |Submission (rear-naked choke) |2 |1:03 | |Lightweight |Jim Miller |def. |Steve Lopez |TKO (shoulder injury) |2 |0:48 | |Lightweight |Nik Lentz |def. |Rafaello Oliveira |Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Welterweight |Rick Story |def. |Brian Foster |Submission (arm-triangle choke) |2 |1:09 | |Light Heavyweight |Eliot Marshall |def. |Jason Brilz |Decision (split) (27–30, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Light Heavyweight |Vladimir Matyushenko |def. |Igor Pokrajac |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Rafael dos Anjos |def. |Rob Emerson |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 |

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $65,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night: Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
• Knockout of the Night: Vitor Belfort
• Submission of the Night: Rick Story

References

References

1. "UFC 103 in Dallas a sellout with 17,428 attendees, $2.4 million estimate gate". MMAjunkie.com.
2. "UFC Establishes New Mark for PPV Buys in 2009".
3. "UFC 103". Ufc.com.
4. "SPIKE TV TO TELECAST LIVE UNDERCARD BOUTS FOR THE FIRST TIME". Ufc.com.
5. Cofield, Steve. (August 31, 2009). "UFC/ESPN regionalize U.K. broadcasts: Daley fight a special feature at UFC 103. – Cagewriter – MMA – Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com.
6. (July 31, 2009). "Henderson-Franklin II to Headline UFC 103". Ufc.com.
7. "Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort, not Dan Henderson, new UFC 103 main event | MMAjunkie.com".
8. "STEINBEISS VS. JENSEN SET FOR UFC FIGHT NIGHT 19". Mma Weekly.
9. "Aaron Simpson and Steve Steinbeiss Added to UFC 103". MMAFrenzy.com.
10. "Aaron Simpson vs. Ed Herman middleweight bout slotted for UFC Fight Night 19". Mma Junkie.
11. (January 2, 2009). "Matt Wiman vs. Rafael dos Anjos Booked for UFC 103". MMAFrenzy.com.
12. Morgan, John. "Injury forces Matt Wiman out of UFC 103, Rob Emerson expected to face Rafael dos Anjos". MMAjunkie.com.
13. Morgan, John. "Thiago Tavares suffers knee injury, forced to withdraw from UFC 103 bout with Jim Miller". MMAjunkie.com.
14. Morgan, John. "Jim Miller to face UFC newcomer Steve Lopez on UFC 103 preliminary card". MMAjunkie.com.
15. (January 2, 2009). "Dan Lauzon Out of UFC 103 Fight Against Rafaello Oliveira With Back Injury". MMAFrenzy.com.
16. (January 2, 2009). "Nik Lentz Replaces Dan Lauzon, Fights Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 103". MMAFrenzy.com.
17. "UFC 103 fighter bonuses: Vitor Belfort, Rick Story, Brian Foster earn $65K awards". MMAjunkie.