Dennis Siver d. Nate Mohr via TKO (Spinning Back Kick and Punches) Round 3 3:27***
Tomasz Drwal d. Ivan Serati via TKO (Punches) Round 1 2:02
Eric Schafer d. Antonio Mendes via TKO (Punches) Round 1 3:35
Martin Kampmann d. Alexandre Barros via TKO (Punches) Round 2 3:07
John Hathaway d. Tom Egan via TKO (Elbows) Round 1 4:36
Marcus Davis d. Chris Lytle via Split Decision*
Alan Belcher d. Denis Kang via Submission (Guillotine Choke) Round 2 4:36**
Rousimar Palhares d. Jeremy Horn via Decision (Unanimous)
Mauricio Rua d. Mark Coleman via TKO (Punches) Round 3 4:36*
Dan Henderson d. Rich Franklin via Decision (Split)
* Fight(s) of the Night $40,000 Davis vs Lytle; Rua vs Coleman
** Submission of the Night $40,000 Alan Belcher
*** Knockout of the Night $40,000 Denis Siver
What Does It All Mean?
Rich Franklin has once again failed to defeat elite competition. He has mopped the floor with the top-tier competition he's faced (Tanner, Loiseau, Hammill, Quarry) but when facing truly elite competitors: Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva (x2) and now Dan Henderson he comes up short. Expect Franklin to stay at 205 and be given future opportunities to contend for a title.
Dan Henderson might be too old to hold another title. He clearly dominated Franklin in the first round, less so in the second and lost the third. The fact that he was fighting at 205 means we can't blame a weight cut for his lack of conditioning. Michael Bisping might very will be able to get on his bicycle and eek out a UK decision over Henderson.
Dana White wins again. Rich Franklin didn't want to coach TUF again and no one wanted to see him lose to Anderson Silva for a third time. Now thanks to Henderson's win, Dana has Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping to build up over a TUF season and then send the winner up against Anderson Silva. Should Bisping beat Henderson and get the title shot, that will be a very lucrative fight in the UK market. Likewise, a Henderson vs Silva rematch will be a solid co-headliner on any card.
Shogun Rua needs to get a better camp. Many of our commenters are sleeping on the absolutely devastating nature of Rua's back-to-back knee injuries and surgeries, but that has to have been a huge factor in his gassing in the second round against Mark Coleman. Nevertheless, if Shogun is going to have any chance to beat Chuck Liddell, he should come to America and get a state-of-the-art condition camp.
Mark Coleman is done. This isn't really news to anyone. He was formidable for the first two minutes of round one but not formidable enough to get a TKO win. Not sure what Dana can do with Coleman going forward. I doubt the Hammer will have the sense to retire.
Alan Belcher and Rousimar Palhares continue to swim upstream in the muddy middleweight waters but neither is a compelling contender. In the tradition of Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Travis Lutter and other mediocre middleweight contenders, both fighters advance their careers but come out of the event with no buzz or mystique. I recommend they be matched up in the near future to knock at least one of them off track.
Denis Kang....Denis....Denis.. ..Denis...what happened?!? Kang came in looking sharp, landing sharp punches to Belcher's face, scoring takedowns at will, dominating on the ground. But after Belcher survived multiple ground assaults from Kang only to bounce back stronger, Kang was clearly frazzled. Falling into a guillotine choke was a weak way to go out but presumably better than taking a TKO beating. I've said this many many times, but if you get a man down on his back, put a beatdown on him before you go for a submission. Trying and failing to get the quick submission leaves you gassed and him feeling confident. A beat down leaves the fighter administering it ahead on more than the scorecard. I hope Kang can get a shot at redemption and re-emerge as a contender but he's going to have very little margin of error at his pay rate.
I don't expect to see Nate Mohr or Antonio Mendes back in the Octagon. Mohr is now 1-3 against UFC competition and Mendes is 0-2. Good luck in future endeavors guys.
