UFC 115: Franklin KOs Liddell
A more disciplined training camp and lifestyle made Chuck Liddell look like a fighter ready to regain the form that made him one of the most feared men on the planet.
A right hand from Rich Franklin made everyone remember Liddell still has the chin of a battle-weary 40-year-old.
Franklin stopped Liddell just before the end of the first round with a shot to the jaw in the main event of UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday night.
It was the fourth time in six fights, a span in which Liddell has gone 1-5, that the former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion has been knocked out.
Liddell talked of being rededicated to the sport and claims he had his best training camp in quite some time. His physique appeared to support he claim, as the gut he brought with him to the cage on so many occasions was nowhere to be found.
Liddell even said he mostly had given up his notorious partying habits to focus on getting back to the top.
For a time against Franklin, Liddell appeared to be improved in the cage as well. He stunned Franklin with a few punches and broke his left arm with a kick early in the fight.
As the final seconds of the first round ticked away, Liddell looked for a knockout as he moved in and threw a looping overhand right. Franklin dodged it and responded with a short right that landed square on Liddell’s chin.
“The thing about Chuck is when he gets you on the run, he really overcommits on things,” Franklin said.
Liddell went out almost immediately and sprawled backward awkwardly to the canvas. The official time of the stoppage was 4:55.
“Once he kicked me in that arm and I could feel the arm clicking, it took me out of my game a little bit. It really did,” Franklin said. “He caught me there at the end, had me back against the fence, but I kept my cover tight and tried swinging. Things landed.”
The manner in which Liddell was defeated could signal the end of the Hall of Famer’s career. Franklin, however, probably will move up the ladder in the light heavyweight division as soon as his arm heals.
In the co-main event, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic survived a rocky start to submit Pat Barry in the third round with a rear naked choke.
Barry, who credits Filipovic as his idol in the sport, perhaps gave his hero too much respect.
At one point in the first round, after Barry had scored two knockdowns, the two even stopped the fight to embrace in the center of the cage.
Also, Martin Kampmann and Ben Rothwell won unanimous decisions, and Carlos Condit rebounded from a disappointing first two rounds to claim a technical knockout over Rory MacDonald with seven seconds left in the fight.
Evan Dunham won a split decision over Tyson Griffin in a battle of two Las Vegas-based fighters, and Matt Wiman defeated Mac Danzig controversially when the referee mistakenly ruled Danzig had gone unconscious from a choke.
On the undercard, Mike Pyle and Claude Patrick won by submissions, James Wilks won a decision and Mario Miranda knocked out David Loiseau.
