UFC 115 was full of actions and it was the big night for Rick Franklin as he is proving to the world that he deserved to be on top of the UFC’s Light Heavyweights by knocking out former champion Chuck Liddell in the last 5 seconds of the first round. The crowd favorite and popular fighter in UFC, Chuck Liddell is the replacement of Tito Ortiz due to neck injury. The knockout win of Franklin earned him an extra US$ 85,000 for the award of UFC 115′s “The Knockout of the Night”.
It was not an easy win though for Rick Franklin as he also tasted a knockdown and a broken left arm which was a result of blocking the hard and strong kicks from Liddell. Franklin’s attitude to go on fighting inspite of the odd situation earned him great accolades not only from the fans but also from all fighters like him in the league.
Held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, UFC 115 has a total of four fighters who earned an extra US$85,000 including Franklin. The second fighter who earned the bonus was Cro Cop who took home UFC 115 “Submission of the Night” award when he won his fight over Pat Barry via a surprising rear naked choke in the third round of the co-main event. It wasn’t a walk-in-the-park win for Cro Cop as he struggled in the first round with the left side of his face damaged. In the 2nd round, Cro Cop started to fight like an animal aggressively until the third round where he dropped Barry with a flurry of punches and kicks before locking on the choke to finally win the match.
Another action packed match has happened when cocky young fighter Rory McDonald took two rounds of his fight against Carlos Condit. However, McDonald did not sustain his momentum until the third round allowing Condit to turn the tide against him, rallied and beat him up. And it’s too late for McDonald to respond as Condit battered him with no let-up forcing the referee to stop the fight with still ten seconds in the final round.
UFC 115 Supporting Card Results:
* Welterweight bout: United States Mike Pyle vs. United States Jesse Lennox
- Pyle defeated Lennox via technical submission (triangle choke) at 4:44 of round 3.
* Welterweight bout: Brazil Ricardo Funch vs. Canada Claude Patrick
- Patrick defeated Funch via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:48 of round 2. This bout aired on Spike after the Danzig vs. Wiman fight.
* Welterweight bout: England James Wilks vs. Germany Peter Sobotta
- Wilks defeated Sobotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-27).
* Middleweight bout: Canada David Loiseau vs. Brazil Mario Miranda
- Miranda defeated Loiseau via TKO (punches) at 4:07 of round 2.
UFC 115 Main cards Results:
* Welterweight bout: United States Carlos Condit vs. Canada Rory MacDonald
- Condit defeated MacDonald via TKO at 4:53 of round 3
* Heavyweight bout: United States Ben Rothwell vs. Netherlands Gilbert Yvel
- Rothwell defeated Yvel via unanimous decision. (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
* Welterweight bout: Brazil Paulo Thiago vs. Denmark Martin Kampmann
- Kampmann defeated Thiago via unanimous decision. (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Heavyweight bout: Croatia Mirko Filipović vs. United States Pat Barry
- Filipović defeated Barry via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:30 of round 3.
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Chuck Liddell vs. United States Rich Franklin
- Franklin defeated Liddell via KO (punch) at 4:55 of round 1.
Overall, UFC 115, unlike other episode, was not a boring episode not only because of the knockouts in the main-event but also because of the resilience and perseverance of the fighters themselves. UFC 115 therefore would surely be an episode that will draw more crowds in the next chapter of event.
