Sep 17 UFC 103 Forecast

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going for a swift knock out this Saturday night after being matched up against boxing's "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a Pay Per View war. To win over viewers, the UFC will be airing two live preliminary fights starting at 9 PM on Spike TV. UFC 103's main event will be contested at a catchweight of 195 pounds and will feature the return of the "Phenom" Vitor Belfort, as he prepares to make a statement against former UFC middleweight king pin, Rich "Ace" Franklin. The rest of the 103 card is filled with heavy hitters, with one punch (or kick) knock out power and the UFC should grind out a unanimous decision in ratings over boxing's one man show.

Vitor Belfort is looking just about as hungry as ever before, and is coming off back-to-back highlight reel knock out victories in the defunct Affliction MMA. Having his confidence at an all time high, Belfort was among the first mixed martial artists, outside of the UFC, to challenge Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Trilogy after his scheduled opponent Josh Barnett tested positive for a banned substance. When his fight with Franklin gets underway this Saturday, Vitor should to let his heavy fists fly to overwhelm Rich early. A victory over Rich would automatically shoot Belfort into the 185 pound title picture.

Becoming the king of catchweight fights in the UFC, Rich Franklin needs a win on Saturday if he wants to stay relevant in the 185 and/or 205 pound weight class contenders picture. Coming off a disappointing loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 93 and squeezing out a hard earned but close decision over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99, Franklin has become more of a hired gun, fighting in only dream fights of yesterday in the Pride vs. UFC era.

MMA HANGOVER's Prediction: I see this fight being more of a kick boxing match than anything. Both of these guys are going to want to stand and bang with eachother. At this point though, I think Belfort is too hungry and too explosive for Ace, expect to see Rich go down early. Belfort by 1st round KO.

Gary Whittaker's 2 Cents: For the first time, maybe ever in Jordan Small's Forecast series, I actually totally agree with him!

Tags: MMA \ Rich Franklin \ UFC 103 \ Vitor Belfort

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