UFC 93: 
Franklin vs. Henderson

Arianny Celeste

© Marc Wickert 
www.knucklepit.com
January 18, 2009
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges

Ring announcer Bruce Buffer was in his finest form for UFC 93, and he had no trouble rousing the good old Irish spirit for this event.  No one does it better than Bruce Buffer.

MMA fans were also treated to three delicious ring girls for this event: Arianny Celeste, Edith Labelle and Logan Stanton. 

In earlier matches:
Martin Kampmann def. Alexandre Barros by TKO – 3.09, Round Two.
Eric Schafer def. Antonio Mendes by TKO – 3.35, Round One.
Thomasz Drwal def. Ivan Serati by KO – 2.02, Round One.
Dennis Siver def. Nate Mohr by TKO – 3.47, Round Three.

The Battles

Marcus Davis (5’10” 169 lb) vs. Chris Lytle (5’11” 171 lb) 
– Welterweight 
Referee: Marc Goddard

Round One
4.50: Southpaw Marcus ducked away from Chris’s leg kick.
4.39: Chris sent Marcus flying into the cage with a looping right; Marcus’s knees buckled before he fled the scene.
4.31: Chris leg-kicked.
4.27: And again.
4.24: Lytle blocked a body kick.
4.09: They traded, then backed off.
3.45: Lytle leg-kicked.
3.31: Most of Davis’s body kicks were being taken on the arms before he tagged Lytle with a nice right hand.
3.26: Lytle leg-kicked.
3.13: Chris rushed Marcus and copped a left hook for his trouble.
2.59: Marcus landed another left hand on the incoming Chris.
2.42: Marcus body-kicked.
2.33: Chris inside leg-kicked.
2.14: Chris leg-kicked.
2.02: Lytle body-kicked, but was swept to the floor after his kick was caught by Davis.
1.30: Lytle connected with a right and a stinging left hook.
1.23: They exchanged and Lytle went down; however it appeared to be more of a slip than from anything serious landing.
1.06: Davis left-kicked to the body and Lytle countered with a looping right.
1.00: Lytle inside leg-kicked.
0.55: Lytle front-kicked to the midsection.
0.11: Chris delivered a powerful body kick and they banged up to the bell.

Round Two
4.43: Chris leg-kicked.
4.28: He roughed Marcus up with slinging fists – one briefly put Marcus down before he got out of the line of fire.
4.12: Marcus threw a left kick that dropped Chris.
3.55: Marcus unloaded a body kick and consecutive knees to the midsection.
3.46: Lytle inside leg-kicked.
3.12: Lytle roughed Davis up again against the cage.
2.52: Davis dispatched a leaping knee.  They exchanged kicks: Many of Davis’s body kicks were taken on the arms whereas Lytle’s leg kicks were not being checked.
1.05: Chris smacked in a solid leg kick.
0.56: And again.  Both men were landing with punches.
0.46: Marcus countered a body kick with a left hook; they banged it out till the hooter sounded.  Of Chris Lytle, Mark DellaGrotte told Marcus, “Be very careful: He’s dangerous.  Beat him to the punch and don’t be there for the return.”

Round Three
The fighters touched gloves and hugged before going back to war.
4.51: Davis body-kicked and Lytle answered with a right hand.  They were countering each other’s kicks with lightning punches.
3.36: Davis leg-kicked.  For the first two rounds, Lytle pursued Davis; now Marcus was forcing Chris to follow after him, rather than being chased down by Lytle.
2.03: Chris clipped Marcus with a left hand.
1.56: Chris body-punched.
1.48: Marcus delivered a kick and a knee to the body.
Both men had closed-up left eyes after thumping it out for all 15 minutes.
This fight could have gone either way, but its being held in Dublin probably swayed the judges in the Irish Hand Grenade’s way.

Result: Marcus Davis by split decision.

Alan Belcher (6’2” 186 lb) vs. Denis Kang (5’11” 184 lb) 
– Middleweight 
Referee: Dan Miragliotta

Round One
This was scary stuff: Alan Belcher sported a large tattoo of Johnny Cash on his left arm, and Michael Goldberg described Denis Kang as being the Elvis Presley of Korean MMA.  Wow, Batman!
4.39: Denis let it rip with a volley of knuckles.
4.22: He shot in on Alan and, from the takedown, fell into his guard.
3.56: Denis got half guard.
3.25: He was over Alan’s back in the 6 o’clock position; he briefly spun into side control before Alan forced him back into guard.
3.00: Belcher kicked Kang away and the pair stood.
2.51: Kang drove a rattling left fist into Belcher’s midsection and followed with a right hook to the noggin.  Belcher taunted Kang by keeping his guard low, but this tactic was providing easy access for Kang’s fists.
2.21: Belcher leg-kicked; Kang caught the kick and took Belcher down.  Denis was again in Alan’s guard.
0.58: Denis took side control and attempted a kimura after Alan smothered most of Denis’s g’n’p game.
0.36: Alan warded off the kimura; however Denis got side control.

Round Two
Alan came out with his hands high and open, and danced with a wide stance – Don’t try this at home, kids.
4.42: They tied up after a knuckle showdown.
4.10: They parted.
4.07: Belcher fired off a right kick to the body and a jab.
3.37: Kang shot in before falling into Belcher’s guard.
2.50: Kang spun into half guard.
1.55: He was back in full guard, but Dan Miragliotta stood them up at 1.41.
1.27: Belcher leg-kicked.
0.39: Kang danced around Belcher and landed a jab.
0.29: Kang went for the shoot and Belcher whacked on a guillotine.  Kang tapped.

Result: Alan Belcher by tap out (guillotine choke) – 4.36, Round Two.

Rousimar Palhares (5’8” 184 lb) vs. Jeremy Horn (6’2” 185 lb) 
– Middleweight
Referee: Leon Roberts

Round One
Jeremy employed his jab to take advantage of his three-inch reach advantage.
4.29: Rousimar closed the distance and swept Jeremy’s left leg; Jeremy pulled butterfly guard, but by
4.05 Rousimar was gunning for Jeremy’s back, then began his g’n’p.
3.26: Horn rolled and Palhares took side control.
3.20: Horn rolled, Palhares latched onto his back and was g’n’p-ing again.
3.03: Horn rolled and Palhares was in his guard.  Palhares stood in the guard and rained down elbows.
2.02: Horn rolled and Palhares took his back.  (Is there a pattern here?)
2.00: Jeremy scrambled to his feet and fought in the clinch.
1.54: Rousimar took Jeremy back down and dropped into half guard.
1.35: Rousimar was pounding from Jeremy’s back.
1.07: Jeremy rolled and Leon Roberts repeatedly cautioned Rousimar for holding the fence.
0.50: Palhares slipped into half guard.  The round ended with Palhares pounding from Horn’s back.

Round Two
4.51: Jeremy leg-kicked; however Rousimar overrode it with a left hand, then shot for Jeremy’s left leg.  Rousimar hoisted Jeremy into the air and body-slammed him.
4.37: Palhares took half guard and got an overdue ‘last warning’ for holding the fence.
4.17: Palhares commenced panel beating from Horn’s back.
3.11: Horn maneuvered his way out and progressed from half guard to the mount at 2.56, before applying an arm triangle.
2.14: Palhares bucked Horn and they stood.
2.02: Rousimar spinning back-kicked, but it had little impact, and Jeremy was picking him off with jabs.
1.16: Rousimar shot for Jeremy’s legs; the attempt failed, but the takedown at 1.04 was successful.

Round Three
4.45: Horn was jabbing away when Palhares intercepted Horn’s gloves, latched onto his back and impaled him in the canvas with a suplex.
4.42: Palhares had half guard.
3.44: After some scrambling, Palhares was in Horn’s guard.
2.55: Rousimar took Jeremy’s back and pounded.
2.36: Jeremy stood with Rousimar still in the saddle, then dropped to the floor.
1.08: Leon Roberts stood them up.
0.24: Rousimar returned to half guard.

Result: Rousimar Palhares by unanimous decision.

Edith Labelle

John Hathaway (n/a 170 lb) vs. Tom Egan (5’11” 170 lb) 
– Welterweight
Referee: Marc Goddard

4.49: John shot at Tom; Tom resisted the takedown and was clinched with his back to the wires.
4.41: John took Tom down and assumed side control.
4.22: Hathaway had Egan’s back.
4.05: Egan got to his feet in the clinch; Hathaway latched onto Egan’s left leg and took him back down.
3.37: Tom stood but John swept him back down.
3.31: John was g’n’p-ing from Tom’s guard.
3.00: They stood.
2.35: John dragged Tom down.
2.16: They were back up.
1.53: Hathaway was in Egan’s guard.
0.50: Hathaway g’n’ped from half guard.
0.37: Hathaway took Egan’s back and pounded until Marc Goddard stepped in.

Result: John Hathaway by TKO – 4.36, Round One.

Shogun Rua (6’1” 205 lb) vs. Mark Coleman (6’1” 206 lb) 
– Light Heavyweight
Referee: Kevin Mulhall

Round One
Mark threw a right hand as Shogun kicked with his right leg; Mark opted to take Shogun down and received a knee.
4.49: Mark had Shogun on the ground and was punishing him with big right hands.
4.30: Shogun stood with Mark still latched on.
4.20: Coleman tugged Rua to the canvas.
3.55: They stood clinched as Rua delivered a knee.
3.52: They broke free and hurled leather.
3.44: Coleman caught a knee and used it to pull Rua to the mat.
2.59: Shogun had side control, but Mark tied his arm up.
2.45: Shogun’s arms were liberated.
1.44: They were standing and slinging as Mark received a package of fists and leg kicks, before retaliating with punches that really were ‘Hammer’ specials.
0.43: Rua knocked Coleman down with a right hook; Coleman was knackered, but hung on till the bell. 
Phil Baroni did a great psyche-up job in Coleman’s corner.

Round Two
Mark seemed lost, and it looked like Shogun would finish him off before long, but Coleman dug deep and blasted with a huge jab.
4.16: Mark banged Shogun into the mats.
3.57: They stood up.
3.45: Shogun got the takedown.
3.34: Mark had now adopted the gunslinger’s guard; however Shogun was also gassed.
3.21: Rua walked into another Hammer jab.
2.57: Rua rattled Coleman with a left, but didn’t have the juice to capitalize.
2.27: Coleman tagged Rua with another hard jab.
1.54: Shogun was favoring the knee strikes and Mark was returning jabs and uppercuts.  This was a slow-motion shootout.
1.51: Shogun wrapped on a Thai clinch and eventually followed with a knee that Mark caught and used to tug Shogun down.  Mark used the opportunity to administer some g’n’p that got the crowd roaring, before Shogun escaped and staggered to his feet, where he wore a right hook courtesy of The Hammer.
1.22: Coleman ate some leather before notching up another takedown.
1.14: Rua attempted an uma-plata.
0.44: It really looked like curtains again for Coleman, but he hung tough up to the bell.

Round Three 
Mark threw a low right that appeared to hit Shogun in the castanets, when ring announcer Mike Goldberg said, “Ah, good body shot – that hurt him” as Shogun rubbed his cup.
3.11: Mark was g’n’p-ing.
1.15: It appeared that Shogun was done for the night.
1.05: He turned things around and got busted for kneeing a downed opponent.
0.53: They stood toe-to-toe.
0.25: Shogun knocked Mark down and the ref pulled it up.
Throughout the fight, Mark Coleman showed he had no heart – in its place was a whopping big nuclear reactor that powered him for three grueling rounds when mere mortals would have waved the white flag.  After the bout he called for a best-two-out-of-three decider with Shogun Rua.  Why not!  This was Coleman’s first bout in two years and his first time down at light heavyweight.  The legend deserves another shot.

Result: Shogun Rua by TKO – 4.36, Round Three.

Dan Henderson (6’1” 202 lb) vs. Rich Franklin (6’1” 203 lb) 
– Light Heavyweight
Referee: Dan Miragliotta

This was always going to be a monster showdown between two of MMA’s greats: Rich Franklin (former UFC middleweight champ) and Dan Henderson (former Pride welterweight and middleweight champ).

Round One
4.47: Dan leg-kicks southpaw Rich’s right leg.
4.43: And again.  Both men hold their guards high.
4.29: Rich body-kicks.
4.23: Dan inside leg-kicks.
4.19: Rich body-kicks and Dan counters with a strong right cross.  He kicks to Rich’s head, but slips, and Rich joins him.
3.50: Henderson is in Franklin’s half guard.
3.24: He administers some g’n’p before Franklin climbs to his feet, but Franklin is beaten back down by Henderson.
2.31: Franklin makes it back up and they separate.
2.15: Franklin body-kicks.
2.09: Dan inside leg-kicks.
2.03: Rich body-kicks and narrowly misses Dan’s right hook.
1.51: Rich unloads another body kick; he throws a right hand and Dan responds with a right uppercut.
1.35: They swap leg kicks.
1.27: Franklin body-kicks.
1.19: He connects with a left fist.
1.04: Franklin leg-kicks, follows with a body kick, and right and left hands.
0.45: Henderson sets off a right fist and a right knee.
0.22: He takes a body kick on the gloves.
0.12: They briefly tie up with Rich getting the underhooks in before releasing and detonating another body kick.
Rich has two cuts on his forehead from an earlier clash of heads.

Round Two
4.38: Franklin body-kicks and Henderson follows with an inside leg-kick.  They bang it out with a flurry of fists and kicks.  The toe-to-toe continues at a rapid pace until 2.36, when they clinch.
2.20: They’re down on the floor with Henderson in Franklin’s guard.  There’s blood in the center of Franklin’s forehead, but thus far it’s not going into his eyes.  Franklin is looking for an escape hatch and Henderson is roughing him up against the fence.  He’s keeping Rich pinned down whilst standing in the guard and dropping a few vicious elbows.  The hooter sounds.

Round Three
Dan inside leg-kicks.  The pair bangs it out and Rich dispatches a right and a left hand.
4.31: Dan connects with a right cross.
4.28: Rich body-kicks and Dan avoids the takedown.
4.22: They tie up before Dan chalks up another takedown, then moves back into Rich’s guard.
4.02: Henderson has Franklin pressed into the cage.
3.26: Franklin gets to his feet with Henderson clinging to his right ankle.
3.07: They stand clinched, with Franklin kneeing to the body.
2.32: They separate.  Franklin picks off Henderson with long-range punches and body kicks.
1.41: They tie-up.
1.06: They break free.
0.51: Henderson slips whilst high kicking.
0.38: They’re thrashing it out when Rich cops a stray finger in the eye.  Dan Miragliotta checks with officials before informing Rich he has two minutes to recover.
0.24: Dan inside leg-kicks.
0.16: Dan counters a body kick with a sharp right hand.  They bang it out up to the bell.
This was another bout that could easily have gone either way.

Result: Dan Henderson by split decision.

Logan Stanton

For more info: www.ufc.tv.

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