The Weekly Wrap: July 18 - July 24

Franklin-Henderson 2 Set for UFC 103

The elusive main event for the UFC 103 card on Sept. 19 was unveiled, as the UFC announced a Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson rematch will headline the Dallas event. Henderson edged out a split decision over Franklin at the first UFC show of 2009, UFC 93 in January. The fight determined who would coach opposite Michael Bisping on Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a show Henderson capped with a crushing knockout of the Brit in a middleweight fight at UFC 100. Henderson told Sherdog.com following the Bisping bout that if he did not get a subsequent title shot at middleweight king Anderson Silva, he wanted to fight a contender at 205 pounds. Franklin, who told MMAJunkie.com he signed a six-fight UFC deal, defeated Wanderlei Silva at a catchweight at UFC 99. It is not clear at which weight Franklin vs. Henderson II will be contested.

The main event will carry a pay-per-view that will go head-to-head with a Las Vegas boxing card featuring Floyd Mayweather’s return against Juan Manuel Marquez the same night. Mayweather has ripped on MMA fighters as less-than-skilled on the media circuit in building the fight. UFC 103 also features Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann, Frank Trigg vs. Josh Koscheck and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Junior dos Santos.

A few undercard bouts for the show were also firmed up. A light heavyweight match between Eliot Marshall and Jason Brilz was booked, according to MMAJunkie.com. A fight between Matt Wiman and Rafael dos Anjos fell through after Wiman suffered a knee injury in training, MMAJunkie.com reported. Robert Emerson, who had to bow out of a fight at UFC 101 on Aug. 8 after suffering a cut in training, emerged as the expected replacement.