The Ultimate Fighting Championship traveled to Germany for the first time, with the main event between Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin and Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva being settled by a razor-thin decision.

Advertisement

The two former champions collided at a catch weight of 195 pounds at UFC 99: The Comeback from Lanxess Arena in Cologne, with Franklin (25-4) winning by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout, 29-28, for Franklin, while VegasInsider.com scored the bout two rounds to one for Silva (32-10-1).

Franklin cashed tickets as the $1.70 favorite (bet $170 to win $100) over Silva, the $1.50 underdog (bet $100 to win $150).

The opening stanza saw Wanderlei looking to counter punch, while Franklin was scoring points with a straight left. ‘The Axe Murderer’ uncharacteristically took the fight to the ground, but Franklin took the round when he reversed positions and eventually opened a cut over his opponents’ eye.

Wanderlei went back to his roots in the second round, stalking Franklin and swinging for the fences. The Brazilian striker hurt Franklin with an overhand right, prompting Wanderlei to push the pace.

Both fighters showed each other mutual respect at the beginning of the third and final round, shaking hands once again. Wand was trying to push the pace, while Franklin was more methodical with his approach. The final round could have been scored for either fighter, but Franklin got the nod on all the judges’ scorecards. I scored the round for ‘The Axe Murderer’ because I felt he inflicted more damage during this period.

Franklin now has notable wins over Evan Tanner, Edwin Dewees, Ken Shamrock, Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami and Wanderlei Silva. However, Franklin is on the move to the light heavyweight division after two lopsided losses to current middleweight champion Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva. It will be interesting to see who Franklin fights next, and at what weight.

The questions for ‘The Axe Murderer’ are even more intriguing. The 32-year-old has now lost five of his last six fights. Wanderlei is moving down from the light heavyweight to middleweight, but the former Pride champion will have to start winning again in the extreme near future.

A rumored middleweight matchup between Wanderlei and Anderson Silva (former teammates at Brazil’s Chute Boxe Academy) will not take place, and only time will tell where Wanderlei’s career goes from here. It was a razor-thin setback to a top fighter, but ‘The Axe Murderer’ will have to get back on the winning track sometime soon or be forced to answer endless questions about retirement.

The heavyweight contest between Cheick Kongo and Cain Velasquez was a battle of styles. Kongo, a French kickboxer, probably had the worst gameplan since France’s Maginot Line in World War II.

Velasquez, a former All-American wrestler at Arizona State, dominated Kongo on the ground. Velasquez proceeded to ground and pound his opponent for the better part of three rounds, prevailing via unanimous decision, 30-27, on all three judges’ cards.

Velasquez (6-0) prevailed as the $1.80 favorite, and is now on the short list towards the top of the heavyweight division. Expect a possible matchup down the road with another up-and-coming heavyweight striker, Shane Carwin.

Kongo (14-5-1) has now lost three times inside the octagon, each time to a fighter with a wrestling background. The Paris native rocked his opponent at the start of each round with punches before being taken down. The ground game remains the chink in Kongo’s armor, and he will have to improve that aspect of his game if he is going to be a serious contender.

There was also another heavyweight fight highlighted on the UFC 99 card, but the Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic-Mustapha al Turk matchup leaves us with more questions than answers. ‘Cro Cop’ (25-6-2) won by technical knockout at the 3:06 mark of the first round with punches. The noted kickboxer never attempted a kick, and the beginning of the end for al Turk (6-5) occurred with an accidental eye poke.

Mirko signed just a one-fight deal with the UFC, and it will be interesting to see if he rejoins the organization. The heavyweight division has improved greatly since he went a disappointing 1-2 his first three fights inside the octagon, but he has stated that he wants to make a serious run at the title. It was also hard to learn how well ‘Cro Cop’ has recovered from knee surgery since he wasn’t firing off his trademark leg kicks.

The UFC 99 card also settled a welterweight grudge match that spanned the Atlantic Ocean.

Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy (22-6) earned a hard-fought split-decision victory over Marcus ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ Davis (16-5). All three judges scored the fight 29-28, with two judges giving ‘The Outlaw’ the nod. VI also scored the bout for Hardy, two rounds to one.

Hardy cashed tickets as the $1.80 underdog, and has now won his last six fights. The Englishman dished out more punishment, cutting Davis along the hairline with a well-placed elbow. With the victory, expect Hardy to inch closer to the top of the welterweight division.

There was plenty of trash talking leading up to this fight, with Hardy calling the Irish-American Davis a ‘fake’ Irishman from Maine. Davis was upset at the loss and didn't shake hands with Hardy, who said in the postfight interview that he started the trash talking to get inside the head of Davis.

**Octagon Extras**

-Bud Light is a huge sponsor of the UFC, but not when the company goes to Germany. Any Bud Light signage in the cage was noticeably absent, with a supplement company (BSN Nutrition) getting the center signage. That company is an offshoot of Xyience, another enterprise owned by the Fertitta’s (who also own the UFC).

-I’ve always stated that Matt Hughes probably has the best entrance in mixed martial arts when he comes out to Hank Williams Jr.’s ‘A Country Boy Can Survive,’ and I hate country music. Hands down the worst entrance in the UFC goes to Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ who enters the octagon to Duran Duran’s ‘Wild Boys.’ The Croatian kickboxer is usually an exciting fighter, but his entrance completely sucks.

-Mike ‘Quick’ Swick (14-2) notched a second-round TKO victory over Ben ‘Killa B’ Saunders (7-1-2) in a battle of welterweights. Swick has now won all four of his fights since moving down from middleweight, and he should get a shot at a top-five welterweight for his next effort.

-Submission of the Night went to lightweight Terry Etim (13-2), who beat Justin Buchholz (8-3) with a choke in the second round. There was no word after the event how much the awards of the night were for, or who won the Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night.

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.