As UFC 115 drew to a close on Saturday night, it may have marked the reemergence of one MMA star, and the long-awaited departure of another, as fight fans got their money’s worth from a card filled top-to-bottom with exciting fights.

In the evening’s main event, former UFC middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin put an end to what is hopefully Chuck “Iceman” Liddell’s final title run with an emphatic knockout of the former champ at 4:55 of the first round.

Liddell, who was in the best shape he has been in since ruling the light heavyweight division from 2004-2006, stormed out of the gate with a versatile offensive attack that had Franklin on his heels for most of the opening round. He landed heavy punches, powerful kicks, and even mixed in a takedown in the kind of display that made him one of the most popular fighters in UFC history. With merely seconds left in the opening round, Liddell rushed towards Franklin and missed with a hard overhand right. With his momentum moving forward, Liddell was caught with a short right hook to the chin that left him unconscious on the canvas.

Although out-pointed for most of the fight, Franklin remained patient while landing crisp shots of his own. During the opening minutes of the fight, Franklin blocked a Liddell body-kick with his left arm, apparently breaking it in the process. In spite of his broken limb, “Ace” continued to fend-off Liddell’s aggressive attack while waiting for Liddell to over-commit before he landed the knockout blow. The win was Franklins fourth in his last six fights, and more importantly, it keeps him in the light heavyweight contender’s mix.

For Liddell, the third knockout loss in a row likely put an end to an illustrious career that has seen him compete against some of the best fighters in the sport.

In the night’s co-main event, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic survived a pair of first round knockdowns before coming back and submitting Patrick Barry with a rear-naked choke at 4:30 of the third round.

Twice during the opening frame, Barry dropped Cro Cop with hard right hands but failed to follow up and allowed his opponent to get back to his feet.  For the remainder of the round, the fighters traded blows and showed each other genuine respect, continually smiling and hugging after almost every exchange.

The second and third rounds were all Cro Cop. With his left eye nearly swollen shut, the 2006 Pride FC open weight grand prix winner tagged Barry with powerful strikes before grounding him and applying the fight-ending choke late in the final frame. During the third round, Barry was visibly fatigued and unable to mount much of an attack, and the Croatian heavyweight capitalized on every opportunity that presented itself.

In welterweight action, Martin Kampmann rejuvenated his prospects as a title contender with a lop-sided unanimous decision victory over top-contender Paulo Thiago.

From the start of the fight, Kampmann used superior boxing and dominant grappling to stifle the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts attack. Thiago, appearing to have problems with Kampmann’s speedy and accurate punches, was on the defensive for most of the fight and never managed to find a rhythm.

In what turned out to be the fight of the night, former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit came back after losing the first two rounds to earn a TKO victory over heralded prospect Rory MacDonald.

MacDonald pressured Condit for the majority of the first ten minutes with deft clinch work and sharp strikes.  He scored effectively by moving in and out of Condit’s range, while peppering him with punches. MacDonald also scored with three first-round takedowns, although he was unable to keep Condit grounded and never threatened to finish.

After a tongue-lashing from trainer Greg Jackson before the start of the final round, Condit appeared re-energized. He quickly unloaded a devastating right hand that stunned MacDonald before bullying his opponent to the ground. Sensing his opponent’s weariness, Condit unloaded with a series of punches, elbows, and hammerfists before the referee was forced to put a halt to the bout with only seven seconds remaining in the fight.

In other action at UFC 115:

Ben Rothwell defeated Gilbert Yvel by unanimous decision.
Evan Dunham defeated Tyson Griffin by split decision.
Matt Wiman defeated Mac Danzig by submission (guillotine choke) 1:45- R1.
Mario Miranda defeated David Loiseau by TKO (punches) 4:07- R2.
James Wilks defeated Peter Sobotta by unanimous decision.
Claude Patrick defeated Ricardo Funch by submission (guillotine choke) 1:48- R2.
Mike Pyle defeated Jesse Lennox by submission (triangle choke) 4:44- R3.

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