EON

Vitor Belfort made good on his return to the UFC, in his UFC 103 headlining bout against former UFC champions Rich Franklin.

Belfort, a vetren of the sport, hit Franklin with a right, then dropped him with a left before forcing Yves Lavigne to call a stop to the contest with more punches to the downed Franklin.

It was Belfort’s third straight knockout win, and first in the UFC since he halted Marvin Eastman at UFC 43 in 2003.

“I miss this I miss this vibe, and I’m here for a reason,” said Belfort. “I trained so hard and I’ve been away from my family or three months.”

Tonight’s bout was held at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Belfort’s plan is to move back down to the middleweight division to pursue current 185-pound boss Anderson Silva.

“I’m here to work,” said Belfort, now 19-8. “Anderson is my friend and I like him as a fighter, but I’m here to fight anybody.”

Franklin, 27-5, 1 NC, who has lost two of his last three, will take some time to figure out his next move.

“Losing wasn’t part of my plan, so I’m going to let the dust settle and see what’s going on,” said Franklin.

UFC 103 results

Main Fight Cards:

Vitor Belfort defeats Rich Franklin at 3:02 via TKO (Round 1)
Junior dos Santos defeated Mirko Filipovic at 2:00 via TKO (Round 3)
Paul Daley defeats Martin Kampmann at 2:31 via TKO (Round 1)
Josh Koscheck defeats Frank Trigg at 1:25 via TKO (Round 1)
Tyson Griffin defeats Hermes Franca at 3:26 via TKO (Round 2)

Preliminary Fight Cards:

Efrain Escudero defeats Cole Miller at 3:36 via TKO (Round 1)
Tomasz Drwal defeated Drew McFedries at 1:03 via TKO (Round 2)
Jim Miller defeats Steve Lopez at 0:48 via TKO (Round 2)
Nik Lentz defeats Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rick Story defeats Brian Foster at 1:09 via TKO (Round 2)
Eliot Marshall defeats Jason Brilz via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-30)
Vladimir Matyushenko defeats Igor Pokrajac by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rafael dos Anjos defeated by unanimous decision Rob Emerson (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)