DALLAS — Rich Franklin spoke all week about not caring about being a fighter without a weight class.

For him, he swore it was about putting on a good show.
Franklin, a former school teacher from Cincinnati, couldn’t keep his promise as he fell to Brazil’s Vitor Belfort by technical knockout Saturday night in the main event of UFC 103.
Franklin (27-5) and Belfort (19-8) fought in a “catch weight” bout at 195 pounds, which isn’t a class but sits in limbo between middleweight and light heavyweight.
Late in the first round after a gruelingly slow start, Belfort caught Franklin with a grazing blow. Franklin dropped to his stomach and Belfort pounced to deliver a few more shots to the head before the bout was stopped with Franklin helpless.
American Airlines Center swelled with a sold-out crowd clad in more black T-shirts than a Goth rock convention.
The showmanship and presentation bubbled the audience’s adrenaline quicker than a black-market energy drink as Rage Against the Machine and LL Cool J thumped on the evening’s soundtrack.
No one left complaining about the tickets that started at $100 and accounted for the highest-grossing sporting event in AAC’s 8-year history.
NOTABLE
In the co-main event accomplished veteran heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop (25-7-2) fell to rising star Junior Dos Santos (9-1) in a third-round stoppage. Cro Cop made his name in Japan but is now 2-3 since joining UFC.
On the main card, lightweight Tyson Griffin improved to 14-2 with a superb TKO of Hermes Franca. In the second round Griffin landed a solid straight right hand that dropped Franca. Griffin pounced and hammered away until the stoppage.
Welterweight Josh Koscheck scored the quickest TKO of the night with a stoppage 1:25 into the first round against Frank Trigg.
The most vicious knockout of the night came as Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Efrain Escudero hammered TUF 5 winner Cole Miller. The lightweight Escudero dropped Miller with a right to the chin and pounced for a few more strikes on the defenseless Miller for the first-round TKO.
The award for most chilling moment of the night went to Steve Lopez, who had to retire after he dislocated his shoulder. Lopez threw a punch that landed but caused a shuddering lump underneath his shoulder and forced him to quit.
Mark Cuban’s fancy new HD video boards displayed the bulging flesh in all its crisp, clear glory.
The night got off to a slow start with three snoozers in the preliminary bouts. However, 170-pounders Rick Story and Brian Foster brought the arena to a roar when they both came out flailing. Story stood bleeding from his temple and nose after taking some solid punches in the first round. However, he picked up an impressive submission victory in the second round by arm-triangle choke, forcing Foster to tap out.