FanHouse PaulDaley

DALLAS – While Rich Franklin will likely never say it, he didn't want a fight in September, let alone one against Vitor Belfort. Franklin would have preferred some time off, but the need for a headliner for UFC 103 pushed him into making the decision to participate.

Franklin may be a company man, but that loyalty – along with Belfort's considerable skills – cost Franklin, as Belfort returned to the UFC with a shocking first-round TKO over the ex-UFC middleweight champion in front of 17,428 at the American Airlines Center.

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In a major upset that shakes up the welterweight division, Paul Daley beat Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 by first-round TKO, pummeling Kampmann with a punches in bunches.

This is the UFC 103 live blog for Paul Daley vs. Martin Kampmann, one of the featured bouts of the night's pay-per-view card.

I'm cageside at the American Airlines Center in Dallas for all the blow-by-blow. You can also keep track of all the action by following me on Twitter.

The live blog begins below.

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Prior to UFC 72, Martin Kampmann was on the verge of fighting Rich Franklin for a future shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva. However, a knee injury forced him to withdraw from the bout. Since then, the 27-year-old worked his way up the welterweight division. He was supposed to fight Mike Swick at UFC 103 for a shot at current 170-pound champion Georges St-Pierre, but Swick pulled out late last week after suffering a concussion in training.

Kampmann (15-2) will now face UFC newcomer Paul Daley (21-8-2) on Sept. 19, but as he recently told FanHouse, no title shot will be on the line. Still, the Danish-born fighter, who most recently defeated Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 18 in April, is just excited to return to action. Check out the full interview below.

The September 19 UFC 103 fight card has taken a hit, with Mike Swick reportedly suffering an injury and pulling out of his scheduled welterweight bout with Martin Kampmann. According to the UK Sun, Paul Daley will step in to take on Kampmann instead.

That's a significant disappointment for anyone buying the UFC 103 pay-per-view. Swick vs. Kampmann had been advertised as the bout that would determine the next contender to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, but that now goes out the window. Daley vs. Kampmann is a decent fight, but it's nowhere near as good a fight as Swick vs. Kampmann, and Daley vs. Kampmann is certainly not a good enough fight to justify giving the winner a title shot.

The first fight under former Cage Rage welterweight champion Paul "Semtex" Daley's recently signed four-fight contract with the UFC will be against Brian Foster at UFC 103 on Sept. 19 in Dallas.

UFC president Dana White announced the signing of Daley (21-8-2) on Friday and the British striker has since been added to the "Franklin vs. Belfort" card.

Update: Affliction Vice President, Tom Atencio, just informed FanHouse that he received an unexpected call from a member of Takanori Gomi's management team about reaching an agreement on a new contract that benefits both parties. Stay tuned.

Takanori Gomi won't be competing at "Affliction: Trilogy" after all. FanHouse has learned that Affliction Entertainment could not reach an agreement with the Japanese MMA star to fight on their upcoming show on August 1 in Anaheim, Calif. Affliction Entertainment Vice President, Tom Atencio, told FanHouse on Friday that after weeks of negotiation, the two sides couldn't agree on a contract. Gomi was offered a fight against Rafael Rivera.

Takanori Gomi (30-5) will not be facing Brett Copper (9-4) at "Affliction: Trilogy" on August 1.

MMA Weekly reported early Thursday morning that the 165-pound catchweight bout was close to being finalized, but Affliction Entertainment VP, Tom Atencio, told FanHouse on Thursday that after brief consideration, the fight is not happening.

Former IFL heavyweight star, Ben Rothwell, will return to Affliction on August 1 to face up-and-coming Chase Gormley. The Vice President of Affliction Entertainment, Tom Atencio, informed FanHouse of the news at Wednesday's "Affliction: Trilogy" press conference in New York City.

Rothwell lost to Andrei Arlovski in the first Affliction show last July, but has since recorded a first round submission victory against Chris Guillen at Adrenaline MMA 2 in December.

While not yet officially announced, Affliction's third MMA event is quickly taking shape.

FanHouse has learned that a welterweight bout between Jay Hieron and Paul Daley has been signed for the organization's upcoming show on August 1. FanHouse reported earlier this week that Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett have verbally agreed to headline the event.