FanHouse Vitor Belfort

It has been rumored for some time, that Vitor Belfort will challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight title at UFC 108 on Jan. 2. And while Silva's recent elbow surgery might have put a wrench in those plans, UFC president Dana White told FanHouse last week that he hopes the title fight can still be put together.

Recently, middleweight contender Nate Marquardt told HDNet's Inside MMA that he didn't think Belfort deserved the shot so soon after returning to the UFC, and when FanHouse asked "The Phenom" about this, he surprisingly agreed. "I didn't look for the fight. Actually, I would like to have a couple more fights," he said. "I think [Marquardt] deserves it."

Check out the video interview below.

I've been banging the drum for a couple years saying the UFC needs to give Yushin Okami a shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva. You won't be hearing that from me anymore.

After Chael Sonnen thoroughly dominated Okami with a unanimous decision win on Saturday night at UFC 104, Okami took a tumble in my rankings of the top 10 middleweights in mixed martial arts. So how far did Okami fall, and what does the middleweight picture look like now? My rankings are below.

Late Monday night, Dana White tweeted that he would be handing out free tickets to UFC 104 at a Pinkberry in midtown Manhattan. Several minutes before his expected arrival, I decided to check out the scene, fully expecting there to be 10 to 15 people hanging outside. Not so.

When I arrived there were at least 50 people anxiously waiting for White, and when he showed up 30 minutes later, there were at least 100 people outside, along with two police officers. Without hesitation, White promised every single person there a free ticket to UFC 104 in Los Angeles. FanHouse then briefly spoke to White while he was enjoying his frozen yogurt about Wednesday's much-anticipated edition of The Ultimate Fighter featuring Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson. The interview is below.

The latest installment of Vitor Belfort's UFC 103 video blog comes from fight day, and it shows that when you're a professional MMA fighter, the lead-up to the fight is ... boring.

DALLAS -- Rick Story was not one of the main attractions at UFC 103. In fact, he wasn't even scheduled for the televised card. But the 24-year-old Washingtonian left the event as one of the highest-earning fighters on the night, winning "Fight of the Night" and "Submission of the Night" honors for his win over Brian Foster.

Both of those carry separate $65,000 cash prizes, making it a six-figure night for Story.

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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Vitor Belfort is back in the UFC, and he made a major statement Saturday night that he's a threat to anyone they put in the Octagon with him, knocking out Rich Franklin in the first round at UFC 103.

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This is the UFC 103 live blog for Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort, the main event 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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FanHouse has UFC 103 results for all of the Sept. 19 UFC 103 fights, plus live UFC coverage from Dallas, live blogs of all the fights and live UFC Twitter updates from MDS and Mike Chiappetta.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin fights Vitor Belfort in the main event, while former Pride star Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic fights Junior "Cigano" dos Santos in the co-main event.

Full UFC 103 results are below.

The latest UFC 103 video blog previews the Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort fight by giving us an inside look at how Belfort spent his last day before the fight. Video 1 above, Video 2 below.