UFC 103 is building into a very nice card that poses exciting and interesting match-ups, including the return of  seasoned veterans Frank Trigg and Hermes Franca, and the unpredictable Mirko CroCop. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic x Junior dos Santos- as much as fight fans love the cliche "chess match" type of technical engagement, this one has slugfest written all over it.  That's not to say that these fighters are not technical; quite the contrary in fact, as CroCop is a well-polished kickboxer with excellent footwork, and dos Santos unleashes textbook boxing combinations with vicious intentions.  I don't see either fighter preferring the ground game here.  CroCop is trying to breathe life back into his blockbuster career as a top HW in Pride, while Junior dos Santos plans to continue his torrential HW rise after KO'ing Fabricio Werdum (another top Pride HW whom dos Santos ejected from the UFC with a brutal right hand, and also CroCop's old BJJ coach). Mike "Quick" Swick x Martin Kampmann- although Kampann does hold 5 submission wins, this should be another stand-up war between rangy strikers who keep an aggressive pace.  Kampmann is a kickboxer from Denmark who started out in the UFC at 185 lbs. by beating Crafton Wallace, and then employed an impressive "sprawl and brawl" strategy against the highly-touted Thales Leites for a decision win, and then went on to submit Drew McFedries and Jorge Rivera before Nate Marquardt uppercutted him down to the welterweight division, where he most recently inched by Carlos Condit by split decision.  We first saw the lanky Mike Swick debut on the first TUF, but he really drew attention in the sanctioned bouts after the show where he solidified his hand-speed and ability to finish fights in "quick" fashion.  After gaining momentum, the much larger Yushin Okami beat him with strength and control, and Swick also made the jump down to 170 and racked up wins against Burkman, Goulet, Marcus Davis, and Ben Saunders.  Both fighters have only two losses and have faced a very impressive list of top competition. Josh Koscheck x Frank Trigg- old school MMA veteran Frank Trigg returns to the UFC in the same division he was knocked out of in 2005 after losing twice to Matt Hughes and once to GSP.  He bewildered many fans by jumping up in weight and taking out Jason "Mayhem" Miller with soccer kicks and then also besting Pride and Sengoku fighter Kazuo Misaki before falling to Robbie Lawler in an exciting brawl.  He's now racked up 4 straight wins and ready to match his wrestling skills against the young and talented Josh Koscheck, who has struggled of late after going .500 in his last 6 fights, two of those losses were to GSP and Thiago Alves, and the last being a shocking KO at the hands of Paulo Thiago.  Some of the best wrestling in MMA will be on display, but both fighters also have good hands and competent stand-up skills. Sean Sherk x Gleison Tibau- Sean Sherk is one of the hardest working fighters in MMA; formerly being known only as a wrestler, but he's now comfortable with his seriously improved striking game, featuring tight, crisp combinations.  Matt Hughes was the first to mar Sherk's record at UFC 42, and he continued to excel until meeting up with GSP, who used his size and strength to outmuscle Sherk for the TKO win.  Sherk went on to capture the UFC LW belt at 155 pounds, and fell short against the great B.J. Penn, and also recently lost to Frankie Edgar.  Unfortunately for Sean, Gleison Tibau is another very large and powerful 155 lber. who prefers submission, but will also pester Sherk with his serious height (5'10") and reach advantage.  With the musclebound Sherk only standing 5'6", his disadvantages will be magnified with ATT-fighter Tibau's more-than-adept grappling skills. Tyson Griffin x Hermes Franca- another LW whirlwind will pit the frenetically-paced Tyson Griffin versus fan-favorite Hermes Franca.  Griffin is an endless swarm of takedowns and punches with a great chin, and has provided some of the most exciting fights in the last few years in the UFC 155 lb. class.  He will face crowd favorite Hermes Franca, the BJJ blackbelt with the wild sledgehammer punches and huge heart.  Franca should be looking to finish Griffin in this fight, as Griffin's trademark style of nonstop attacking and endless punches is looked upon favorably by the judges, who have decided his fate in his last 7 outings in the octagon. Rounding out the card: Efrain Escudero x Cole Miller Drew McFedries x Tomasz Drwal Rich Franklin x (To Be Announced)

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