UFC 115 Injury Report: Franklin’s Arm, Liddell’s Face, Barry’s Hand/Foot, Cro Cop’s Ham

(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com’s UFC 115 Fight Night Photos gallery.)
Chuck Liddell may have lost his ability to take a punch, but he still had enough offensive firepower at UFC 115 to break Rich Franklin’s arm with the first body kick he threw. …

Chuck Liddell Rich Franklin UFC 115 broken arm
(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com’s UFC 115 Fight Night Photos gallery.)

Chuck Liddell may have lost his ability to take a punch, but he still had enough offensive firepower at UFC 115 to break Rich Franklin’s arm with the first body kick he threw. Following their meeting on Saturday night, Ace confirmed that he broke his left ulna during the fight, and would be in a cast for at least eight weeks. As the former UFC middleweight champ told reporters at the post-fight press conference:

"I definitely wasn’t going to quit — I’ve broken bones before and continued fighting — but there was part of me that was wondering what kind of strategy I was going to use to win the fight with a broken left arm in the second and third rounds." 

…proving once again that knocking your opponent out early is always the best gameplan. (Are you listening, Pat?) Liddell woke up from his knockout with a horribly split lip and a gash over his left eye, but that didn’t stop him from making an appearance at his afterparty. A photographic timeline of Chuck’s night continues after the jump.

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New Additions to TUF 11 Finale Card Include Bryant vs. Noke, Tavares vs. Baczynski

You already know that Court McGee vs. Kris McCray will be the co-headliner at next Saturday’s TUF 11 Finale show (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET/PT), and we also told you that Rich Attonito won the "who gets to kick Jamie Yager’s ass" sweepstakes. So …

TUF 11 Finale Ultimate Fighter UFC Hamill Jardine poster

You already know that Court McGee vs. Kris McCray will be the co-headliner at next Saturday’s TUF 11 Finale show (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET/PT), and we also told you that Rich Attonito won the "who gets to kick Jamie Yager’s ass" sweepstakes. So who else will join them at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas? Spike has confirmed the following bouts for the event…

Josh Bryant vs. Kyle Noke: No, Bryant won’t be facing off with fellow semi-finalist Brad Tavares in a third-place match. Instead, he has drawn Kyle Noke, the Australian veteran who was upset by Kris McCray in the TUF 11 quarterfinals.

Brad Tavares vs. Seth Baczynski: You see what they did there? Tavares and Baczynski get to have a rematch after their quarterfinal match ended abruptly via soccer kick disqualification.

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Heads-Up: Bellator Finals Kick Off Tomorrow With Imada vs. Curran; Megumi Fujii Also Debuts

(Props: Bellator.com)
After eight shows and a whole lot of colorful prose from ReX13, Bellator’s second season is entering its climactic Finals stage tomorrow night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Headlinin…

(Props: Bellator.com)

After eight shows and a whole lot of colorful prose from ReX13, Bellator’s second season is entering its climactic Finals stage tomorrow night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Headlining Bellator 21 will be the lightweight final between grappling ace Toby Imada — who submitted James Krause and Carey Vanier (both via second-round armbar) to get to the end of the bracket — and Pat Curran, who earned his spot in the finals by knocking out Mike Ricci and scoring an upset decision over Roger Huerta. The winner of the fight will face Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez later this year.

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WEC’s August 18 Card Will Feature Urijah Faber’s Bantamweight Debut, Cruz/Benavidez Title Rematch

(Cruz and Benavidez’s first meeting last August: Dominick may have gotten the nod for Octagon control, but Joe definitely had the mad-dogging advantage. Photo courtesy of SI)
Next Sunday’s WEC 49 might be low on marquee fights, but th…

Dominick Cruz Joseph Benavidez WEC 42
(Cruz and Benavidez’s first meeting last August: Dominick may have gotten the nod for Octagon control, but Joe definitely had the mad-dogging advantage. Photo courtesy of SI)

Next Sunday’s WEC 49 might be low on marquee fights, but the organization will be making up for it in a big way at their August 18th show, which is slated to go down in Las Vegas. As reported yesterday, former featherweight champ Urijah Faber will make his bantamweight debut at the event, following a 2-3 stretch in his last five fights — including an agonizing loss to Jose Aldo in his last title challenge. Faber’s opponent is expected to be Takeya Mizugaki (12-4-2, 2-2 WEC), who made his WEC debut in a memorable five-round war against Miguel Torres last year, and has since picked up decision victories against Jeff Curran and Rani Yahya. Faber has stated in the past that he cuts very little weight to make 145 pounds, and a drop to 135 wouldn’t be a problem for him.

Headlining the card will be an even more important bantamweight scrap: Dominick Cruz‘s first title defense against Faber’s teammate Joseph Benavidez, who Cruz previously outpointed at WEC 42. Cruz became champion in March thanks to a brilliant striking performance against then-champion Brian Bowles. Benavidez earned his title shot by choking out Miguel Torres at the same event, and hopes to avenge the only loss on his record. The 8/18 show — which we’ll refer to as WEC 50 until further notice — will be broadcast on Versus.

Semi-related: The day before he handles color-commentary duties for WEC 49, Kenny Florian will be working the booth for the TUF 11 Finale.