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Cung Le (9-2) was a healthy underdog heading in against former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin (29-7). A former kickboxing champion with a background in Chinese Sanshou and also an amateur wrestler, Le is a late comer to MMA as he attempted to establish himself as a movie star.
Now 40-years-old Le is likely reaching the end of his fighting career, but he notched possibly the biggest win of his career. Franklin started out strong but Le landed a strong right hook that left Franklin sprawled on the mat.
Right before Le's rather epic knock out, Florida fighter Thiago Silva (15-3) got into a true battle with Stanislav Nedkov (12-1). Silva is known for being very aggressive and using powerful kickboxing to punish opponents and Nedkov attempted to negate that by clinching with the Brazilian. But Silva kept on the attack and was able to get Nedkov in trouble at the end of the second round, but Nedkov landed a big right hand that dropped Silva. The round ended and Silva came out of the corner looking fully recovered while Nedkov appeared to be gassed out.
Silva again got Nedkov backing up, landed a head kick but this time instead of letting Nedkov try another desperate punch Silva shot for a takedown. Once on top Silva took dominant position and was able to lock on submission. Here is a quick video of the final moments of the fight with an interview the victorious Thiago Silva.
Also on the main card Korean Welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (16-2) took a one sided decision from Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago (14-5). Pride FC super star Takanori Gomi (34-8) took a split decision win over Mac Danzig (21-10) and on the undercard Florida native Alex Caceres (8-5) got an entertaining win.