Light heavyweights: Rich Franklin (26-3) def. Matt Hamill (6-2)
How: Ref stoppage at 0:39 of Round 3
Key moment: Franklin�s ability to continually land kicks to the leg and body and keep Hamill from taking him down most of the way spelled the difference. The low kicks slowed Hamill�s movement and left him open for body kicks. In the third round, Hamill went down from a hard body kick and Franklin finished him with punches on the ground. Franklin has a nasty cut on the side of his right eye but Hamill wasn�t able to connect on it after early in the second round.
Analysis: Former middleweight champ Franklin, in his first light heavyweight fight in more than three years at light heavyweight, executed a good game plan on one of the stronger man in the division. But in moving up in weight, the question becomes how he can fare with the high-caliber strikers at the top of this division. What he showed is strong takedown defense and a good battle plan against someone is primarily a wrestler, something that was his strength as a middleweight. ?Dave Meltzer (Yahoo.com)