Welcome to FiveKnuckles' inaugural installment of our newest feature called "Forum Throwdown".  Using my forum screen name, "Mike5k" I go round table with three actual members of FiveKnuckles' forum to discuss the upcoming UFC 103 battle between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort.  The forum members are not professional writers, they're passionate and knowledgeable fans with strong opinions and numerous facts to back them up.  For those of you who aren't familiar with forum lingo, we've included an acronym key at the bottom of the page to help you follow along.  To read more posts from mike5k, arlovskiviako (arlovski-via-ko), JujitsWho, and Storm, sign up and join in on the fun in what we consider the best forum section in all of mma.

Mike5k- Now that Vitor Belfort is back in the UFC I think he can shake up the middle weight division and has the potential to end the reign of Anderson Silva. We'll learn a lot about which version of "The Phenom" we're getting in his upcoming fight with Rich Franklin at UFC103. If we see the Belfort that was tearing people to shreds several years ago, I think he can KO Franklin and set up a beauty of a title fight with the Spider.

arlovskiviako- While I do agree that Vitor has the potential to KO Franklin I don’t think it will happen. His most recent win is over Matt Lindland, a wrestler, and that showed in his fight with Belfort. The fight before that was against Terry Martin who's a brawler, and a slow one at that.  I wasn't impressed by either fight. Franklin is a much smarter fighter than either of them and has a better clinch.  I see Franklin winning this fight the same way he beat David Loiseau, by taking Belfort down and beating on him for either the TKO or the decision.

JujitsWho- To me this fight was hard to pick....until I broke it down. Rich Franklin is on a roll. He has won his last 4 fights (Yes I said 4..he beat Hendo IMO* and got screwed) and they have been quality fights. Belforts record on the other hand is lackluster at best. Belfort's last 3 fights have been dominating wins, yes, but against lesser fighters than Belfort should be in the ring with. Martin and Lindland are good fighters, but come on, they are not on the level of a Vitor Belfort or even close for that matter. A fighter is only as good as the competion that he faces. If you're used to Lindlands and Zikics, when you run into a fighter like Franklin, you're going to have issues. Rich has continued to test himself against tough fighters, even after his second loss to Silva which could have messed with his head a lot more than it did. Stylistically they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Rich is calculating and methodical, Belfort throws caution to the wind and goes for the KO. That's why I see Franklin taking this one. Franklin is among the smartest fighters around, he won't allow this to become a slugfest that he is likely going to lose. Instead he'll pick his shots, and look to get this fight to the ground as soon as he can. Everyone knows Vitor's weakness is his wrestling, and Rich has underrated wrestling and submissions IMO. I think, this is where Rich will win this fight....I say Franklin by UD*.

Storm- At first thought, keeping recent performances in mind, Belfort by (T)KO comes to mind....

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 103 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!