The shoulder was popped back into its socket at the hospital and Hamill will have an MRI to assess any soft tissue damage.

Hamill’s shoulder was dislocated during a Jones throw to the mat which began a mounted assault of punches and elbows to Hamill’s head ending in the illegal elbow thrown “12-6″.

The stoppage by referee Steve Mazzagatti and decision to award Hamill the “W” after reviewing the instant replay is controversial.  Mazzagatti allowed Hamill to survive through a long, viscious attack from Jones while Hamill’s only defense was shielding his face.  The assault was only stopped after Jones through the illegal elbow and Hamill indicated he was unable to continue due to the shoulder injury.

Jones assumed he had won the fight and celebrated with his corner; but, Mazzagatti requested an instant replay review to determine whether the illegal strike lead to Hamill’s inability to continue fighting.  The determination at cageside was that it did; and, Jones was disqualified, giving Hamill the victory.

Jones apologized for the illegal blow after the fight.

Hamill, a seasoned wrestler and tough as nails fighter, came out looking strong with some of the most fluid striking we have seen from him.  Jones, a young and aggressive fighter with a strong Greco backgrond, came out in his typical fashion, throwing kicks and strikes from unusual angles.

Jones took Hamill down with a well-timed trip half way into the first round, moved to full mount, and immediately went to work with ground’n'pound elbows and strikes.

Referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the action at the 1:02 left in the first due to an illegal elbow. Mazzagatti stood Jones up and deducted a point from the fighter. When Mazzagatti returned to the still-downed  Hamill, Hamill indicated he was unable to continue.

The fight was deemed a win for Hamill by a Jones disqualification due to intentional elbows thrown from a “12 t0 6″ angle (up to down).

After the fight, Hamill also said he dislocated his shoulder which prevented him from properly defending himself from beneath Jones’s mount.

Hamill, a 32-year old New York resident, gives up over ten years in age, but is a seasoned veteran who is tough as nails. Following a very controversial split decision loss to The Ultimate Fighter 3 champion “Count” Michael Bisping (18-2) at UFC 75 in London in 2007, Hamill went on to find victory in the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 13 against “Barbarian” Tim Boetsch (9-3) via a second round TKO.  During that fight Hamill caught a nastily well placed knee that split his bottom lip. Despite the split lip, Hamill remained composed and carried on to defeat his opponent, proving his toughness and ability to keep cool.

Hamill has tremendous wrestling, but relies on his heavy handed striking to finish his fights, only winning by decision once with no submission victories under his belt. Hamill only has one other loss, to “Ace” Rich Franklin (26-5), that came by way of a liver kick in the final round at UFC 88 in Atlanta in September 2008. Time and time again, Hamill surprises me with his ability to pull out victories and do so in powerful fashion. Hamill won “Knockout of the Night” for his head kick KO of “Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz (3-1) at UFC 96 in Columbus March 7.

Jones is ten years younger than Hamill, but boasts the same number of professional fights. Jones, the youngest signed UFC fighter at the time of his contract signing, began his career as a mixed martial artist much like others in the business, fighting smaller shows and working his way into the UFC. Jones is a JUCO wrestling champ and, like Hamill, has heavy hands, with five of his nine victories coming by way of KO or TKO due to strikes. Jones also has two submission victories under his belt, both via guillotine choke and one of which put “Irish” Jake O’Brien (11-3). to sleep even after O’Brien had tapped. Jones, also from NY, is a fast, aggressive youngster who looks to continue his quick-rising fame by finishing Hamill, perhaps with one of his trademark spinning back elbows.

I have seen both of these men fight live, and although I am a huge Hamill fan, he doesn’t have the tools to stop what Jones brings to the table. Jones is fast and powerful and the wrestling backgrounds will cancel each other out, leaving a stand up war. Hamill is tough, and has a proven chin, but Jones is as fast as any opponent Hamill has ever seen and will land more strikes than Hamill is used to taking. Jones touts submission victories, and has a better ground game, so look for Jones to immediately move to dominate if the fight goes to the ground. You better believe Hamill has done his homework on Jones’s submission game, so there is a possibility that we won’t see a single shot throughout the duration of the fight. Don’t forget that this is the first fight for Hamill after the knee surgery, so expect there to not only be rust in the pipes, but also a Jones attack on said Knee via leg kicks.

Jones has too many tools for Hamill to handle and will TKO him in round two.

Listen for more TUF 10 Finale predictions on MMA Gospel Radio this Saturday before the fights at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel.

Hamill tore his meniscus training for the fight and will rehab for three to four weeks, according Hamill’s trainer Duff Holmes at MMA Junkie.

Soszynski knocked out Andre Gusmao (5-2) at UFC 98 in Las Vegas 23 May making him 3-0 in the Octagan since coming up short during his stint on TUF.

Former heavyweight contender Vera is 2-1 since dropping to 205 pounds. He TKO’d Michael Patt (12-4) in the second round at UFC 96 in Columbus 7 March.

French heavyweight Cheick Kongo (12-4-1) will meet UFC newcomer Mustapha al Turk (1-0), “The Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-2) will meet Reese Andy (7-2) in a light heavyweight bout.

Other bouts announced were “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-8) versus “Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1), Antoni Hardonk (7-4) versus Mark Burch (10-2), and Dan Evensen (10-5) versus Pat Barry (1-0).

Kongo defeated Evensen with a first-round TKO at UFC 87 in August.

Al Turk defeated Gary Turner (3-1-1) by first-round submission due to strikes in March.

Hamill is hoping to come back from a third-round TKO loss to second-ranked middleweight “Ace” Rich Franklin (25-3) at UFC 88 in September.

Andy is also looking to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to “The Truth” Brandon Vera (7-3) in July.

Chonan won a split decision over “Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-8) at UFC 88.

Blackburn TKO’d James Giboo (8-3) in round two in July.

Hardonk defeated Eddie Sanchez (8-2) with a second-round TKO at UFC 85 in June.

Burch, a UFC newcomer, TKO’d Alex Rozman  (0-4) in round one in May.

UFC rookie Barry won his last fight in May with a first-round TKO of Mike Delaney (26-17-2).

UFC 92 is headlined by a title fight between Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin (16-4) and “Sugar” Rashad Evans (12-0-1), a bout between second-ranked heavyweight “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (44-4-1) and Frank Mir (11-3) for the interim title, and a light heavyweight match-up between second-ranked “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (26-7) and sixth-ranked “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1).

Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked middleweight “Thunder” Yushin Okami (22-4) versus “Boogeyman” Dean Lister (11-5) and “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) versus Mike Massenzio (11-2) are also on the card.

Liddell lay unconcious on the canvas for several minutes after the punch.

Evans jitter-bugged around a stalking Liddell the entire fight.  Liddell never really got a beat on him, but landed a straight right in the first round.  Evans back-pedalled and taunted Liddell with a dance.

In the second round, Liddell lunged for an uppercut and took Evans’s counter right hook square on the jaw to end the fight at 1:51.

Franklin Finishes Friend

“Ace” Rich Franklin (24-3) TKO’d his friend and former training partner “Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-2) at 39 seconds of round three with a left kick to Hamill’s floating rib in Franklin’s return to 205.

Franklin had landed the same kick consistently through the first two rounds.  In the third, the kick dropped Hamill and Franklin landed two punches before referee Mario Yamasaki waved the fight off.

Franklin took a deep cut over his right eye from a Hamill uppercut in the first round.  In the second round, Yamasaki asked a referee to take a look at the cut.

“I’m walking around with a black eye already; so, it wasn’t too bad,” Franklin said of the cut after the fight.

The fight continued; and, Hamill chose to stand with “Ace” after several takedown attempts were resisted.

Of his new weight class, Franklin said, “Cutting weight this week was awesome; but, pushing around another 20 pounds wasn’t.”

Marquardt Kayos Kampmann

Middleweight Nathan Marquardt (27-8-2) quickly KO’d kickboxer “Hitman” Martin Kampmann (13-2) at 1:22 of round one Saturday night in Atlanta.

After the fight, Marquardt said, “I knew I was better and, though he was a kickboxer, I knew I could take him standing.”

Marquardt connected early with a right head kick that plopped Kampmann on his ass.  Kampmann bounced back up, but ate Marquardt’s straights while backpedaling to cage.  At the fence, Marquardt dug an uppercut into Kampmann’s chin.  Kampmann fell and the fight was stopped.

Pellegrino Brutalizes Tavares

Before Saturday night, only two fighters had ever defeated lightweight Brazilian Thiago Tavares (13-3).  “Batman” Kurt Pellegrino (12-4) beat him twice in Atlanta.

Officially, the judges scored the unanimous decision 29-27 twice and 29-8, all for Pellegrino.

Pellegrino won a 10-8 first round on two score cards, dropping Tavares with a flush right hook and crackling uppercut.  On the mat, Pellegrino’s elbows opened up cuts on each of Tavares’s temples and under his righ eyelid.

In the second round, the only round Tavares won (paritally due to an inadvertant eye poke by Tavares), Pellegrino squeezed an armbar from his back; and, Tavares appeared to tap; but, referee Yves Lavigne missed the call.

After the fight, Pellegrino said, “I know it was super duper tight.  Yeah, he tapped.  All I remember him saying was ‘you couldn’t get me.’”

Pellegrino eeked out a close third between two exhausted fighters to put away the unanimous decision.

Barbarian Chops Down Patt

After peppering Octagon rookie Michael Patt (12-3) with right hooks, “Barbarian” Tim Boetsch (8-2) crashed a straight right through Patt’s guard.

Patt took a seat on the mat with a split lip and a faint idea where he was.  Boetsch pounded the fight closed at 2:03.

Boetsch said after the fight, “I’m pumped.  I trained real hard to get an explosive finish like this.”

Kim Barely Beats Brown

“Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) remained undefeated versus Matt Brown (7-7)…barely.

Kim won a split decision 29-28 twice and 28-29 for Brown.  Fighters.com scored it 29-28 for Kim; but, UFC commentator Joe Rogan told the disappointed crowd he thought Brown had won.

Kim rode Brown’s back most of round one, nearly finishing Brown in a rear naked choke while Brown stood.

Apparently, that was the controversial round as two judges and Fighters.com scored it 10-9 for Kim while Cecil Peoples scored round one 10-9 for Brown.

Kim was sluggish in round two.  Brown took advantage, capturing Kim in his Thai clinch and hammering knees to the Korean’s midsection.

In round three, Brown walked right through a square Kim left hook; but, Kim followed up with a toss into Brown’s full guard.  Kim opened up a deep cut under Brown’s left cheekbone with a slick elbow.

Kim lamented, “I hate to go to a decision.  Next time I’m going to be different.”

Brown made clear after the fight, “I don’t fight for the judges.  I fight for the fans and to finish.”

MacDonald Avenges Maia Loss

Middleweight “Athlete” Jason MacDonald (21-10) willed a second-round submission ”W” over “Punisher” Jason Lambert (23-9) after nearly being forced to tap in a guilltoine himself at the end of round one.

MacDonald said after the fight, “[The guillotine] was pretty tight; but, my head was toward the screen and I knew I could hold my breath for six seconds.”

MacDonald held on and dumped Lambert on his ass to open the second round, then passed to mount.  Lambert rolled right into J-Mac’s rear naked choke at 1:20.

“I knew he was getting tired from making the cut to 185 pounds,” MacDonald said, ”so I knew if I could take it into the later rounds I would get him.”

Chonan Earns Split Decision

Two of the three cageside judges prevented welterweight “Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-8) from serving “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-8) a cold dish of revenge for 2005 TKO loss.

Chonan won a split decision by 29-28 twice and 28-29 once in favor of Carneiro.  Fighters.com scored the fight for Carneiro 29-28.

Carneiro dominated round one, flopping “Piranha” on his back and chiseling a cut over Chonan’s right eye with elbows.  Earlier in the round, Carneiro had nearly scored an omoplata transitioned from a triangle; but, Chonan rolled free.

Chonan won the second round by stuffing Carneiro’s shot and out wrestling him while landing infrequent punches.  The crowd pleaded with referee Herb Dean to stand the fighters; but, Dean let them tussle for position.

Chonan stuffed Carneiro’s shot again in the third, but rolled into Carneiro’s guard.  Carneiro landed a few shots before Chonan regained his feet.  Chonan gained top position before the round ended, but did little damage.

Hendo’ Earns First UFC “W” Since 1998

“It’s been awhile,” said “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (23-7) after squeaking a unanimous decision “W” over “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (8-2) passed the judges by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28.

A timid Hendo’ wanted no part of Palhares’s Brazilian jiu-jiu, consistently waving off the ground game throughout the three rounds.

Instead, “Hollywood” stalked with his devastating right hand cocked.

“Normally I’m more aggressive,” he said, “so, I apologize about that.

Palhares shot often, almost all of them stuffed by Henderson.  Palhares also peppered Hendo’ with an impressive array of kicks and nearly locked in two knee bars.

Hendo’ only landed his overhand right cleanly with ten seconds left in the fight, dropping Palhares.  Hendo’s pounced with two more overhands to steal the round.

Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked light heavyweight “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) bounced in place as reporters lined-up to interview the former UFC champion before his fight versus “Sugar” Rashad Evans (11-0-1) Saturday night.

Playful and boisterous, Liddell told Fighters.com he was ready to fight Evans today in a video interview that will be posted shortly.

Evans was a bit more low-key, focusing on the biggest fight of his career and rolling with middleweight training partner Nathan Marquardt (26-8-2), who fights “Hitman” Martin Kampmann (13-1) Saturday night.

Co-main event second-ranked middleweight “Ace” Rich Franklin (23-3), moving to 205 Saturday versus former training partner “Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-1), skipped his scheduled session.

Sources in Franklin’s camp alternately told Fighters.com that Franklin wasn’t feeling well and that he was eating to maintain the weight of his new division.

Neither excuse gives much solace to Fighters.com after Franklin’s comments about his uncertainty about fighting his former training partner and moving to 205 pounds.

Especially since Hamill, who was late for his session because he and his girlfriend were shopping (a better excuse), was like a kid with a new toy when talking about the biggest fight of his career versus his “hero”.

“Athlete” Jason MacDonald (20-10) and Kampmann both attended too, but neither actually worked out.

Japanese fighters “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (14-8) and ninth-ranked welterweight “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2) also attended, but only interviewed with the Japanese press.

Fighters.com’s second-ranked middleweight

Fighters.com: You had said you’d take fights at 205 if the UFC offered an interesting match-up.  Why is “Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-1) interesting to you?

Rich Franklin: Well, uh, the UFC more or less encouraged me to move up to 205 because my standing in the 185-pound weight class kind of left me stagnant, in a position where I was going to end up fighting only the guys who lost to Anderson Silva.  They weren’t…the UFC right now is not interested in seeing me fight Silva a third time and they really don’t want me fighting any of the contenders coming up because that would eliminate possible title fights.  And, with that said, I really don’t have anything much to shoot for at the 185-pound class.  So, they kept talking to me about moving up to 205; and, having agreed to move up to 205, they previously offered me one fight before they offered me the Hamill fight and I had turned that fight down; and then, uh, they came at…they came to me with the second fight, which was the Hamill fight.  And, I kind of put myself in a situation where I couldn’t really turn the fight down even though Matt and I had known each other and had some history together.  Um, I basically said to the UFC, you know, I said, “Well, that’s kind of a tough fight for me to take.”  I said, “But, if you take it to his camp and they’re interested in the fight, then I guess I’ll sign.”  And, that’s basically how the ball got rollin’ on that.

Fighters.com: You’re not real excited about the fight?

Rich Franklin: Uh…it’s…it’s not that.  No.  I mean, it’s not that I’m not real excited about the fight or anything, or…or whatever.  I mean, I’ve fought guys…the UFC is a small circuit of people, so you run into people constantly.  All the time.  You end up basically fighting guys that you know anyway.  Um…so, this isn’t completely uncharted territory.  It’s just, uh, you know, I mean.  If…when you talk about preferences or whatever, you obviously…it’d be easier to fight somebody you absolutely didn’t know.

Fighters.com: You had made clear months ago that you intended to stay at 185, but that you would take fights at 205 if they were interesting.  It seems like that’s changed.  You are now a 205 fighter?  Is that how you view yourself?

Rich Franklin: Uh…I think that’s how the UFC is viewing me for the time being.  Does it meant that I’ll never ever fight at ‘85 again?  No.  Not necessarily.  I think at this point in my career…well, I’ll just say this: At least being at 205 it gives me the possibility of making a run for the title right now, with the UFC not being interested in me making a run for the ‘85-pound title.  So, at least there’s something to shoot for;  but, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be…that I couldn’t move back down to ‘85 and fight there in the future or whatever.  It’s just…I don’t know.  At this point in my career, I’m just, um, just kind of taking things fight-for-fight and worried about putting on good fights for the fans and being exciting.

Fighters.com: Do you have any interest in avenging your loss at 205 to fifth-ranked light heavyweight ”Dragon” Lyoto Machida (13-0)?

Rich Franklin: Yeah, if the UFC wanted that and it’s good for tickets and business and all that kind of stuff, then I would definitely give that some thought.

Fighters.com: Hamill has five MMA fights.  You have 26 fights, including title challenges, title defenses, five-round fights, world-class opponents, etc.  Is this a fair match-up?

Rich Franklin: Uh, yeah, well, I think so.  I’m giving up some stuff too.  I’m moving up a weight class.  I’m going to be giving up some weight here.  And, Matt, although his record says that he has five fights, he has the whole stint on The Ultimate Fighter and he’s had a successful career in the UFC.  At this point, the only fight he’s lost is the Bisping fight and that was a controversial decision within itself.  A lot of people felt, including myself, felt that he earned a victory there.  So…  And, as far as I’m concerned, I’m fighting an undefeated fighter.

Fighters.com: Hamill trained in your circle in Cincinnati; but, did you ever actually train with him?  Roll or spar with him?

Rich Franklin: Uh, yeah.  Probably, uh…you know, half a dozen times or so, we trained together.  Um, actually, I met Matt through my boxing coach, Rob Radford down at Boxing and Fitness, and he introduced to Matt because I was in need of someone helping me with my wrestling.  And, so, um, I met Matt because he had come into the gym to actually help me with my wrestling a few times.

Fighters.com: You expect Matt to want to take you down and wrestle, ground’n'pound, right?

Rich Franklin: Yeah, that’s what I would assume.  I wouldn’t put it passed him to try to stand-up with me.  But, I would assume that ultimately he’s going to want to put me on my back.

Fighters.com: I expect he’ll try to stand-up with you, take you down if the takedown is there; but, his last two fights he’s deliberately tried to impose his stand-up.  If he’s happy to trade with you, will you knock him out?

Rich Franklin: Um…well, I would say that my stand-up is definitely…that’s my strength in this fight.  I’m not going to go out there and try to out-wrestle him.  So…um, you know, we’ll see.

Fighters.com: I guess at this point you’d normally be in the middle of a weight cut?

Rich Franklin: Yeah, I would be in the thick of it right now.  And, so, the approach to this fight mentally…I mean, it’s just a much different approach to this fight.  There’s a lot of things I don’t have to worry about here.  I’m worrying about keeping on rather than taking it off.

Fighters.com:  At this point you’re probably usually pretty grumpy.  Do you feel more comfortable now?

Rich Franklin: Um…I don’t really…I haven’t notice, but my wife says I’m easier to get along with now that I’m able to eat more food closer to the fight.  That might be a question…that’s a question more for the people that know me.

Fighters.com: Do you feel much stronger at 205?

Rich Franklin: Well, uh…you know what?  Really, I’m not sure.  That’d probably be a good follow-up question to ask me after the fight.  I think the biggest difference is, I mean, the guys that I’m facing are going to be heavier.  So, you know, now I have to, in my opponent, carry an extra 15 pounds for the whole fight.  And that’s a lot of grinding on you for 15 minutes. So, the question here is: Am I going to feel strong against my opponents at 205?  As strong as I did at, say, 185?  Or, you know, is this going to be an overwhelming experience for me, which I seriously doubt?  I’ve been at 205 before.  I train with 205ers.  So, we’ll see what happens, but…  I mean, quite honestly, I’m not really too overly concerned about the weight factor here in this fight or anything like that.

Fighters.com: I notice you’ve already got the black eye.  Will that be there for the fight?

Rich Franklin:  It’s there.  It’s there right now.  It’s starting to heal up; so, I don’t know.  It might be gone by fight time.  Who knows?

Fighters.com:  That’s becoming your trademark.  What is that?  Why do you always have that black eye before a fight?

Rich Franklin: I don’t know.  Carelessness.  Lack of skill.  My training partners.  There could be a plethora of reasons that I have that thing all the time.  But, it’s always there.  Put it this way: You know I’m preparing properly, I guess.