UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 19, 2009 in Dallas at the American Airlines Center. The event was broadcasted on pay-per-view.

This was the first UFC event to air a portion of the preliminary card live and commercial-free during an hour long block on Spike. The Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller, Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal, Rick Story vs. Brian Foster, and the Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez fights were shown on Spike.

As a part of the UFC/ESPN UK regionalization strategy the bout of Paul Daley vs. Brian Foster was to air on ESPN (UK) prior to Daley replacing Swick against Kampmann.

The event was aired the same time Floyd Mayweather fought Juan Manuel Márquez. Maywather/Márquez drew a smaller crowd (13,116) but its gate was considerably higher at $6,811,300. It also sold more PPV buys (1,000,000).

To date, this PPV had the largest amount of fights broadcast by the UFC (13).

It was announced on July 20, 2009 that Rich Franklin would headline UFC 103 against Dan Henderson.

Vítor Vieira Belfort (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvitoʁ viˈejɾɐ bɛwˈfɔʁ]; born April 1, 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Belfort was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied jiu-jitsu with the Gracie family, namely Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson and currently trains with Xtreme Couture, fighting in the middleweight division. He is currently ranked as the #3 middleweight in the world by MMA Weekly.

Vítor was born on April 1, 1977 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to a French father and a Greek mother. Belfort is married to Joana Prado and together they have three children, a son named Davi (born February 5, 2005), a daughter named Victoria (born October 31, 2007), and a daughter named Kyara (born June 7, 2009).

Belfort also had a small part in a reality show on Brazilian television and appeared next to his wife when she was photographed for the Brazilian edition of Playboy.

On January 9, 2004, Vítor's sister, Priscila Belfort disappeared and the relatives received no information about her. In August 2007, a woman (identified as Elaine Paiva) confessed that she participated in her kidnapping and killing and that she was kidnapped to pay off a four thousand dollar debt Paiva had with drug dealers. Paiva was arrested along with three others alleged to be involved in the kidnapping. The group allegedly buried her body in the woods in Rio de Janeiro where police conducted searches but her remains have never been found. Her family however do not accept this version and believe that Priscila is still alive somewhere. Vítor still maintains a missing sign in the Brazilian version of his website.

Junior dos Santos Almeida (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒũnjoʁ dus ˈsɐ̃tus]), also known as Junior Cigano ("Gipsy"; born September 12, 1984), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is ranked as the number one heavyweight fighter in the world by numerous media outlets.

Dos Santos started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Yuri Carlton for fitness reasons. After some time he was invited to join an MMA practice, where he met his boxing coach Luiz Carlos Dórea, and after roughly a year he made his debut fight.

Dos Santos became professional in 2006 at the age of 21. He fought in small promotions in Brazil, such as Demo Fight, Extreme Fighting Championship, Minotauro Fights and Mo Team League. He won 6 out of his first 7 bouts, suffering his only loss to Joaquim Ferreira, a fighter he'd previously beaten.

Dos Santos debuted for the UFC on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90. Considered a major underdog, dos Santos knocked out top contender Fabricio Werdum at a minute and twenty-one seconds of the first round with a strong uppercut, earning himself a "Knockout of the Night" award.

Bruce Anthony Buffer (born May 21, 1957, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is the main octagon announcer for Zuffa main events.^{[citation needed]} On UFC broadcasts, he is introduced as the "Veteran Voice of the Octagon." He is the half brother of the well-known boxing and wrestling ring announcer Michael Buffer, and is President and CEO of their company "The Buffer Partnership". Both Michael and Bruce are grandsons of late boxer Johnny Buff. Buffer holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do and has fought as a kickboxer.

Buffer always begins each PPV with the phrase "Ladies and gentlemen, we...are...live!" Before each main event Buffer proclaims, "This is the main event of the evening," followed by "This is the moment you've all been waiting for," and finally, "It's time!" before introducing the final two fighters.

Along with his catch phrases, Buffer has a signature move, which he has called the "Buffer 180" where he motions directly across the Octagon before quickly spinning 180° and pointing to the corner being introduced. Buffer performs 45° and 90° turns before most fights^{[citation needed]}, but reserves the "Buffer 180" for main events and co-main events. At UFC 100, Buffer performed a "Buffer 360" during his introduction of Frank Mir v. Brock Lesnar. Buffer vowed he would never do the "Buffer 360" again. Regardless of this vow, he's stated on his radio show on the Sherdog Radio Network, that he might perform the 360 in "the spur of the moment." He also performs the "Buffer Bow" exclusively for Randy Couture, in which he bends down as a knight would to a king in the accolade.^{[citation needed]}

Rich Jay Franklin II (born October 5, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion.

Franklin was born to Richard Sr. and Vaila Franklin. The couple divorced when Rich was five years old. He has one biological brother, Greg, and five step-siblings.

Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin graduated from William Henry Harrison High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and later earned a master's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati, and taught mathematics at the Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Franklin and American Fighter President Jeff Adler created The Keep It In The Ring Foundation to advocate non-violence and build character in youth. This is done through after school sports, martial arts and life skills programs. His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura. Joe Rogan once called him "An angry Jim Carrey". Franklin made his acting debut in a film called Cyborg Soldier where he plays an escaped super soldier and partners with Tiffani Thiessen.