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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Chuck Liddell and Dana White spent countless hours together in the last part of the last century and in the early part of the new one, swapping stories as they crisscrossed the country spreading the gospel of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

White was the indefatigable promoter who would never take no for an answer, working maniacally to build mixed martial arts into a mainstream sport. Liddell was the hard-partying, hard-charging slugger who always managed to bring the fans out of their seats with a highlight-reel knockout.

Little changed on Saturday, in what is almost certainly the final fight of the Hall of Famer's storied career, when he was stopped by Rich Franklin with five seconds left in the first round of their bout in the main event of UFC 115 at General Motors Place.

"He went out with guns a blazing," White said.

Liddell had to plead with White for a final chance to compete after having been

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The career of former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Chuck Liddell likely came to an end with only seconds left in the first round of his fight with Rich Franklin in the main event of UFC 115 on Saturday at General Motors Place.

Liddell missed a shot and Franklin came in quickly with a counter right hook that landed on the chin. Liddell, who was doing well, fell flat on his back after the hook landed. Franklin landed a powerful shot while Liddell was down, but it wasn't necessary.

Franklin's left arm was grotesquely swollen and appeared it may be broken after he blocked a kick from Liddell.

But Franklin, the former middleweight champ, didn't seem to mind, beaming after knocking out one of the UFC's legendary stars.

Liddell hadn't fought since being knocked out by Mauricio "Shogun" Rua 14 months ago in Montreal at UFC 97. It was the third time he had been knocked out, and Liddell

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Chael Sonnen had a day off on Friday from selling real estate, but the would-be politician was still selling.

Sonnen was the guest at the UFC Fight Club question-and-answer session at General Motors Place, about two hours before the weigh-in for UFC 115, and he was hard-selling his bout on Aug. 7 with middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Sonnen, who became the No. 1 contender with an upset victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in Las Vegas, continued his verbal assault on the champion with a series of one-liners tweaking Silva in response from questions from a largely adoring fan base.

Silva is No. 2 in the Yahoo! Sports rankings and is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by UFC president Dana White. Sonnen, who works as a real estate agent in addition to his fighting career, will be a significant underdog when he meets Silva in the main event of UFC 117 at Oracle Arena in Oakland,

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – About 15 months after he declared his close friend retired at a news conference in Canada, UFC president Dana White spent much of his day on Thursday explaining why Chuck Liddell is fighting again on the other side of the country.

White spoke glowingly about changes Liddell made in his lifestyle, which was one of the requirements that White demanded of Liddell in order to agree to allow him to fight again.

"One of the ways I put my finger on the pulse and really find out is when I hear feedback from night clubs that he was absent," White said. "Chuck Liddell was nowhere to be found."

He raved about the way Liddell committed to his conditioning and noted he'd never seen Liddell in better shape. Liddell's midsection is, indeed, firm and taut and he's even showing the beginnings of a six-pack, a rarity for a guy whose love of the night life is second only to his love of a good fight.

Liddell said he was only

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Pat Barry ran into Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in a hallway of the hotel where both are staying prior to their fight on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 115 at General Motors Place.

When Barry spied Filipovic, one of the biggest names in the history of mixed martial arts and before that, an elite kickboxer, his heart began to race.

Barry worships the ground Filipovic walks on, so much so that he almost didn't know what to say when they met. He wasn't sure whether to ask for an autograph, pose for a photograph or simply to shake hands.

"I instantly started shaking and sweating," Barry said. "I wanted to take some pictures with him, but I didn't want to bother him."

It's not unprecedented for Barry to get nervous and have sweaty palms in the days and weeks before a fight. It happened prior to his bout against Antoni Hardonk at UFC 104 in Los Angeles in October 2009, but for a very different reason than hero

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic had reached a breaking point. A few minutes earlier, he'd slipped almost unnoticed into a ballroom in a downtown hotel, where several of his peers were going through a workout for the benefit of the media covering UFC 115.

The Croatian was testy, to be kind, as he fielded questions about the upcoming fight Saturday at GM Place and clearly looked like a guy who'd rather be just about anywhere other than where he was.

If Filipovic had his way, he'd do no interviews, sign no autographs. He wouldn't stay in the same hotel as his opponent. He'd fight in a ring in front of a whisper-quiet crowd instead of a cage in front of fans screaming like mad. And when the fight ended, he'd pick up his check and unobtrusively head for home.

But Filipovic (26-7-2, 1 no-contest) meets Pat Barry (5-1) on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 115 and had to fulfill the promotional responsibilities in his

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It's a busy mixed martial arts mailbag once again. I respond to questions about the main event at UFC 115, a number of readers ride to my defense on my take on the Rashad Evans-Quinton "Rampage" Jackson fight and one reader questions Diego Sanchez' future in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Stay tuned for all of that, and more, in this week's edition of the MMA mailbag.

Hi Kevin, I wanted to ask if you agree with my opinion that this could be the final time we see Rich Franklin fight in the UFC. I don't think they'll cut him, but if he loses to Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 115 in Vancouver on Saturday, as I believe he will, I think he'll retire. I have heard he's made a lot of money and is in good shape there and has a good education, obviously, as a former school teacher. Do you think he'll walk away from the sport or do you think he'll keep hanging around? He can't honestly be considered a title

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When referee Arthur Mercante Jr. ordered the World Boxing Association super welterweight championship fight between Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto to continue Saturday despite Foreman's corner having thrown in the towel, there was mass confusion at Yankee Stadium.

Not only has it happened before that a referee rejected a towel thrown in by the corner, it once happened previously at Yankee Stadium.

In one of the most famous boxing matches ever, Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round in a world heavyweight title bout before more than 70,000 fans in the Bronx on June 22, 1938.

In that fight, Schmeling trainer Max Machon threw in the towel after Louis knocked down Schmeling for the third time. But referee Arthur Donovan ignored the towel and let the fight continue, though he did stop the bout seconds later.

More recently, referee Mickey Vann ignored a towel thrown in by Graham Earls' corner in the second round of a Feb. 17,