LONDON, Sept. 22 -- A raucous crowd at the Wembley Arena witnessed an evening light on graceful submissions and heavy on rough striking Saturday at Cage Rage 23.

In the main event, Gary Turner (Pictures) fought a smart, tactical fight to overcome former heavyweight boxer Julius Francis.

Early in the bout, Francis had some success in the clinch, landing a series of bodyshots. The 290-pound fighter was also throwing a heavy jab, which Turner countered with low kicks.

Turner soon took control, though, after persisting with trips until he had taken the fight to the floor.

Francis did well at one point to force his way off his back, but Turner did an equally good job of driving his opponent back into unfamiliar territory and continuing to pound on him from the mount.

Clinching against the fence in the second round, the noted boxer appeared to go for a single leg takedown that was easily stuffed. Turner then forced his foe's face to the canvas.

In complete control with a neat sprawl, Turner began to land a series of sharp hammerfists to the side of Francis' head. Trapped and in trouble, Francis saw no way out other than to submit 2:15 into the round.

James Zikic (Pictures) and Vitor Belfort (Pictures) fought a methodical light heavyweight contest. Both fighters employed a cautious stand-up game before stifling each other's offense on the ground.

With neither man committing to meaningful strikes in the early stages, the crowd quickly became restless. However, it wasn't long before they were back on their feet as the local fighter caught Belfort, wobbling him with a beautiful straight right.

The experienced Brazilian did well to get through the next uncertain moments, closing the distance and taking the fight down, where he appeared to be a great deal more comfortable.

Defending strikes and holding off a persistent Kimura attempt from the Brazilian, Zikic exploded off his back in the second round, neatly reversing the jiu-jitsu black belt.

In the end, though, Belfort's solid ground skills helped him control the majority of the third round and earn a unanimous decision.

With the Cage Rage welterweight title on the line, Paul Daley (Pictures) showed real heart in his battle with a legend of the U.K. MMA scene, Mark Weir (Pictures).

There had been concerns that Weir may struggle in his move from 185 pounds to 170, but the Range Fighter did not seem hampered while launching his usual array of kicks.

Daley, however, seemed to have a game plan. He diligently chopped away at the taller man with his lead low kick, just managing to stay out of reach while thudding his own strikes home.

Midway through the first round, Daley surged forward and scored a takedown. When he threw a left-hand bomb, though, Weir escaped back to his feet.

In the second round, Daley looked increasingly confident in the punching exchanges before suddenly landing his trademark left hook. An even harder shot followed, sending the fighter from Gloucester to the mat.

Smelling blood, Daley rushed into the mount and landed a sequence of heavy punches that forced the referee to stop the contest.

Veteran lightweight Chris Brennan had some early success in his battle with Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and Capoeira fighter Jean Silva (Pictures). However, Silva always looked ahead of the game, landing punches to the body and threatening with nasty uppercuts.

It appeared the fight would be settled on the floor, but after Silva fended off Brennan's guillotine attempt, it went back to the feet.

Then, after more bitter exchanges to start the second round, Silva landed a couple of devastating knees to Brennan's face that sent him to the mat. Silva pursued his foe and rained down a long series of punches on the American in an attempt to finish the fight quickly.

In a feat of hardheaded genius, though, Brennan temporarily halted the barrage by latching onto a Kimura from the bottom and then effortlessly transitioning into a straight armbar.

Silva had some slippery jiu-jitsu skills, too, and escaped. He then dropped down more punches and hammerfists, eventually earning a hard-fought TKO 2:26 into the second round.

In the eagerly awaited British heavyweight title fight, London Shootfighter Mustapha Al Turk faced Barnsley ground-and-pound expert Tengiz Tedoradze (Pictures). Long recognized as two of the best heavyweights in the country, the fight could easily have headlined the event.

Al Turk started fast, and it was not long before Tedoradze was on his back foot, assessing his options.

After a brief clinch, the fight hit the floor. There, Al Turk asserted his dominance, peppering Tedoradze with punches as he turtled, before securing rear mount and looking for the finish.

To the credit of the Georgian wrestler, he managed to avoid the choke for some time, hampering Al Turk's efforts with chopping punches and reversing position for the final minute of the round.

In the final two rounds, Tedoradze had some genuine success both on the floor and on the feet. He was clearly frustrated, though, by Al Turk's fluent striking -- especially by his hard low kicks.

Tedoradze looked awkward in comparison. In the end, though, he claimed a unanimous decision that many observers viewed as extremely fortunate for him.

Xavier Foupa-Pokam (Pictures) once again showed why he is considered one of the best middleweights in Europe. He dismantled American serviceman Pierre Guillet (Pictures) in little more than a minute.

"Professor X" looked very sharp in the striking exchanges. Guillet was forced to clinch, from where he took the French fighter to the mat. Amazingly, however, Pokam sprung back to his feet like a cat and continued his stand-up mission.

Seconds later a vicious left kick to the body saw Guillet doubled up in pain. An additional right hand put him on the deck, but the liver kick had effectively sealed the contest, and Pokam knew it as referee Grant Waterman stopped the match.

Matt Ewin (Pictures) and Alex Reid (Pictures) renewed hostilities in epic fashion. The pair clashed for the Cage Rage British title, and perhaps more importantly, the chance to settle an old score.

After accusing Reid of being greased up in their first bout and struggling to take him down, Ewin faced no similar problems in this contest. He spent the majority of the match controlling the action on the floor.

Reid tried his best to get under his opponent's skin, telling him throughout that his strikes were having no effect. As it turned out though, Ewin was racking up points with his takedowns and ground control. He also caused some cosmetic damage to Reid's face en route to a unanimous decision.

In his second appearance as a late replacement, massive heavyweight Neil Grove (Pictures) solidified his reputation as a dangerous finisher. He took apart talented kickboxer Domagoj Ostojic (Pictures) in 34 seconds of brutal aggression.

Closing the distance, Grove drove the K-1 fighter to the ground with an incredible body-lock takedown and looked unstoppable while viciously pounding his opponent for the TKO.

Coupled with his debut knockout win over James Thompson (Pictures), the victory gave Grove an unprecedented Cage Rage accolade of finishing his first two opponents in a combined time of less than 60 seconds.

In a light heavyweight bout, an aggressive Roman Webber (Pictures) overpowered Ed Smith (Pictures) with his strong takedowns to earn a unanimous decision.

Smith came close to turning the tide in the third round. He landed a stunning spinning back-fist, but Webber quickly recovered, took down his opponent and scored with punches to claim the decision.

Che Mills (Pictures) put on a very solid performance in his Cage Rage main show debut. After a wild exchange of punches, Mills wisely took down tough Thai boxer Ross Mason (Pictures). Immediately he secured the mount, and from there the finish seemed a formality.

The young Range Fighter punished Mason with strikes and forced him to give his back before sinking a rear-naked choke for the first-round win.

In a welterweight kickboxing match to start the night, Tsunami gym fighter Lee Doski (Pictures) threw some beautiful combinations that finished strong with hard left hands for a unanimous decision over Jason Barrett (Pictures).