Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson possible for UFC 93
MMA Junkie is reporting that sources close to both Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson have confirmed that a bout between the two top five middleweights is being discussed for the newly announced UFC 93 show on January 17 in Dublin, Ireland.
The original report from Yahoo!’s Eurosport claimed that Franklin could face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua or Chuck Liddell in the main event at the 02 Arena. MMA Junkie’s sources claim that a bout with Henderson is the more likely option to take place at the new venue, though it’s uncertain whether the fight will take place at 205 lbs. or 185 lbs.
Henderson just picked up his first victory since returning to the UFC after consecutive title shots against Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva with a win over Brazilian Top Team product Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88. Henderson has also been rumored as the leading candidate to head the U.S. team on the next TUF but if he were to fight on this card it would seem that he would be unlikely to be a coach on the show.
Franklin most recently returned to 205 lbs. to face off against Matt Hamill and recorded his first victory at that weight class since defeating Ken Shamrock at the first Ultimate Fighter Finale in 2005.
UFC 93 is also rumored to include a long-awaited bout between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, coaches of the sixth season of TUF. The two were supposed to fight after the show on a pay-per-view last December but Serra pulled out due to a back injury and Hughes ended up fighting Georges St. Pierre instead.
Adam Morgan is
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I hope that this fight is at 205. a fight at 185 doesn’t make sense, unless the winner becomes assistant Champion to Anderson.I don’t think Hendo can beat Silva and Rich has already proved that he can’t.
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Eh, It’ll most likely be at 205, I still maintain that Hendo is the biggest threat to Silva at 185, but I mean, we’re talking Hendo would win… 1 time out of maybe 25 fights against Silva (still better odds than most guys).
Tough choice on who to root for in this fight though, both fighters are great.
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Rich “Black Eye” Franklin should stay at 205… I think they are trying to match him against Forrest down the line.
Hendo vs Black Eye should be a barn burner
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Griffin vs. Franklin would be money. If Franklin wins this fight @ 205, who wants to bet that he gets a title shot before Machida? Maybe Machida needs to drop to 185 and with a solid win, can challenge Silva. Just my two cents.
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Hendo will beat Ace……love to see this fight come to fruition…
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Would be an excellent match up I would an edge to Henderson though because of his work in the clinch which is an obvious Franklin weakness.
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I hope this fight is at 205.. Where I see Hendo being more of a viable threat than he is at 185 where he has never seemed to be as comfortable..
I know Hendo has had most of his career fights at 185 but his perfomances at 205 has always been more impressive to me.
Either way kudos to the UFC for putting together another dream matchup we have all waited to see.
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So with the current matchups for both Hendo and Bisping, there certainly is no lined up coaches for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. There is no possible way the UFC, Dana, and Lorenzo thinks these are guaranteed wins…
Anything can happen when two fighters square up in the octagon (ie Serra over GSP – the forever example of upset special).
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Wow! Serra v. Hughes! What a great match up—-about two years ago when Serra was still champ and Hughes hadn’t lost several fights in a row.
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mike wolfe ?????????????
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I disagree that Hendo has a huge advantange in the clinch. Sure, Rich had looked to be exposed against Silva in that area but he exposes everyone. He has the best clinch game I have ever seen.
Rich has a very strong clinch and should match up with Hendo pretty well.
This will be a great fight and fans will be the ones who benefit from this fight.
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ufc.com
confirmed this fight along with Shogun vs Coleman 2 for 93 January 17th in dublin…
This card is clearly a counter to the next Affliction card, this card should also be free on Spike due to the time delay. Let the wars continue…
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Can anybody tell me why the hell everytime Rick Franklin is about to fight he has a black eye.Every Interview before a fight a black eye…..Anybody know why
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Matteo, I can’t believe they would put a card with all those names for free…but I hope you are right!
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Franklin will beat Hendo, Hendo will gas and Franklin will dominate the standup war
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