Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin on tap for UFC 115
Tito Ortiz is out and Rich Franklin is in as the next opponent for former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.
The fellow coaches of the eleventh season of The Ultimate Fighter had been expected to throw down for the third time at the conclusion of the television series which is currently being filmed, but Ortiz has been forced to withdrawal from the bout due to what has been described to FiveOuncesofPain.com as “personal issues”.
FiveOuncesofPain.com has been able to confirm the news of the recent bout change through several sources close to the situation following a report initially made by Fighters Only.
Liddell and Franklin are currently expected to duke it out during the yet unannounced UFC 115 card expected for June according to MMAJunkie.com, although nothing has been made official through the promotion as of this writing.
It has also been reported that Ortiz was not able to complete the taping of TUF 11, and Franklin may have filled in during his absence.
Both former champions will be looking to bounce back into the winners circle following recent defeats in the Octagon, with Liddell being TKO’d most recently at the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97, while Franklin was dropped by Vitor Belfort in his last outing during UFC 103.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
| All posts by Cory Brady
As long as Rich doesn’t let Liddell’s legendary status get to him, he wins.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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The rumor is that Tito gotr hurt and may need surgery that could potentially end his career
source dude at junkie
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much much better fight then chuck/ortiz 3, too bad franklin wasnt the coach, oh well, im glad ortiz pulled out instead of fighting then giving excuses, i think lidell should have a warm up fight first but oh well to that also
Well-Done.
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I was looking forward to seeing Chuck knock out Tito again, but this fight is even better. It’s a fight I’ve always dreamed about, along with Chuck vs. Forrest.
P.S.- Liddell by submission! LOL!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Rich Franklin has always been my TOP favourite fighter. A couple of years ago this would have been about the absolute worst match-up for Rich. An aggressive, stalking striker who likes to trade and bang but doesn’t have as much one hit KO power as Liddell would have been bad news. What Rich is good at is exactly what Liddell thrives on.
Nowadays though, although I don’t see Chuck as bad as most people, I still believe he isn’t the same fighter. He used to get away with keeping his hands low because he had good reactions and a solid chin but now both have slowed down enough to cause him problems.
I predict Rich by TKO round2.
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Not true! We are doing couture vs franklin not chuck.
from dana’s twitter
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According to the Fuhrer himself, Dana White, This fight is NOT happening and it will be Couture vs Franklin as initially planned.
Source: Twitter.com/danawhite
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This is a mystery that will all make sense by Monday …
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Dana said Rich isn’t fighting Chuck, but I haven’t heard him say anything to deny Tito is out.
And when it comes to the UFC and Tito, it’s like the dysfunctional relationship that keeps going in circles. Wouldn’t surprise me that he didn’t last the whole season.
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Tito vs Toney.
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I love the idea of Tito vs Toney.
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Buddy, nothing personal, but I think you need some better dreams.
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