UFC Announces Franklin vs. Henderson, Rua vs. Coleman For UFC 93
The UFC today officially announced UFC 93, which will take place at O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland on January 17th.
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin takes on former PRIDE dual champion Dan Henderson at light heavyweight in the UFC 93 main event and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will seek his first UFC win and will look to avenge a 2006 loss against UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman in the 205-pound co-main event.
“Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson is a battle between two great former champions who are both looking to get another chance to wear a world title around their waist,†said Dana White, UFC President. “Franklin is the former UFC Middleweight champion, and he’s a dangerous striker with solid submission skills – he also showed great takedown defense in his September destruction of powerful wrestler Matt Hamill. Dan Henderson is the former PRIDE Welterweight and Middleweight champion. He’s a world class wrestler, known for his great chin and his one punch knockout power. He defeated formidable Brazilian submission specialist Rousimar Palhares in September. These are two fan favorites with a lot of pride on the line as they want to show that they are still among the very best fighters in the world.”
“We are delighted to be returning to the Emerald Isle again, especially with such blockbuster main and co-main events,†said Marshall Zelaznik, UFC UK Division President. “The O2-Dublin is a fantastic venue that will create a memorable UFC experience. After smashing box office records in Belfast in June 2007, we promised our Irish fans we would be coming to Dublin, and now on January 17 the world’s most exciting live sports experience travels across the Irish Sea – we know this will be a great night for our fans.â€
“This is the fight my fans have wanted for a long time now, and they want to see me fight Rich Franklin,†said Henderson. “I think this will be a great fight for Ireland, it definitely will be exciting because we both like to stand and bang, and we both have knockout power. I’m excited to go to Ireland and to take on Rich; I think he’s a tough opponent and a huge challenge, but I don’t see myself losing to him.â€
“Dan Henderson has great credentials, and he is going to be one of the toughest fights of my career,†said Franklin. “That being said, I’m planning on winning the fight, and I’m looking forward to fighting in the main event and fighting in Ireland. I love the fans, and the way they react by singing and chanting makes it a unique experience for me.â€
UFC 93 will air on tape-delay pay-per-view beginning at 10pm ET.
Ticket information for UFC 93 will be announced shortly.
Tags: Dan Henderson, mark coleman, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Rich Franklin
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i thought coleman was a heavyweight? is rua moving up or coleman going down?
what weight will the Franklin-Henderson fight be at? Oh and THEDAVEB I’d be willing to bet it will be a catch weight or Rua moves up. Honestly, it’s really just a grudge match between those two considering that was coleman’s epic blow up against the entire Chute Box team.
hendo vs franklin ive been wanting to see that match for a while, who cares about what weight or anderson silva factor. this will be a great fight and i for one am down to watch this, i can’t even pick a winner its guna be good!
I agree Johnboy should be awesome
What weight class is the Hendo / Franklin fight?
According to UFC.com the Hendo/Franklin fight will be a LHW battle, i cant pick a winner but maybe Rich has the advantage standing up.
It’s about time these two fought. The real question then is the winner getting a title shot. I really don’t want to see Franklin get destroyed by the Spider again, but I would love to see Henderson get another shot.
If Franklin wins does it move him into contention or top 10 in LHW, i could think of some great prospects for Rich in this weight category.
Definitely a tough fight to pick. Franklin is a more technical striker, but I think Henderson *might* have a little more power. It will be interesting to see what Henderson’s game plan will be. Also, I think it favors Franklin that it is at 205. He will likely be cutting down to 205, while Henderson will be struggling to get up to 205 (I think he fought Rampage last at 204 or 203). This is only a slight advantage though, as Henderson has shown that he can win at that weight class even with the disadvantage.
Coleman is a LHW… he said that was his intended weight class when returning to the UFC, but the UFC wanted him to fight Lesnar and he said yes. Coleman is around the same size as Couture, and while Randy fights at HW now, he’s a really tiny HW and has fought at LHW in the past. Coleman says he walks around at 220lbs.
Hendo and Franklin is going to be awesome! I’m going to have to with the uglier fighter this time with Hendo, i think he’ll remind people that Franklin has a “stronger than usual glass jaw.” But Franklin has alot heart and might be able to surprise Hendo with a submission on the ground, but i cant wait to crack a 40oz and watch these guys duke it out
Rua and Coleman, meh, both these guys haven’t fought in forever so i’m going with Rua even though he looked like crap against Griffin and really don’t think this fight is really going to rattle the 205 division either
I think franklin deserves another chance if he keeps winning…I can’t really think of abetter striker in the middleweight division other than rich franklin…this excluding anderson silva ofcourse…Anderson Silva just seems so unbeatable right now…I’d like to see him and machida at 205…
Dublin here we come! A trip across the water to Birmingham and now up to Dublin, happy days. Rich all the way
i just watched coleman vs rua on the youtube and let me say the funniest thing ever. first the prefight hype videos r the best ive ever seen. 2nd i didnt see coleman stomp wandy i did however see wandy gettin wat looked like a triangle on baroni. 3rd the **** backstage was awesome wandy “this is war on all of u this is war” rampage comes out of the backround “ho ho ho wat did i do” priceless
justin imo hendo has more power then franklin but i think rich is the better boxer, if franklin can stay out of a brawl i think he will win but if his head goes and they start going punch for punch i give the edge to hendo, either way this is guna be a war.
@mikew i think rich is already a top 10 205 fighter maybe not top 5 but not far away
huertarogerhuerta just looked that up,funny as f***.wot about the shaving advert at the end??dont know wot thay got payed for that but it wasnt enough.
wot about the serra/hughes fight?was looking foward to that.would like to see franklin stay at 205,good win over hendo could put him right up there.franklin v liddell or winner of machida/.t silva
I knew those 3 fights originally rumored wouldn’t all be on the UK fight card, only one. (serra vs hughes, shogun vs. Iceman) And the fact that the 3pm ppv do not sell.
I believe the UFC likes the UK, because they do well at the door (british pound is double US dollar). They probably sell tv rights all over Europe, get great European fighters and give the UFC an International appeal.
How can you have a strong glassjaw?
Yikes, Franklin will have a tough time with Henderson. I would have preferred to see Franklin go down a weight class instead of up.
I’m having trouble figuring out who to root for. I guess I will go with Henderson since I love seeing the PRIDE boys kick ass.
Dude are they fighting @ 205 or 185? I don’t know who i’m rooting for either. If @ 205 i’m for franklin cuz franklin’s got a shot in that division. If @ 185, i’d have to go with hendo, cuz i think he can be champ of that div. Plus i wanna see him rematch anderson.
As for coleman vs rua, man that’s a joke dude, if rua doesn’t destroy this old feller, then i’m not a fan of his anymore
gonzo kinda saw it coming,knew it was to good to be true.would like to see diaz v guida added to that card.
HeyJohnnyboy, your right Rich is top ten in my books overall, im just so used to him at 185.
He’s a class act and a very smart guy who will need a great strategy to beat Hendo. BTW how many UFC fights has Franklin had at LHW.
I’ve updated the article with the weight class information. It’s my understanding both fights will be at 205.
Rua has to be embarrassed by his lacklustre performance against Forrest, i think this is a do or die situation to show his real fighting skills.
Thanks for updating the article Kris, a lot of guys were skipping over the comments that stated what weight class it would be, and then asking what weight class it would be.
Mikew, I think Franklin has had 4 or 5 fights at LHW for the UFC, counting the last one.
be great to see if franklin could beat machida this time around…
if they were to fight again that is…
2 weeks before UFC 94 and in Ireland, this has to be a free show on Spike. And a great looking card so far. Can’t wait to see Machida fight.
Nevermind, just saw that it’ll be a tape delayed PPV. 2 PPV’s in 1 month, UFC is getting plenty of my money that month.
ahh damn would have been even better free on spike
does this mean that gsp and penn is not going to happen?!!?!?!?
Why the hell is there no TUF on tonight? I’m so pissed I could punch Dana in the throat.
Hendo v Franklin is awesome clearly…. Coleman v Shogun im excited to see what type of “fighting shape” Rua is in.. Liddell fighting on this card that is good (plus his after party in Ireland WOW) im looking forward to the month of January for MMA, talk about some of the greatest fighters all fighting in a single month com’on thats cool
@Ryhmeskill15, GSP v BJ Penn better F~ing happen or im going to get really REALLY angry and not do a damn thing and continue to buy expensive as$ PPV’s
FR..
yea man i would rather see gsp vs penn…
then hendo n rich…
and this article said that rich n hendo are gng to be the main event…
so count gsp n penn out 4 this card!!!
liddell is also on this card?????
who is he fighting????
@Ryhme, i thought it said some shhh about Chuck fighting i was speed reading, been a long day anyways, wasnt the GSP v Penn superfight going to be at the end of the month, my thought was that UFC would put on two shows Jan one foreign and one domestic… and the GSP v Penn superfight would be in Vegas on the 31st?
FR….
oooh i see..
that would make sense…
Kris/Eric
Is there a way we can get some sort of sign in for this site? I’d love to be able to contact a few on here about the 10 man trip to Vegas to see a UFC show next year. I think Kouch, Dietrich, FR702 and YZFX among others were involved in that UFC Nazi vs. Affliction/EliteXC/DREAM nazi party.
Just a thought.
I tried the chat but nobody is ever on.
Dannyboy – Wait ’til Saturday, massive things are upcoming
@DannyBoy, im a MMA fan im not a UFC “na_i” (i dont like that specific word and im ashamed of the German Na_i regime), again im a MMA fan i just realize and respect the UFC and ZUFFA for the product that they create and produce….. shall we chat, hahaha
Kris massive things are coming? oooo let me know what u have planned ive gots to know, haha
secondly its not very often that we as visitors to a website get to directly communicate to the operator of said website i just wanted to give you cheers and thx…. is the “new” website going to be compatable with my BlackBerry? gotta put it outthere sorry im always out on business and well hell u know the story
at 205 if franklin wins , I think he should take a shot at lyota machada , a win over machida would put him in top 5 near a shot at lhw belt
good choice for hendo though to fight at 205 , if he loses at lhw he still in top 3 middleweight
The reason Coleman vs. Lesner never happened, is Dana released nobody wanted to see that crap of a fight.
Coleman’s been finished 10 years ago !!
Dana is not stupid, Rua will get the win, because Rua is from Pride, and Dana wants his investment back for the failed buyout.
You get it!!
Dana’s pretty smart
Deffinitly will be worth the trip across to Ireland from the UK for me.
I see Shogun stopping Coleman in the 1st and Hendo KTFO of Franklin in the 2nd.
Rich might of looked good against Hamill but Hendo is on another level to Matt.
***Definitely***
Dannyboy,
I have not seen much of you lately. I hope you read this. I thought you were gone forever and I did not know what to think. My thought process kept trying to pull me back towards sanity but my the voices took over and told me otherwise. I was told you were being held hostage by a terroist group of midgets and the queen midget was to force you into marriage.
UFC 92 TO FEATURE NOG VS MIR, GRIFFIN VS EVANS & SILVA VS RAMPAGE
Sorry if most of you knew……just for those who don’t check regularly or missed it…..
KOuch – No worries, our story on the announcement is upcoming in a couple minutes.
User profiles, blogs, friends, groups, forums, videos section, etc. Less than two days and you’ll see it live assuming all goes well.
KOUCH
Dude 4 real? All those fights on that card? Is that just a rumor?
Kris,
exciting stuff.
Hehe yeah I’m still here KOuch. Been really busy at work and a new baby on the way at home has kept me commentless for a while.
As you can see, though, I’m still interested in our 10-12 man trip to Vegas to see an MMA event. I provide the place.
Kris, thanks for the quick response, I can’t wait to see the changs!!
To the rest of you…make sure you’re supporting MMAFrenzy by clicking on the ads on the sight! This should help get some much needed revenue for all their hard work! (Correct me if I’m wrong)
DANNYBOY IM STILL UP FOR THE TRIP LOL
What the hell are you guys talking about.Fights,promotins,trips,vegas,terrorist midgets.forget it i’m felling left out.
Good lookout about clicking the ads, Dannyboy. I try to click them a few times a day, I had just forgotten to recently.
feeling
shouldn’t people read the articles before commenting.It says right there that the fight is at LHW.
RJA,
The article was edited after people commented to include that. As a matter of fact, comment number 23 by Kris states that he edited the article to include the weight class.
which leads one to think… should people read all of the comments before commenting?
edit – Shouldn’t people…
haha i think RJA just got rinsed
HAHAHA NICE JUSTIN NICE
Dannyboy is right on, advertising revenue is what drives this site and every little bit helps. I can’t encourage people to click on ads for legal reasons but I encourage ya’ll to support the site in whatever way you see fit.
Didn’t even think about the ad thing. Gonna do some clicking.
im already there
@Dannyboy, man just let me know about the trip to Vegas or whatever whenever, hell I have to see a man about a horse sometime in Nevada let organize this trip seriously!!
Did I just invite myself?? Haha cheers
KOuch,
I went to youtube and searched for “midget mma”. I didn’t think that it actually existed. I assume that’s your basement and dog cage.
didnt know about the ad thing either,il be doing ma bit.thats cracking yous are meeting up,if yous ever come over to the UK il be up for a beer
ya!! i’ve wanted to see this fight this would prove if he really is the best middle wieght besides anderson silva!