Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva in Germany
Rich Franklin
Former UFC middleweight title-holder Rich Franlin will face former PRIDE 205-pound champion Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99, according to multiple reports. The event is scheduled for June 13 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, marking the promotions debut in the country.
Franklin recently moved up to the 205-pound division after realizing an inability to defeat middleweight champ Anderson Silva, but suffered a loss to Dan Henderson, who is moving back to middleweight, in his last outing.
Silva on the other hand is in the process of a move down from 205 to 185 after sustaining a 1-4 record in his last five fights in hopes of putting together some wins. However, he has maintained that he will fight at whichever of the two weights the UFC asks him to fight.
Regarding the weight class this fight will be held at, RichFranklin.com is reporting, “While both parties have agreed (to the fight), contracts have yet to be officially signed. Wanderlei just dropped to 185 and Rich fights at 205, so it is rumored they will meet a catch weight of 195 for this fight.”
So far the only other rumored fight for this event is the UFC return of Caol Uno against Spencer Fisher. You can follow the rumored card for UFC 99 as it develops in our rumors section under UFC 99 rumors.
Tags: Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva
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its building to be a very solid card, with Uno/Fisher, Franklin/Wandy, and rumored BJ/Florian. cant wait.
Wow. Good stuff. I could go either way on this one but I’ll take Franklin because of his reach and his gas tank. Either way, kudos to Joe Silva on this one. Great matchup.
Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva is a great fight for the fans. Personally i am very excited to see this fight. I like both of these guys so it’s hard to pick a favorite at the moment but one thing is for sure. I want to see someone get knocked out. Wanderlei is at the end of the line and Franklin is also steadily losing his hopes for any title shot, whether it be 205 or 185. The point is they both have to win or else bad things will happen to their carrers. I see Silva being agressive and less cautious than he was in the Rampage fight, and i also see Franklin being more agressive because he needs to finish instead of a decision, cause a decision won’t look good in the eyes of the UFC. I think Silva is ta his best when he attacks and worries less about getting caught. I hope they both go in their to finish eachother instead of just winning on points.
yeeeeeeuh! this is going to be a good fight!
i see franklin losing by tko!
but the fight doesn’t make much sense…
wandi wants to drop to mw but is fighting a lhw..
i think he should have fought an actual mw….
still an exciting fight!
great fight but whats going on with the weight class? even tho im down to watch these two go at it, ide rather they fight at what weight they want to fight at rather then what “sounds” like the best match up.
yea i agree….thats exactly what i was thinking!
i say franklin vs machida!
they need to start giving machida some legit opponents!!!!
I AGREE MACHIDA NEEDS A TOP NAME OPPONENT… FRANKLIN WOULD HAVE LOST TO HIM ANYWAY. I LIKE MACHIDA/FORREST MACHIDA/RAMPAGE MACHIDA/COUTRE
Geez – 13-0 silva wasn’t a legit opponent for Rodney Machida-field?
are u serious!?!?!
beating t silva should determine if u should fight for the title!!??!?!
ur on one homie! hahaha
IS THIS JUST A RUMOR?
MAN THIS IS GONNA BE A GOOD FIGHT… I WANNA SEE A LATE KNOCK OUT WITH ALOT OF STAND UP… I WANNA SEE WANDI GET A TITLE SHOT BUT I ALWAYS HATE TO SEE RICH LOSE HE IS A VERY RESPECTFUL FIGHTER… GOOD LUCK TO BOTH
I think the fight is going to be at a catch weight, i think they reported 195
This one is a tough one because i want both guys to win. Eventually i want to see Franklin in a title fight again, i also want to see Wanderlei go for the 185 title, but one of them has to lose. I think in many ways this has pottential to be the fight of the year. It’s problably the most exciting matchup either of them can be a part of at this point
I agree marvel it’s going to be a sick fight dude. This catch weight $hit doesn’t make any sense to me though. They should fight where they both agree they would feel comfortable. I’d rather see silva win cuz he’s more exciting to watch and a win could have him fighting contenders @ 185 and i would love to watch him take out some 185′ers and make that division worth wacthing.
I think someone said Machida vs Couture?? WTF dude, couture is fighting @ HW and that would make absolutely no sense for machida ’s potential title shot. Machida should challenge for the title and rampage should get the winner after he ko’s jardine.
“This catch weight $hit doesn’t make any sense to me though. They should fight where they both agree they would feel comfortable.”
Which one of those do you want, them not to fight at catch weight, or them to fight where they both agree they would feel comfortable? you can’t have both, because it would seem that a catch weight of 195 is where they both agree they would feel comfortable… since that seems to be the direction this is heading.
Machida-Couture? that doesn’t make any sense, and anyway Machida would kill the hell out of Couture. Machida has more than earned a title shot. I agree with JAzzkok, after Rampage ends the carreer of Jardine, he should fight the winner of what should be the next 205 title fight wich is Machida-Evans
machida/forrest, top name opponent for both, winner gets teh winner of rampage/rashad after rampage knocks out jardine
cool looks like ufc 99 is gonna be good. i thought this was gonna be at 185 when i first red it. wanderlei will win i think. i hope franklin wins so he does good in LHW. i want Wanderlei to fight in 185 and do good.
mchida/forrest would be good but machida deserves his title chance hes already proven it knckoing out tiago silva. he should get his chance first. rampage is fighting jardine and probaly ko him . IMO he should fight another person before title shot to me after losing title fight two more fights doesn’t get title shot again. i hink after jardine he sould have hes rematch against shogun! so that he beats the guys he lost to in pride. then title shot after machida gets his chance.
i don’t think they’ll fight at 195. that might help wanderlei practicing going down to 195 then next fight 185. but they probaly have them work it out to decide.
Lets say Wanderlei loses, even thought I highly doubt this fight will happen, and his last 6 fight for drops to 1-5 which would be 1-3 UFC would they consider cutting his ass? I know hes a bigger draw that the recent releases but surely its the same scenario for all fighters or atleast it should be
It may depend on how he does in the fight. If he has a good showing, like he did against Liddell he may get to stick around, even if he loses.
Wanderlei likely will lose,but no,he won’t be cut.You said it yourself,he’s a bigger draw.His name alone makes them a considerable amount and if he loses they can still hype his move to MW.Right now he is what you would call a ‘Cash Cow’ which the recent releases surely were not.
I like this fight, but then again i don’t. I don’t like it if it’s @ 185 cuz if franklin wins, what next? And if he loses @ 205, that will be his second loss in a row @ 205 and that will look bad. Same for silva. If he wins @ 205, who does he fight next? and SHOULd he stay @ 205 with all that competetion he might not be able to handle? He should be fighting @ 185, but franklin shou;d be @ 205. I’ll just enjoy these two great fighters go at it no matter what weight.
I hear yyou. I both would like to see them win but not against eachother. If this goes down though, its got fireworks written all over it!
Which is why they’re talking about 195.
I also hear you, but what’s the point of a catchweight bout when they can both easily stay at 205? Even if it’s a “prep” of Silva to move down, he can do a dry run in the gym instead of a fight. This fight will be entertaining, but without Wanderlei being an astablished mw, I don’t see the point of 195.
Because Wanderlei is on his way down to 185, but Rich doesn’t want to drop down, plus it doesn’t necessarily hurt either’s chances in the either division if they lose. I think it also gives Wanderlei a chance to actually cut weight for once in his career and see how he does… I don’t know what either fighter’s camps are thinking and what exactly is going into the decision, but I do see the merits of it.
he 2-6 in ufc, they’ve already said that dana wont cut him unless he like loses 5 more straight fights or somthing ,but the fans like him and want to watch him fight so thats why they have been keeping even though he has a pretty bad record in the ufc. hope he does better at 185
Wanderlei has only had 5 fights in the UFC in total, whose airspace did you pluck 2-6 from?! In UFC he is 1-4 with a win again Jardine and L’s to Belfort, Ortiz, Liddel and Rampage in that order
i looked up on ufc.com
——————————————————————
he lost to Vitor Belfort at ultimate brazil
he beat Tony Peterra at ufc 20
he lost to Tito Ortiz at ufc 25
he lost to Chuck Liddell at ufc 79
he beat Keith Jardine at ufc 84
and
he lost to Quinton Jackson at ufc 92.
Even if he does lose to Rich sooo what, he isn’t losing to cans and all of his losses have been to top names, if he lost to Resse Andy (I know they cut him) then there would be time to sit Wand down and communicate his options.. But whatever he make ZUFFA money and he is a draw and a huge name, I also believe that 195 is a bridge gap to 185.
Goodmatchup and I can’t wait to see that fight
nice bong in your pic buddy
Sound like a good match up for the first time in deutschland. The catch weight sounds stupid, have it either 185 or 205. I expect rich to be more technical in this fight and try to pick Wandi apart, but you can never count out Wandi and his hyper aggressive style. i’m going with Wanderleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiii Siiiiilvvaaaa, since he has one of the best ring name pronunciations in the ufc
Yeah I have to agree with you on that one. He is one of my favorites. This is a bad match for Rich I think. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Wanderleeeeeeeiiiiii……..wait for it. Siiilllllvvvaaaaa
Can here Buffer in my head lol and the techno music with his entrance…he is and always will be a great fighter to watch, whoever he fights.
Rich is boring, hopefully he loses an not to be heard of for a long time. There is no arguing he will never be a champ again at any weight.
Don’t think the[catch] weight will have an effect on either fighter. Im expecting a stand up war. Imo if Franklin was to fight a smart, strategic fight he would take him to the ground where I believe he would have an advantage. Maybe his reach will help him also. That being said I hate to see either guy lose they are both very respectable fighters.
rich is totally not boring
he has 7 tko wins, a knockout win to nate quarry, one submission win, has only gone the distance 3 times in his 14 ufc fights which 3 he lost but was to great fighters = the spider and hendo
I repeat, he will never be a champ again. Imo I think hes old news, an going nowhere
ya i would have to agree he probaly wont be champ again except maybe when anderson silva retires in a year if he could beat hendo or bisping. which i would like hendo to win. he is out of his prime. his prime was when he was undefeated champ and anderson silva came along even though he was still in his prime the spider was to much.
i would like hendo to win out of bisping’s fight with him. but i would like ace to beat hendo.
Didnt ace an hendo just fight with hendo being the winner.
Ace won the fight,Hendo got the decision.
No, Hendo won the fight, because the three people sitting at ringside who’s votes count gave him the decision.
Ace won nothing. He threw the fight because he didn’t want to coach on TUF. Lamest move I have ever seen in the history of the UFC. And Hendo won 2 rounds to 1.
whatever,
Let’s get this straight. He [Franklin] who has only lost to Anderson[twice] and lost a close decision in the Hendo fight is now no good? You might as well say Liddell should retire then.
alot may think that chuck liddell should retire actually
ii don’t think he’ll ever be champ again but should still fight because he get paid alot because he is very popular
+ he (Ace) got brutalized by Machida let’s not forget
I cant see wandi winning this fight…I think rich will ko wandi just like rampage did….so wandi could be 1-5 in his last six fights before going to middleweight
Saying Franklin is old news or boring is crazy to me. Franklin has only lost in the UFC to Silva and Henderson. Yes Silva (the best p4p fighter in the world) has his number and the Henderson Fight was close, but Franklin knows how to win. He lets his opponents set the pace and does what he has to do to win. If you have only been watching the UFC for two years you could think he was boring with his losses to Silva, slow domination of Hamill or boxing match with Hendo. But, when Wanderlei pushes the pace, which I think is what everyone expects, Rich will match his intensity and find holes to strike, defend submissions and hopefully end it with a tko. Rich is very exciting when he faces good oposition that pushes the pace.
i couldn’t agree with you more.i’m sick of people making it sound like franklins washed up.He’s far from it,and can still put on a great show.
Machida and Franklin already fought. A rematch would be amazing. Machida killed em.
Im goin Wandy all the way. He needs some wins and I cant wait.
anybody hear if the Scorpions or the ‘Hoff’ will make an appearance????
I think that wandi will win because one thing about franklin is that he don’t like the clinch we’ve seen it twice by Anderson Silva. we have not got to see it but Wanderlei got a great clinch look up the first two
fights with rampage in pride and yell see what I mean and the different s
in comp dues it for me wanderlei has fought nothing but tuf guys
for the last ten years franklin tacks time off form top level guys
I can only name 3 guys on his fight record that are top guys like
Anderson Silva,lyoto Machida for all you machida but buddy’s and Dan
Henderson all of winch are losses I can name 3 top level guys
just in wanderlei return to the ufc its no big surprise I got
wanderlei in this one 2nd round by knee stikes
Bandwagon fans… You’ll be on your side when they win and go against them when they lose . Liddell could still drop more than half of the lhw devision.
I think franklin has agood chance at wining if he can avoid the big shot.He’s more technical than silva and it’s not like franklin’s coming off of a a ss wooping against hendo,that was a close fight.As far as the clinch franklin said clinching with anderson was like clinching with tim silvia.
will Anderson Silva never held rampage in place and hit him with
20 knees without getting hit as for being more technical than
Silva that can only go so far he can win the first round but after that
if the fight is still on its all down hill for rich because Silva will get
him in a brawl and I don’t think rich has a punch that can keep him from coming forward think about it he does not have a rampage left hook
or a cro cop head kick and if liddell could not stop him what do u
think rich is going to do throw a jab and back away it not boxing
its mma the meaner guy is going to win at least in this one.
and for the record Henderson vs franklin was a boring fight there was
more high fives then punches
My point exactley,if rich can avoid the big punch he has a good chance.As far as the fight being in silva’s favor the longer the fight go’s,your putting franklins conditioning to the test then and i think he’s better suited for a longer fight.I like silva alot and know he has a good chance of wining, and hope he does well but i’m just a long time fan of franklin.So either way i won’t be to upset,i just hope it’s a good fight.
can’t knock you for liking rich his from Ohio just like me so he has a spot to me to but at least your not like this machida fan boys that
love him now but a month ago only thing I heard was that he was boring
but back to my point this fight is going to be a stand up war
can’t have a war without a few bombs bing landing witch I think franklin will catch a few of them and thats whats going to make it a bad
night for rich
Dam, Rich has a “Silva” addiction. He’s addicted to being knocked out by guys with the last name of Silva. Watch that clinch Rich!!!!
I’m taking rich on this one. I think wanderlei swings for the fences, and in some cases thats good, but not good if your opponent if a technical striker like franklin. Rich franklin IMO won’t be submitted bacause he has great submission defense as you saw when he got out of the perfect armbar travis lutter had on him. But idc if wanderlei looses becuase i would always enjoy watchin the AXE MURDERER fight!
Franklin is going to lay waste to Wanderlei Silva.
I agree with you IF Rich can avoid the clinch. Franklin is way too technical of a striker. Wanderlei would greatly benefit from some training from Juanito Ibarra. Just look what it did for Rampage.
so mostly everyone agree wand will win.
Sure whynot, if the UFC heads over to Japan this year (which would be great) I hope they have Wand on the card and do a PRIDE type show but with the announcer perhaps a white canvas cage and sellout the super arena.. Random but whatever
Yo.. Machida has beat Franklin.. no need to embarrass “The Ace” again. He wouldn’t be able to beat Machida.