Franklin lands UFC bout on Super Bowl weekend

Reds hit 3 homers in big win over Rockies
5/27/12
Miami baseball ends with loss
5/27/12
Ask Hal: Imitation of others just part of the game
5/27/12
Trotwood's McCray gets OSU offer despite Michigan commit
5/27/12
Commentary: Hang in there, soccer parents
5/27/12
> More sports headlines

By Dann Stupp, Contributing Writer 1:16 AM Monday, October 11, 2010

The next stop on Rich Franklin’s long road to recovery is a highly anticipated Super Bowl weekend meeting with fellow ex-UFC champ Forrest Griffin.

The fighters, who are two of the UFC’s biggest fan favorites, are expected to co-headline a Feb. 5 UFC 127 event in Las Vegas. UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort likely will headline the pay-per-view event.

For Franklin (28-5), a West Chester Twp. resident, a victory over Griffin (17-6) could put him close to a title shot in a new weight class.

After losing his middleweight title and a rematch to Silva in 2007, Franklin moved up a weight class and is 3-2 over his past five fights.

However, with a June win over UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell and the possibility of defeating Griffin — a former light-heavyweight champ who also won the groundbreaking first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series — Franklin easily could be within reach of a title shot.

“Ace” turned 36 earlier this month, and though he has no plans for an imminent retirement, he does have a goal before he calls it quits.

“I really would like to win a title again,” Franklin said earlier this year.

“That’s what we’re in it for. That’s the goal. Hopefully, I can do it in a new weight class.”

Franklin hasn’t fought since the June victory over Liddell because of a broken arm he suffered while checking a high kick early in the fight. Franklin fought through the pain and ultimately scored a knockout late in the first round.

Initially, doctors didn’t rule out the possibility of surgery and the need to re-break and reset his left arm. But after wearing a full-arm cast — one that he and Liddell signed and auctioned off to benefit breast-cancer research — he learned the arm had healed correctly on its own.

“I’m excited to get back in there,” Franklin said in September while throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at Great American Ball Park.

“I never expected I’d miss punching someone in the face so much.”

Cincinnati’s Wilcox in Strikeforce main event

Thanks to a run of eight wins in nine fights, Justin Wilcox, a Cincinnati native who now trains with the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., is getting his first main-event slot on a Strikeforce card.

The organization announced this past week that Wilcox (9-3), a former collegiate wrestler, will headline Strikeforce Challengers 12 against Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (20-4) on Nov. 19 in Jackson, Miss.

The event airs live on Showtime.

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, voted best media outlet in the 2008 and 2009 World MMA Awards. For the latest mixed-martial-arts news, go to www.MMAjunkie.com.

Share this article