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MMA fighter Franklin looking for title at more comfortable 205

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By Dann Stupp, Contributing Writer 8:58 PM Sunday, June 6, 2010

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin is on a quest to win another title before he calls it quits on his illustrious career.

The 35-year-old West Chester Twp. resident headlines the UFC 115 pay-per-view event on Saturday, June 12, at GM Place in Vancouver. Franklin (26-5) takes on fellow ex-champ Chuck Liddell (21-7).

Franklin, whose past two outings have been 195-pound catchweight fights, has always been a company man. But he said he’s ready to make the 205-pound light-heavyweight division his permanent home.

“I’m just kind of the type of person who does what the UFC needs, but we’ve been put in the direction of 205 (pounds),” he said. “My plan is to stay there. “

Franklin, who won the UFC’s 185-pound middleweight title during an eight-fight win streak from 2004 to 2006, eventually lost his belt (and a rematch) to current champ and MMA kingpin Anderson Silva.

That’s when — on the advice of UFC officials, who didn’t want to see a third meeting — Franklin moved up in weight. Now committed to the division and with the catchweight fights behind him, he wants to make a run in the highly competitive 205-pound division.

“(Winning a championship) is always the goal,” he said. “It’s nice to put on some big fights and stuff like that. ... But catchweight fights are the kind of things you want in the past, and you want to look toward the title.”

Liddell is 1-4 in his past five fights; Franklin has lost two of three. With fans and possibly UFC officials wondering if their best days are behind them, both fighters know a victory is mandatory on Saturday.

UFC 115 also features a co-headliner between heavyweights Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (26-7-2) and Pat Barry (5-1). Additionally, Paulo Thiago (13-1) meets Martin Kampmann (16-3) in a bout with welterweight title implications.

Xenia’s Brown added  to UFC 116 PPV card

Xenia native and current UFC welterweight Matt Brown will be part of UFC 116’s pay-per-view main card, after all. Brown (11-8), who has resurrected his career with a 4-2 mark in the UFC, takes on Indianapolis firefighter Chris Lytle (28-17) at the July 3 event in Las Vegas.

The bout initially was slated for the unaired preliminary card, but after some shuffling, recently was promoted to the PPV main card.

That’s good news for Brown; UFC 116 is expected to garner one of the largest PPV crowds in UFC history because of the night’s main event between heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar (4-1) and interim title-holder Shane Carwin (12-0).

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.

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