Rich Franklin comments on Wanderlei Silva rematch in UFC 147 headliner

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin has a well deserved reputation as a "company man" for the UFC. On numerous occasions, Franklin has tried to help the UFC make the most out of bad positions by taking fights on short notice, or moving into a different fight than he had planned to fill a spot.

He did just that again this week, moving up from a fight with Cung Le at UFC 148 to a five round main event fight against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 in Brazil.

The fight is a rematch of a main event the two fighters had in Germany at UFC 99, a bout Franklin won by unanimous decision. Commenting on the fight itself this week, Franklin - who has been out of action for 16 months - says he's just happy to be back.

"I'm happy to be back, and in a big fight," he said in a statement released by the UFC. "I was happy it was five rounds. I didn't ask for it to be three rounds. Fighting five rounds is more about how you pace the fight, not what you do in training."

"The first fight [at UFC 99] was great, and I think a lot of fans will be expecting another great fight," he continued. "Wanderlei fought me tooth and claw when we went at it in Germany, and he'll be even more motivated fighting in front of the Brazilian fans."

"I think Wanderlei is a different fighter than he was when we fought at UFC 99, and I think I am too. But I think every fighter is different fight to fight. How I fight one night is different to how I fight the next time I am in the Octagon. That said, you pretty much know what he's going to do and you pretty much know what I am going to do in there. I think the first fight showed our styles match up for a great fight. I'm ready for Wanderlei and Brazil."

Penick's Analysis: Fans are more than likely fine with the fight itself; the first one was entertaining, and this fight surely will be as well. However, the fact that this fight is headlining a pay-per-view card in 2012 is ridiculous, and though there were a lot of outside factors that led to this being the top fight on the card, asking fans to pay $55 for what is essentially a Brazilian Ultimate Fighter Finale card is going to lead to the worst buyrate in the Ultimate Fighter era of the UFC. Franklin stepping up helped the UFC put a fight atop the card so it wasn't out and out canceled, but this is not a fight that people are going to be paying to see, especially when it's taking place in Brazil.

[Rich Franklin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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