Two former champions who are still among the top light heavyweights in the world, Rich Franklin (24-3) and Dan Henderson (23-7), are slated to headline UFC 93 in a monster 205-pound showdown at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17.
Franklin rebounded from a crushing defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva (his second) at UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” back in 2007 to pound out Travis Lutter at UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2” in April of this year. He then followed up that appearance with another winning performance against Matt Hamill with a third round technical knockout at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” earlier this month.
“Ace” has been perfect inside the Octagon (11-0) with the exception of his two losses to “Spider.”
Henderson hasn’t had much luck against the Brazilian, either.
“Dangerous Dan” –- with his proven chin and prestigious Greco Roman wrestling pedigree –- was supposed to be the man to derail the seemingly invincible champion. And in the first round of their fight at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion,” Henderson appeared to be well on his way.
However, Silva came out in the second frame and finished Henderson with a submission (rear naked choke) -– the first time that the former Pride FC dual champion had been stopped early since 2005. He, too, rebounded from the loss at UFC 83, outpointing Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Rousimar Palharas on all three judges scorecards at UFC 88.
It was his first win inside the Octagon since 1998.
In any other promotion –- or if Silva was not in the UFC -– it’s likely that Franklin or Henderson would be middleweight champion. But now both fighters are competing in a heavier division. And there’s no telling if either fighter will continue to fight at middleweight moving forward.
However, Henderson — who simultaneously held both the Pride FC 205- and 183-pound titles — would be the more likely candidate to challenge the “Spider” anytime soon.
UFC 93 will also feature another light heavyweight showdown between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Mark Coleman. It is the first-ever event for the promotion in the region, airing on pay-per-view (PPV) at 10 p.m ET.
Stay tuned for more UFC 93 fight card updates.
75 Comments »
Henderson fought Palharas at UFC 88, not UFC 83.
he is talking about his loss to Anderson silva..which by the way MANIA….it happend at UFC 82 pride of a champion.
What are you talking about:
“Dangerous Dan” –- with his proven chin and prestigious Greco Roman wrestling pedigree –- was supposed to be the man to derail the seemingly invincible champion. And in the first round of their fight at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion,” Henderson appeared to be well on his way.
face smothering and LnP’ing is not the way “to derail a seemingly invincible champion.”
I believe Henderson’s best years are behind him, I say Franklin wins it.
in the paragraph after that i mean mania:
“However, Silva came out in the second frame and finished Henderson with a submission (rear naked choke) -– the first time that the former Pride FC dual champion had been stopped early since 2005. He, too, rebounded from the loss at UFC 83, outpointing Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Rousimar Palharas on all three judges scorecards at UFC 88.”
after the loss at ufc 83..he lost lost in ufc 82.
If this fight were to happen a few months ago, I’d give the edge to Franklin, but after watching Hendo beat Palhares like he did. This could be a very very close fight.
it really could go either way. Palhares fight was a real test to his cardio. he was all over him most of the time. i can still give the edge to Franklin…but i would be one bit surprise if hendo beat franklin. i don’t see this fight being finished it will go to a decision. but i know it will be exciting they way these two guys fight…very offensively.
yes yes yes yes yes yes…….FINALLY!!!
YES!!!! I need to take a deuce I’m so excited for this.
Amen!!!!!
about time!
ABOUT DAMN TIME IS RIGHT!!!!! Its kind of stupid that they wont fight at middleweight if you ask me, but I guess they had to accommodate both fighters. Rich has been putting on weight to compete at LHW and asking him to cut back down to 185 lb, would not have been right. With a win over Franklin at middleweight, I am certain that the UFC will boost Hendo’s middleweight ranking, and I am not sure how I feel about that.
Question: Should a win at LHW, boost a fighters middleweight ranking? I don’t know how I feel about it, but this is a special case involving 2 former middleweights, so I understand why the exception!
This is a fight many of us have wanted to see for years. The violentONE should be jumping for joy when he sees this one!
Yes…. a win is a win…. IMO it shouldn’t matter what weight class it happens in. For example if Anderson moves up in weight, I have no probelm giving him a title shot. Rich vs Hendo tough fight to call. Shogun vs Coleman is a weird matchup right now. A win for Shogun is needed badly which is why he gets Coleman. I say weird due to the fact that Shogun and Chuck were supposed to fight and now we get Coleman instead.
Why is Franklin going to fight in Ireland again? Does he have a large fan base in Ireland?
I like both of these guys. I think this is a very solid matchup and whoever is able to push their gameplan the best is going to win. If Hendo can keep the fight close and use the clinch he has a good shot at winning. If Franklin can find some space to unload some strikes he’s going to look good.
Should be fun.
This is to counter Affliction 2. So Hendo/Franklin on the card is a dream fight! This is what most of us have been waiting for!
YES!..This fight is long over due!!!I have wanted to see this fight for soooooo long now…
I agree with john, this fight should be at MW..I have always wanted this fight to happen at MW(to make it more even), but right now, it doesn’t even matter…
I was so mad that the UFC had Hendo and Frank on the same card not to long ago and I thought it was a slap in the face to the fans, to have them NOT fighting eachother….This makes up for it..I can’t wait!!
I think it should when they are both proven fighters and have both proven themselves at middleweight… to do otherwise would just pro-long matchups that we want to see… so I’m like u, there are exceptions especially for credible Champions and former Champions
i gotta go with franklin to win this one, great striking and cardio, coleman to win against shogun. is the gsp penn fight at 93 or 94?
94 on January 31.
thats my birthday!! haha! this is a tough fight to call, but i think Rich’s technique will overpower Hendo’s wild swinging. should be a REALLY good fight though. im excited for it.
oh, and shogun will destroy coleman.
Mark G….you are waaaay of. Hendo is definately the favourite although it will be a much closer fight than Shoguns annihilation of the old fart Coleman.
very interesting… so this fight will be in LHW division. If Henderson wins, he deserves a rematch with Silva. Does the fact that they’re fighting at LHW and not MW make a difference???
i am wondering the same thing dan seems to really want a rematch with silva and i dont see how fighting in the lhw division is going to help him get that. I have wanted to see this fight for a long time but i think it would make more sense at this time to have henderson fight marquardt with the winner earning their second shot at silva
Fighting at LHW will help Hendo because this is not college football rankings, the UFC does what ever they want. If Hendo fights when the UFC asks him to at LHW, they will scratch his back and get him his fight.
im pretty pumped for this fight. i think hendo wins by tko or ko but it could definatly go either way! are they fighting at 205 or 185?
no i guess it really doesnt matter what weight they fight at but i just wanted to know. hey i didnt know kimbo went to harvard???!!! (juuussstttt kiding)
Of course, Harvard is the name of a Miami club where they shoot porn.
Wow, awesome fight.
With Rampage/Wand moving to UFC 92, I hope they’re not going to simply “fill in” the undercard of the GSP/Penn ppv just because they know people will pay to see that fight regardless.
It would have been better if they put the Hendo/Franklin fight and the Shogun/Coleman fight on the UFC 94 card. I thought the idea was to have a stacked Super Bowl weekend card.
Been watching Dan since his early days in the UFC. I think Rich has the tools to take out Henderson in this match up. Having just recently been out of several training camps honing his wrestling (Okami, Lutter, Hamill) and having superior boxing skills, I see Rich outpointing Hendo.
I agree but if hendo ends up on top, Rich will be in for a long night.
I disagree. I think Dan will either outpoint Rich or tko him in the second.
I am calling Franklin in this one.
Im sorry….
10 bucks… ya…no???
if it was mw id go for franklin but i like henderson a lot better at lhw due to not having to cut so much weight(which franklin is a master at)hes more explosive and his cardio is better.people seem to forget franklin was dropped heavily by tanner and the crow and henderson probably hits harder than those two put together so im gonna go for a hendo ko/tko third round.
Sick Sick News! Been waiting a life time for this match up, should be at 185 though so hendo can ge ttha ttitle shot again but whatever its sytill gonna happen wooot!
Good fight, I see Franklin taking the decision though.
Rich has no chin, he will get KO’d in this fight. Dan will be to much.
then by that case alon he should have knocked out rampage,silva and palhares. Hendo;s hands only are able to work it KO magic if you sit there and try to brawl with him. as shown in the past you can out strike hendo it you play you technical card right. Franklin has great chin. he gets rockes but not KO too often….he took alonger sustained attack to the head than leben did with silva and rocked both time with louissue and Tanner but was able to recover lightnint quick..i can see rich franklin skill sets alot to out point hendo in this fight.
yea and Rich wasnt out cold like Leben, he was TKO’d….I’m gonna give Rich a slight advantage here…I know Dan is Dangerous, but I think he should have put his lat opponent away and he didnt
So is the BJ Penn/GSP fight still on? Does anyone know?
This is a pretty good card so far. Shogun will probably run through Coleman, but the Hendo/Franklin fight will be a great one. They are both on the comeback trail and have the skills to make this a brawl. Franklin needs to watch out for Hendos hands. If the fight goes to the ground, Hendo will probably have the advantage, but Franklin has good subs. So we’ll see!
But the BJ/GSP fight is the one i’m concerned about!
i think its gonna take place on the weekend of the superbowl. it should be a pretty stacked card for that event.
i dont know how stacked the card is going to be…with that being said it does have two super fights gsp vs. bj and machida vs. thiago silva i think if the ufc really wants this card to be huge they throw hughes vs. serra on their.
Fucking finally!! I’m not sure who’s gonna win, but I think Rich will be the betting favourite b/c he’s more known among UFC fans.
Wait, does this mean that Hendo is out for TUF?
Henderson by Gorilla Grip
makes sense with so many great fights including hughes vs serra these two matches could rack in some numbers
i am just skeptical that two pay per views in one month i know what to ask santa for xmas
So now thats Franklin Silva Henderson all running from Bisping!
So they have 93 confirmed, but yet nothing much on 92. If they want a big new years card they better start hyping it up.
um…
Frank Mir vs. Nog
Rampage vs. Wanderlei
Thiago vs. Lyoto
pretty good main card right there.
Also I think Rich wins this fight.
hey NC-17 where do you think a win over hendo at 205 would put him in the contendership picture…i really think the UFC is trying to set path (not an easy one) for Franklin to get a shot at 205 belt.
if Franklin defeats Dan Henderson, you can not tell me that a Lyoto Machida vs. Rich Franklin II does not happen to determine the true number 1 contender to Forrest Griffin/Rashad Evans.
This is a fight that makes perfect sense at middleweight, but has very little bearing on the light-heavyweight picture in my eyes.
The light-heavyweight division is the strongest in the UFC, too strong for either fighter to make a serious stake for the title, in my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, it is an interesting fight between two big names in MMA but if this is going to be a main event, I think it would be more interesting as a middleweight eliminator bout.
If it is a light-heavyweight fight, it should be a co-main event, with a bigger fight to headline i.e. Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell at LHW. A mismatch in all likelihood but a match that would get people interested going & watching the event.
It’s great that the UFC are committed to putting on shows in the UK and Ireland regularly, but are they giving overseas fans fights they deserve? At times, I get the feeling we are being sold short.
I like Hendo n i really wanna c dis fight with Franklin. Dis shud b a war but i have to go for Hendo.
Can’t wait for it!!!!!!!!
Who said they’d put on a crap show in Ireland hah?
This is gonna be unreal to be at
It’s looking good so far isn’t it. The kind of owe us for the farce that was 72. That being said the undercard was savage at 72.
*They kind of owe us.*
helll yeaaa! champion vs champion! been waiting for this 1 a lonnngg time. OH BOY!… best day of my life. lol
Great Fight
This is an absolute dream fight. ive wanted these two to fight eachother since Rich was champ. It will be an intertaining fight no noubt. i think Henderson will win by Decision. Any other predictions???? anyone.
even though franklin is KOable, I’m gonna give him the slight advantage. his striking looked refined and he has some jitz skills. i don’t think hendo’s striking is technical enough and never seen franklin get subbed or pounded out, even though Hammil was gnping him for a moment. Hendo bullying Franklin for 3 rounds is a possibility too.
Franklin by decision , or and I might seem crazy for saying this but sub. just cause a sub would be entirely un predictable but there is still a possibility that it could happen IMO.
Finally this fight happens instead of this bisping hype garbage, Hendo needs this if he wants a Silva rematch and he needs to win this convincingly.
this is a MW dream fight! why is it at 205 pounds!!
Man I can’t wait to see this fight and for some reason I’m glas its at 205. I’m a fan of both but I’m giving the edge to Hendo. I think he has more ways to win in this match-up. he knocked out Wandy so he could for sure ko Franklin. He also is a better wrestler than Franklin and could take him down and work on him. The only way I see Franklin winning is out pointing him in a decision. And dam!!! this is like a mega fight, it should be 5 rounds. This could be a war!!
holy shit on this one!! this is awesome. and who cares if its at 185 or 205 if they both agree to fight at 205. im giving a slight edge to franklin. hendo looked good in his last fight, but he’s starting to get the old man legs.
with this matchup maybe we could see bisping marquardt if he gets past leben
god this took way too long to happen, one of my dream fights! go hendo
do they the ufc really think they can have 2 pay per views in one month not to mention affliction’s ppv too. one of those pay per views better be free because they will see a drop in numbers in one of them isnt
theis fight either ends hendo by tko or split either way hendo is going to be the favorite
great fights for the british fans allbeit im a little suprised!!
Im just really annoyed and disappointed that we are not going to get to see chuck liddell over here once again!! Prob never will now which is a real shame as chuck liddell would certainly be the name that would excite and promote a huge card over here!! unless Dana is feeling really generous, that would be amazing, and lets face it we deserve a HUGE card over here!!
If you cant get up for this fight then just turn in your man card and go home. Both guys have the cardio for a 3 round war. I will root for Ace, but my gut says Hendo by decision.
The Henderson/Palhares fight was so boring. Henderson didnt do shit neither did Palhares. Henderson sucks, he always says he cant see himself losing, and see what happend with Silva.
This is a tough one to call. In the same way Even tanner dropped Rich, I can easily see Hendo catching him if Rich is not careful, but besides that I give the slight edge in stand up to Rich. Rich’s head pushing take down defense when someone has a single leg on him is awesome, but having said that I think Hendo will be albe to deal with that just fine, but the thing is on the ground I think Hendo will just hold dominante position with minimal damage, peole underestimate Rich’s ground game.
So basically, slight advantage Rich in stand up, slight advantage Hendo on ground and clinch. Tough one to call.