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Franklin came up on the losing end of a split
decision against Dan Henderson in January, and is now set
for a retribution match against “The Axe Murderer.”
If Wanderlei is able to get past Franklin, the inevitable
outcome is a match between him and Anderson soon afterward,
despite consensus (even Wanderlei’s own) that he should wait
in line alongside other competitors for his rightful crack
at Anderson’s throne.
Even if Wanderlei doesn’t win, on what will soon be
considered “grudge match” pretense alone, these two seem
destined to fight. Recently, Wanderlei commented on former
Chute Boxe teammate Rafael Cordeiro training Anderson Silva
for an upcoming match, and considered that fine. He stated
that he had no problems with any such thing, echoing that
his relationship with Rafael and many of his former Chute
Boxe teammates is still strong.
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Cain
Velasquez (5-0) Vs. mixed martial arts veteran Heath Herring
(28-14).
Heath Herring “The Texas Crazy Horse” has not seen action
since a unanimous decision loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 87:
“Seek and Destroy” back in August 2008. He sustained a
serious eye injury during the fight, which required him to
remain on the sidelines for the remainder of the 2009 fight
season.
Herring has had mixed results, losing three fights and
winning two. He has gone the distance in all five of those
fights. Drawing a fighter with a strong wrestling background
who keeps the pedal to the metal throughout the fight such
as Velasquez is going to be difficult to handle.
However, Herring has been in against the best in the
business and is very capable wherever the fight ends up.
This is a big fight for Cain. If he can get past Herring–and
looks good doing it–he’ll definitely be in title contention.
But Herring’s no walkover. He’s fought everybody, and I mean
everybody in MMA, and he brings a tremendous experience
advantage into the Octagon against the 26 year old
Velasquez. The UFC has long been
working on other territories across the globe—including
Mexico, the Philippines, France, Dubai, Australia, and
several other territories—so it is likely that there will be
several other announcements of expansion in the near future.
MAIN CARD
Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders
Cain Velasquez vs. Heath Herring
Coal Uno vs. Spencer Fisher
Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy
PRELIMINARY CARD
Paul Taylor vs. Peter Sobotta
Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim
Dale Hartt vs. Denis Siver
Roli Delgado vs. Paul Kelly
Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve
Mustapha al Turk vs. Todd Duffee
John Hathaway vs. Rick Story |
