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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin is returning his former division this July, as the UFC announced on Sunday that he'll take on Cung Le at UFC 148 on July 7.
It's been almost four years and six fights since Franklin last fought at 185 lbs. He made the jump up to light heavyweight, and even fought a couple of times at a catchweight of 195 lbs., but he hasn't been at middleweight since defeating Travis Lutter at UFC 83 in April of 2008.
He's gone 3-3 since then, dropping decisions to Dan Henderson and most recently Forrest Griffin, as well as suffering a knockout at the hands of Vitor Belfort. Sprinkled in that stretch were a decision over Wanderlei Silva, as well as stoppage wins over Matt Hamill and Chuck Liddell.
Le, the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, made his UFC debut in November, and after a good start against Wanderlei Silva he was stopped in the second round in what was only the second loss of his career.
The UFC 148 event will come live on pay-per-view from Las Vegas, and is expected to be headlined by the UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Penick's Analysis: This is an inspired bit of matchmaking from Joe Silva. Neither Franklin or Le have a ton of fights left in their careers, so it's important to see them in interesting and intriguing fights. Franklin dropping back to middleweight for the first time in four years is a story, and it's a great matchup as well because both fighters are very much strikers first. Having Le's flashy style go up against Franklin's underrated power and technique makes for a highly intriguing matchup, and should lead to some definite fireworks inside of the Octagon this July. I love this fight, and I can't wait to see it on this major fourth of July weekend card.
[Rich Franklin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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