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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Rich Franklin has been out of action since a decision loss to Forrest Griffin last February, but he's getting back into the cage this summer when he moves back to the middleweight division against Cung Le. In moving back to 185 lbs., Franklin is hoping to put together one final run at a UFC title before he finishes his MMA career.
"The great Cinderella story would be for me to drop to 185 and make a run for the title," Franklin said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I can't say I haven't thought about that. But I don't want to put the carriage before the horse. I have a tough opponent in front of me, and I really need to focus on that fight first and get some momentum going."
It would be an incredible feat for Franklin to get himself back into a title fight four and a half years after his last bout with Anderson Silva, but he knows it's not going to be an easy task. First up is former Strikeforce Champ Le, who presents quite a few different challenges for Franklin, and he isn't looking past that.
"This is not an easy fight," he said. "He's southpaw, and I've historically had problems with southpaws. So this will be a good challenge for me to come back at 185."
Penick's Analysis: It's going to take several wins in a row to get him back there, but moving back to middleweight gives him the most realistic chance to make a run for a title fight. His three most recent losses have come at light heavyweight or the 195 lb. catchweight he fought at a couple of times, and the middleweight division isn't really teeming with challengers right. A win over Le, followed by impressive wins over a couple of names higher up the ranks, could just get him fighting for the belt once more. I don't think anyone would believe a bout with Anderson Silva would be any different than their first two at this point, but if he's going to make a Cinderella run, an upset of Silva would be one hell of a way to cap it off.
[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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