German MMA fans should be getting excited as UFC 99 is quickly becoming filled with excellent fight matchups.
Yesterday news surfaced of an expected matchup between Caol Uno and Spencer Fisher while Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic hinted that he will also make his return at UFC 99 this June.
Today, reports are now surfacing that former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PrideFC middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva are expected to fight in Cologne as well.
After losing twice to current middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Franklin made the decision to move up to the light heavyweight division where he started his UFC career.
Wanderlei Silva, on the other hand, has expressed his desire to drop to the middleweight division after losing two of his first three UFC fights at light heavyweight.
MMAWeekly.com is suggesting the potential fight between former champions may not take place in either weight-class, and may be contested at a catch-weight instead. A middle ground weight of approximately 195 pounds, may suit both fighters equally as well and provide a good setting for a marquee matchup.
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Heres another no win situation for me, I was a Wandy fan before Franklin so i will go with senority in this fight. Plus Wandy has had alot of losses on his record lately and who know, the UFC might do something ridiculous like release him from his contract. Rich still has alot of slack before hes in jeopardy of losing his job, the UFC loves him, hes a great embassador for the sport, american as apple pie, etc..
Its kinda funny how Rich is bigger than Wandy and yet fights at a lighter division, now theyre meeting in the middle lol, it just seems strange to me.
gotta root for Wand in this one, i am a fan of Rich but im a WAY bigger fan of Wanderlei. im not sure ether guy is on the chopping block just yet, i think both are the type of fighters with enough fan appeal/support that both will leave the UFC because they want to (retirement/greener pastures) not because the UFC wants them gone.
I haven’t got a clue as to who is gonna win, Wand has to be able to overcome the mental aspects of getting knocked out severely 3 of his last 4… that’s tough to overcome… but I also know that there was one thing, and only one thing that lost him the fight with Jackson.. Dropping his right while throwing his left, its an amateur mistake that will get you knocked out in a fight with large fighters, and both Wand and Chuck think like champs but are performing like they are… somewhat worn…. therefore they need to both stop fighting with an open guard and with their hands below their chins and learn to cover, duck, in out, and return their guard hand to hand like clockwork.. basic crap that they dropped as they became more and more successful and dominant.
If they both fix that and for chuck, if he can mix it up with kicks again… then they can both make one last run.. but if they don’t we will see them both getting dropped in their next fights and Wand will be gone if he get’s ko’ed in this one, absolutely, you cannot have a guy, no matter how great, coming out and getting ko cold in the first 1 round on multiple occasions it just cannot happen… sorry… he loses credibility with the less learned fan base, and he becomes a drag on the budget when the UFC is cutting fighters, and a guy like Wandy rakes in $250 a fight to get ko’ed? C’mon that wont work boys.
Wand has to win, again, and he has put himself in this spot, nobody else, I am his fan, big fan, but both he and BJ gotta face some realities and get mean again and get some things changed in their camps and in their methods and fight games…
excellent points on all counts. i wasnt really thinking about it from the dollars and cents point of view, when a big money fighter stop packing the house…. i hope to hell Wand puts on a great show, why cant they toss him a can at least once?!?!
Yeah, he needs a Yushin Okami or something.. get his confidence up, and it gives him the opportunity to fine tune his defense against a somewhat reputable opponent…