UFC 147: Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, Franklin steps in for injured Vitor Belfort

Written by Jason Gittens Wednesday, 30 May 2012 14:35

Well it looks like Wanderlei Silva has a new opponent for the main event of UFC 147 in Blo Horizonte Brazil June 23rd. And that opponent is none other than the UFC’s ex-middleweight champion Rich Franklin.

The UFC announced the new main event today, stating:

UFC 147 now has a new five-round main event, as former middleweight champion Rich Franklin will face "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva in a 190-pound catchweight feature. The two first met at UFC 99 in Germany, where Franklin earned a decision win and both men took home Fight of the Night bonuses.
Silva was originally set to face fellow TUF Brasil coach Vitor Belfort in a rematch of their 1998 UFC Brazil bout, but a hand injury forced Belfort to withdraw from the event.

Sadly I believe that the heart of this event has been torn out of it turned it into a very toothless event with the loss of Belfort. UFC 147 is now pretty much devoid of any really interesting match-up’s for fans, which will make is almost assuredly a low drawing event for viewers. With odd match ups like Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow set as the co-main event and the rest of the fighters virtually unknown to most MMA fans, casual or hardcore, it doesn’t realy look like it’s going to be a successful event.

It's rumored that this fight will be at a catchweight of 190lbs

Franklin was scheduled to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 133 on August 6, but Nogueira was forced off the card due to a shoulder injury. The UFC was unable to find a suitable replacement on such short notice, so they decided to pull Franklin from the card as well. Franklin is 4-3 in his last 7 fights and lost his last fight to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126 way back in February of 2011.

Franklin was supposed to be fighting Cung Le at UFC 148 in his return to the middleweight division. Where this leaves Cung Le remains to be seen.