Hendo-Franklin 2 Announced for UFC 103

Shogun Locc · Jul 20, 2009

Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin will go at it again in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 103 on Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The promotion announced the tilt –- a rematch of their first encounter at UFC 93 last January in Dublin, Ireland -- on UFC.com Monday. Henderson bested Franklin in their first 205-pound contest via split decision.

The bout will be the first on a new multi-fight contract Henderson agreed to with the promotion over the weekend, Sherdog.com has learned.

The 38-year-old Henderson (25-7), a two-division Pride champion, is riding high after his second-round knockout of rival “Ultimate Fighter” coach Michael Bisping at UFC 100 on July 11.

Former middleweight champion Franklin (25-2) earned a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva in a 195-pound bout at UFC 99 last June in Cologne, Germany. Franklin out-maneuvered the Brazilian brawler with a well-executed game plan.

BROWN GUERRERO · Jul 20, 2009

MOREBASS · Jul 20, 2009

What the fuck ? Is this a stay busy for Hendo ? Cause he earned another shot at that muhfuckin belt !

Jaysav · Jul 20, 2009

Yeah this is bullshit. We just saw this fight in January.

Neshani · Jul 20, 2009

Two thumbs down. Sounds like Hendo is getting fucked over. I say give him a shot at the belt, or at the very least have him fight Forrest after he fights Silva.

B-Buzz · Jul 20, 2009

I was hoping Rich would fight Banha Cane. UFC sucks when they pass up good fights for more marketable (names people have heard of) ones.

naner12 · Jul 20, 2009

B-Buzz said:

I wasn't. If anyone saw me and 2-0 going back and forth about the rushing of Gamboa (boxing) knows I'm not a fan of rushing fighters to the top. I like the way Cane is being matched up currently.

I'd rather see Cane fight a guy like Thiago Silva before being thrown up the ranks.

EDIT: and yeah this is a stupid rematch.

B-Buzz · Jul 20, 2009

I like when guys are brought along slowly too, but Cane hasn't fought since April and I was hoping they'd see that if he beat Rich on a main event they would have another contender for Machida since Rich probably won't be one. The guy's beat the shit out of everyone he's fought besides Cantwell who's really underrated. Thiago's really the only other guy I could see him fighting in the mid-levels, but he's fighting Jardine at 102. Maybe the winner of that or the winner of Vera-K Sos, but then that's another 3 months. I'd like to see him fight Houston but he doesn't deserve a big fight like that. They could put him against Bones Jones but that would be like Carwin-Cain where an insanely good prospect is going to get set back...

naner12 · Jul 20, 2009

B-Buzz said:

I agree mostly with this post. There's a few other guys I wouldn't mind seeing him against besides Thiago.

Jason Brilz .. a strong wrestler with good control, can wear people down and submit you when you get tired.

Tomasz Drwal .. a face first brawler who even though lost to Silva would be a good fight for Cane to see where he stands when someone's coming at him (also a better fighter than Houston Alexander.)

Eric Schafer .. strong submissions & always comes out aggressive in the first round.

B-Buzz · Jul 20, 2009

*mmaplayground has Drwal fighting McFedries at 103. They're usually pretty good with those, no idea if it'd be at 185 or 205, but I saw that earlier and didn't bring it up in my post even though I agree with you.

Schafer's fighting Bader at 104.

Brilz hasn't impressed me, he beat Boetsch which anyone can do if you get past the 1st round and he has a heart attack.

I'm not trying to argue with you, just saying the way I saw it in my head was it was the perfect time for Banha to get a big fight. Instead they decided to put on a fight that just happened 7 months ago that wasn't controversial or anything, and delays a MW title fight. So I guess I would like to see Bones vs. Banha even though it'd push one of them back, just because that fight would be amazing.

*haha I just saw they added Cantwell vs. Stann III for the next fight night, badass.

naner12 · Jul 20, 2009

B-Buzz said:

*mmaplayground has Drwal fighting McFedries at 103. They're usually pretty good with those, no idea if it'd be at 185 or 205, but I saw that earlier and didn't bring it up in my post even though I agree with you.

Schafer's fighting Bader at 104.

Brilz hasn't impressed me, he beat Boetsch which anyone can do if you get past the 1st round and he has a heart attack.

I'm not trying to argue with you, just saying the way I saw it in my head was it was the perfect time for Banha to get a big fight. Instead they decided to put on a fight that just happened 7 months ago that wasn't controversial or anything, and delays a MW title fight. So I guess I would like to see Bones vs. Banha even though it'd push one of them back, just because that fight would be amazing.

*haha I just saw they added Cantwell vs. Stann III for the next fight night, badass.

I'm not checking just kind of throwing out names. I think it's a stupid rematch also especially after Henderson just threw himself back in title contention at middleweight.

lenbiasyayo · Jul 20, 2009

god dam hendo better finish rich , rich is so boring and never beat a real savage

Shogun Locc · Jul 21, 2009

Rich Franklin "assuming" UFC 103 fight with Dan Henderson at 205 pounds

A recently announced UFC 103 main event between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, two fighters who have bounced between the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions, will likely be contested at 205 pounds.

While a guest on today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Franklin said he hasn't been told definitely but that he's "assuming" the fight will be at light heavyweight.

On Monday the UFC announced the surprise booking, which is a rematch from the first Franklin vs. Henderson fight that took place in January at UFC 93, but didn't specify the weight for the bout.

Henderson won the first meeting via split decision, and the second fight takes place Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Franklin vs. Henderson II and four other main-card bouts air on pay-per-view.

"I'm assuming (it's at) 205," Henderson of the UFC 103 bout. "The last one was at 205. I'd guess that – I haven't spoken to anyone about it, so anything I say is only speculation."

Franklin, a former UFC middleweight champion, moved to the light-heavyweight division a year ago after losing his belt. He defeated Matt Hamill via TKO in his first fight back at 205, and after the loss to Henderson, he agreed to a catch-weight bout (at 195 pounds) with Wanderlei Silva, whom he defeated via unanimous decision in the UFC 99 main event.

Henderson, meanwhile, recently defeated rival Michael Bisping at UFC 100. The fight was contested at 185 pounds, and though Bisping was promised a title shot should he emerge victorious, Henderson didn't get the guarantee after his brutal knockout win. While still hopeful he'd get a second shot at Anderson Silva's belt (Henderson was submitted in their first meeting at UFC 82), the Team Quest fighter will first need to fight Franklin.

Franklin said he thinks the UFC 103 fight will take place at 205 pounds partially because it shouldn't hurt Henderson's place in the middleweight division.

"Even if he lost to me at 205, it shouldn't affect his standing at 185 pounds," Franklin said. "So I'd assume the UFC would do this fight at 205."

Franklin left Las Vegas a few days ago after meeting with UFC president Dana White for a new six-fight deal that will go into effect for UFC 103. While a few potential UFC 103 bouts were discussed, he said he was surprised by yesterday's announcement.

"I left Vegas thinking the fight with Henderson wouldn't materialize," Franklin said. "I found out by being woken up by a text (message) yesterday. ... I was taking a nap on the couch and had about 50 messages when I woke up.

"The UFC had announced it without telling me. My group of people were some of the last to know."

Still, he said such a series of events isn't that unusual.

"I've never really said no to anyone they've wanted me to fight," he said.

BROWN GUERRERO · Jul 25, 2009

Looks like Dana is beefing up 103(possibly to compete with Mayweather?). He said on ESPN radio that he will give the fans the main event they want to see. Lots of rumors hinting at

Tito Ortiz vs Rich Franklin
Dan Henderson vs Vitor Belfort

If this comes true its going to be a sick ass card.

naner12 · Jul 25, 2009

BROWN GUERRERO said:

I'd rather it be reversed since Hendo and Belfort already fought in a stalemated clean win for Hendo .. but it's still pretty nice if true.

BROWN GUERRERO · Jul 25, 2009

naner12 said:

I personally would too but I think it wouldn't make much sense since Franklin is trying to make a permanent move to light heavyweight and Vitor is a middleweight but I agree. Either way if this comes true its going to be a sick card.

Tito Ortiz vs Rich Franklin
Dan Henderson vs. Vitor Belfort
Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick
Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin

lenbiasyayo · Jul 25, 2009

i really hate tito but i like to watch him get his ass smashed! them fights could make a nice ppv^^

B-Buzz · Jul 25, 2009

it fucking dawned on me today for the first time, but I really really want to see Vitor vs. Nick in strikeforce

hitthegas · Jul 26, 2009

tight swick is one of my favorite fighters to watch

Hendo-Franklin 2 Announced for UFC 103

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