UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson

Coming off the heels of two mega-cards in UFC 91 and 92, the UFC is heading to Dublin, Ireland for UFC 93 on Jan 17 headlined by two of the top former middleweights now meeting at 205 lbs.  Rich Franklin, run out of the 185 lbs division by two losses to Anderson Silva, has moved up to light heavyweight where he started in the UFC.  Last August, he soundly beat Matt Hamill and with a win over Hendo, Franklin will rocket up the ranks with perhaps only one more fight between himself and a title shot.  As for Henderson, he is coming off his first victory in the Octagon in some time where he defeated Rouismar Paulharas.  Henderosn is the only man in MMA history to hold two belts in two different weight classes simultaneously when he was in Pride (he ended Wanderlei Silva's 5-year reign as the Pride 205 lbs champ).  Henderson's first two fights back in the UFC were unifying his two belts with Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva.  He lost both fights.  So Henderson has a lot to prove.  I don't like his chances at 205, I think Franklin is too big and too dynamic at that weight, and no matter what the UFC says, Henderson is better at 185.  But it will be a tremendous fight and a battle between the Striker (Franklin) and the Wrestler (Hendo).  I am really looking forward to this fight, and I see Franklin moving up the 205 ranks while Hendo goes back to 185 and coaches the next Ultimate Fighter setting up a big fight with Michael Bisping.

Here is the full preview, and the full card below:

UFC 93: FRANKLIN VS. HENDERSON
Main Card
Light Heavyweight:  Rich "Ace" Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
Light Heavyweight:  Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark "The Hammer" Coleman
Middleweight:  Alan "The Talent" Belcher vs. Denis Kang
Middleweight:  Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares
Welterweight:  "The Irish Hand Grenade" Marcus Davis vs. Chris "Lights Out" Lytle
Preliminary Card
Welterweight:  Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann vs. Alexandre Barros
Light Heavyweight:  Eric "Rd" Schaffer vs. Antonio Mendes
Light Heavyweight:  Tomas Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
Welterweight:  Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
Lightweight:  Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr