According to Adam Martin of The MMA Show, former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin is rumored to being targeted as Vitor Belfort’s replacement on June 23rd at UFC 147 against Wanderlei Silva in Brazil.
The Franklin-Silva matchup would be a rematch from UFC 99 which seen Franklin and Silva go toe-to-toe in a Fight of the Night battle that seen Franklin pick up the win by unanimous decision.
The question that remains about this rumor actually coming true is if Franklin will be ready in time, as he is scheduled to face former-Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le at UFC 148 on July 7th.
UFC 147 is two weeks before Franklin’s scheduled bout, and seeing that Franklin is coming off of an injury and has not fought since February of 2011, it may be difficult for him to speed up his camp to be ready in time for the matchup.
If Franklin is scheduled to face Silva instead of Le, Cung Le would need an opponent for UFC 148 and we could see the likes of Alan Belcher, Tom Lawler, or Ronny Markes step in to fight Le on short notice.
Stay tuned for more details about this rumor and more UFC 147, as well as UFC 148, news.
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