If you watched last night’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter”, then you know that the show ended with the least surprising ‘shocking conclusion’ in history, as Rich Franklin was revealed as Tito Ortiz’s replacement. Due to the fact that cat scurried out of the bag several weeks ago, as the world over knows that Franklin will face Chuck Liddell June 12th at UFC 115, the TUF camera crew’s ‘who’s this guy walking up’ shoe shot didn’t exactly hit a homerun.
At any rate, in 9 days, two of the promotion’s most popular ex-champs in “Ace” and “The Iceman” will throw down, and really, a one-sided loss for either dude could be catastrophic career wise (more so for Chuck yes). It’s probably safe to say that this one will go down as a striking affair, and while speaking to The Mirror recently, Franklin shared a few keys to the bout.
“We have to make sure I’m razor-sharp in what I’m doing and that there is not any moment of timidness in my motion so that I just move in fluid and land the punches or the kicks I need to land.”…”As time progresses I tend to accelerate as a fighter and Chuck tends to slow down and things are going to start to play in my favour.”
Power advantage to Liddell; speed and conditioning to Franklin? Sounds reasonable. To bet on the upcoming bout head here.