Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin stole the show at UFC 147 Saturday night. It was Franklin who defeated Silva, but it was a great battle to watch.
Now that both aging stars put on a quality performance, where do they go from here?
I’ll tell you.
Wanderlei Silva
Silva looked better than he has in years when he fought Franklin at UFC 147. He had vicious power and intensity, and he took a few more shots that didn’t seem to bother him as much as we have seen in the past.
It now leaves the door open for his immediate future.
Where He Goes Next
It depends on where he chooses to go next with his career. He could have one more fight, a couple more fights or just retire altogether.
I’m more in the line of though that he will participate in a couple more fights, however.
The UFC hasn’t been great to Silva in terms of success. He has endured his share of struggles in the company, so I can see him wanting to grab another victory to tuck in his belt before heading into retirement.
At 35, Silva still has some years left in him if he decides to go that route. It may not be several fights per year, but maybe two would be an ideal number.
You will see Silva in the Octagon at least one more time in his career.
Rich Franklin
Franklin’s value as a fighter in the UFC never has been lower than it was before UFC 147. However, with a victory that made him look younger, more agile, quicker and improved cardiovascularly, he has a few more quality fights left in the tank.
After falling off the map for a little while in the UFC, Franklin now has a little momentum heading into potential future fights in the company.
They are fights that I think he will take on.
Where He Goes Next
Franklin will look to fight in the relative future. Who, where and when will all be decided sometime, but he’s not done quite yet.
It’s like that older athlete who has a great performance in one game or a solid year and believes he could follow it up. At age 37, Franklin just had that solid performance, and he too believes he can follow it up with another one.
Why not? He looked pretty good Saturday night.
He could do it at least one more time.
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