The first encounter, at UFC 99 / Publicity photo
To compensate for one former champion not being able to face Wanderlei Silva, the UFC top brass acted quick and came up with another ex-champ to fight at UFC 147 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 23.
Rich Franklin overcame Wand by a narrow decision the first and only time they fought, back in 2009 at UFC 99, and he was America’s darling before taking merciless beating twice from Anderson Silva back in 2006.
Franklin joining the fray hence makes sense to Brazilian fans, who were hoping for a marquee showdown, and it strengthens the card for pay-per-view sales.
UFC 147
Mineirinho Stadium, BH, Brazil
June 23, 2012
Wanderlei Silva vs Rich Franklin
Fabricio Werdum vs Mike Russow
Yuri Alcantara vs Hacran Dias
Milton Vieira vs Felipe Arantes
Francisco Massaranduba vs Leonardo Macarrão
TUF featherweight finalists
TUF middleweight finalists