Rich Franklin is still somewhat relevant in the UFC with wins over Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hammill, and a close decision loss to Dan Henderson. Chuck Liddell however has been on the receiving end of some brutal KO's as of late and has to win on Saturday to stay in the game at all. Chucky boy's chin is not what it used to be that is for sure and although we haven't seen a KO from Franklin in a while he still has the tools to do it.
Liddell looks ripped in recent photos and people are saying that he is more ready than he has ever been for a fight, but that kind of talk is constant in promoting a fight especially with one fighter who is on the down slide. Chuck did not look terrible in his fights before getting KTFO'd but he didn't look stellar either.
Bottom line in my eyes is that Chuck's Chin is suspect and he hasn't been able to keep up with the fighters of the current era as well as Rich Franklin has. Neither of these fighters will be champions in the UFC, but they are great personalities and beloved by fans so any fight will draw attention. I give this one to Rich via decision. Chuck won't be brutally removed from consciousness, but he wont win either and Rich will go on to be a high level gatekeeper that will continue putting on good fights with people on his level while losing to the upper echelon in the game.
The full fight card is below with each fighters weight from the weigh ins today:
Jesse Lennox 170 vs. Mike Pyle 170
Claude Patrick 170 vs. Ricardo Funch 170
Peter Sobotta 171 vs. James Wilks 170
David Loiseau 185 vs. Mario Miranda 186
Matt Wiman 156 vs. Mac Danzig 156
Evan Dunham 155 vs. Tyson Griffin 154
Martin Kampmann 170 vs. Paulo Thiago 170
Rory MacDonald 170 vs. Carlos Condit 170
Gilbert Yvel 242 vs. Ben Rothwell 264
Pat Barry 248 vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic 235
Rich Franklin 205 vs. Chuck Liddell 205
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