Prior to Dan Henderson’s big knockout victory over Michael Bisping, Henderson said he would move back up to light heavyweight if a win didn’t earn him an immediate title shot.
Well, Hendo won, but he’s not getting his title shot and he’s keeping his word, because the UFC just announced that he’ll be headlining UFC 103 in a rematch against Rich Franklin.
Their first bout split the mixed martial arts community, making it obvious that they needed more than 15 minutes to settle their score. On Saturday, September 19th, UFC superstars Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin will meet again in the main event of UFC 103 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, with Henderson looking to make it 2-0 over the former middleweight champ, and Franklin trying to even things up with the former two division PRIDE champion.
Obvious? Seriously? Ugh, I don’t know about you, but as close as their first fight was, I don’t remember anyone clamoring for a rematch. At least I wasn’t. Their first fight didn’t really have anything on the line besides a TUF 9 coaching spot which neither really wanted, and this one doesn’t appear to either. Since it’s been booked at light heavyweight, neither man is going to earn a title shot with a win, so it begs the question, why should we care? Not that every fight has to mean something, but this is the headliner and a fight we saw six months ago, so it should have a little more on the line than your average fight. Don’t get me wrong, both Rich and Dan are incredible fighters, but I would have rather seen Rich fight Tito Ortiz or even Luiz Cane.
In other UFC 103 news, the UFC also announced that newly re-signed Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic will in fact take on Junior dos Santos. Now, that’s a fight I can get excited for.
Image via CombatLifestyle.com
Update: To clarify, the UFC didn’t say what weight class the Franklin-Hendo fight would be at, but MMA Weekly said they confirmed it for 205. However, Rich is saying now he doesn’t even know if it’s 185 or 205 though he “assumes” it’s at 205. I suppose it’s possible MMA Weekly was misinformed, but chances are they weren’t. We’ll let you know either way.
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I can’t believe this…I was soooooo ready for a rematch vs Anderson Silva! This fight is a waste and just another thing the UFC is doing for money.
i too want to see rich and tito fight and hendo fight silva, hes ready for it
On more thing…does anyone think Hendo will get a title shot after this and have to drop down to 185lbs??? Or is he just stuck at 205 now…
Who knows…think Dana said Bisping-Henderson winner would get title shot at one point and obviously that didn’t happen. They’ll change plans to suit their needs. Timing is an important factor as any. Shogun is a good example of that.
silva cant be available right now at 185, he is in the process of cleaning up the light heavy weight division. sadly as good as he is, and @#%^ he is tuff! dan henderson is pissing in the wind against silva atm. silva is in a surpant like zone. un-touchable. i would go as far to say if he reached 225 he could topple lesnar.