DANN STUPP MIXED MARTIAL ARTS INSIDER
DALLAS — In the post-event press conference following his UFC 103 main-event loss to Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin had few answers.
UFC president Dana White didn’t have many either.
But despite Franklin (25-5), a former UFC middleweight champion, suffering a first-round knockout loss to Belfort (19-8) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, his future with the organization is secure.
Even if his exact place in it remains uncertain.
“Rich Franklin is one of those guys when I talk about people who I feel that have been loyal to me and people that I feel have helped build this company over the past few years – Rich Franklin is one of those guys,” White said. “He’s not going anywhere. He and I will sit down and talk and figure out what he wants to do next.”
That’s as much a ringing endorsement as a fighter is going to find these days in the UFC, which plans to trim nearly a quarter of its roster over the next six months.
Franklin, though, is a two-weight-class guy (185 and 205 pounds) who’s now a contender in neither. For a guy who recently signed a new six-fight deal and hoped to make one final title run before calling it quits, he can’t afford another single loss.
Franklin will need a few days to put together a game plan; immediately after UFC 103, where he was knocked down with a left and finished with additional blows, Franklin said he was still “remembering things in bits and pieces”
His career is now doubt at a crossroads, and the path he and White ultimately choose could determine his lasting legacy in the sport.
WEC coming to Columbus in 2010
Last week in the DaytonDaily News.com MMA blog, we passed along the unfortunate news that the UFC — after three successful shows that coincided with the annual Arnold Sports Festival, a three-day sports and fitness exhibition — was not returning to Columbus for a fourth show in 2010.
Despite the three shows producing some of the biggest crowds and gates in promotional history, UFC president Dana White said the need to expand into new markets forced the company to skip Columbus in 2010.
However, following UFC 103, White said the UFC’s sister promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting, will instead take the Columbus slot.
The WEC, which airs on Versus, focuses on MMA’s lighter weight classes and features notables such as Mike Brown, Brian Bowles, Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres.
Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of
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