July 31, 2009, at 7:01 pm
Well, that happened a little bit differently than we thought it would. We assumed that Vitor Belfort would fight Dan Henderson, who is an actual middleweight. However, instead we get Rich Franklin against The Phenom.
UFC president Dana White announced he had signed the former UFC champion Friday on a conference call with reporters.
“I like to bring the fans the best fights I can possibly bring them and the fights that the fans want to see,” said White. “When we announced that Rich Franklin was fighting Dan Henderson, fans were pissed. There was some backlash. People didn’t like it.
“So, we went out and we just signed Vitor Belfort. Vitor Belfort is now fighting Rich Franklin in Dallas in September. That’s the new main event.”
The bout will be contested at 205 pounds said White, although Belfort’s most recent fights have been in the middleweight division.
The announcement squashed rumors Belfort had booked a fight in Brazil in September.
I think that it’s interesting that Belfort is going to be fighting at 205. He has been fighting as a middleweight for a while now and was having success. I also beleive that this is a terrible matchup for Belfort. I know that White wanted someone who will stand with Belfort, but isn’t this what Franklin does? He’s stood with guys like Wanderlei Silva and won, what makes you think that he can’t beat Belfort? If I was was White, I would have given Vitor a tuneup fight to get used to the Octagon again.
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