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| RICH FRANKLIN/ PHOTO |
SILVA VS FRANKLIN PREVIEW, SILVA ANGRY WITH BELFORT
On the horn:
SR WRITER
“If you were scared you shouldn’t have accepted it," Silva said. "If you really got it broken, it’s amateurism and if you didn’t, you’re scared."
(CONTINUED) . . .
It's been well over a year since Rich "Ace" Franklin's (28-6) last fight against Forrest Griffin, where he lost the decision in February of 2011. Since then, he's unsuccessfully called out Tito Ortiz and was scheduled to fight Cung Le at UFC 148, until Wanderlei's opponent for UFC 147, Vitor Belfort, backed out due to an injury. But even with the new opponent, Silva took the opportunity to tell the world how he felt about Belfort's injury.
“If you were scared you shouldn’t have accepted it," Silva said.
"If you really got it broken, it’s amateurism and if you didn’t, you’re
scared. In both scenarios, it was irresponsible of you towards the
fans. Pardon the word, but I’m pissed with your amateurism. A main event
on the biggest event of the world and the guy shows up like that”.
Franklin took Belfort's place. The bout will take place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva (34-11) most recently finished Cung Le at UFC 139, earning Fight of the Night bonus. After some explosive back-and-fourth kickboxing, Silva cornered Le and finished him with a flurry of punches and his classic muay-thai knee, showing that Wandi is the same old striker after all these years. Now he's looking to avenge his 2009 decision loss against Franklin. Even though Franklin was planning on dropping down to middleweight (185lbs) to fight Cung Le, the fight against Silva is set for a catch-weight of 190lbs. This is likely due to the fact that Franklin wasn't planning on fighting so soon, and an early weight cut would be unnecessarily difficult. Belfort wrote his apology for becoming injured.
"The emotional imbalance of some reveals their fears. I thank your support big time and also my sponsors," Belfort said. "Believing in yourself is not being arrogant. I’m still confident and I respect my opponent, which now is my injury."
"The emotional imbalance of some reveals their fears. I thank your support big time and also my sponsors," Belfort said. "Believing in yourself is not being arrogant. I’m still confident and I respect my opponent, which now is my injury."
Both Silva and Franklin like to stand and bang, and I expect no different from the main event of UFC 147. Silva boasts surprisingly few submission victories for a Brazilian: three in total, two due to punches. While Franklin has submitted ten opponents, those were early in his career, and he's not the type to take the fight to the ground himself. I've gotten my hopes up for slug-fests before, and I think this fight will take some time to get going. Neither fighter will want to come out too crazy since both have the capacity to knock the other out at any moment. Since they've got five rounds to find their range, we should see some displays of technical striking in the later rounds.
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| SILVA (LEFT) VS FRANKLIN (RIGHT) THE FIRST TIME./ PHOTO |
ZILLA'S PICK: Franklin wins by 3rd round KO.
I'm personally rooting for Franklin because I'd like to see an American claim victory on Brazilian soil, especially in a main event. However, I am aware of the Brazilian track record for exemplary hometown performances. Defeating a legend on his turf won't be easy, but Franklin's got the power and the technique to pull it off.
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