Rich Franklin Thinks He Can Make Another Run at the Middleweight Title

Oh, Rich Franklin. You're such an optimist, and I love that about you.

Franklin told MMAjunkie's Steven Marrocco that he'd like to make another run at the middleweight title currently held by Anderson Silva:

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"The great Cinderella story would be for me to drop to 185 and make a run for the title," he said. "I can't say I haven't thought about that. But I don't want to put the carriage before the horse. I have a tough opponent in front of me, and I really need to focus on that fight first and get some momentum going."

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That would be quite the Cinderella story, to be sure. But much like Cinderella, it's also impossible.

The UFC will never again match Franklin up with Silva. It just won't happen. The two losses Franklin suffered to Silva weren't just one-sided—they were complete and total destruction.

Franklin left the middleweight division and moved back to light heavyweight because the UFC wasn't going to give him a third shot at Silva, and rightly so. Silva made Franklin look like he was a rank amateur. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Silva was on the verge of becoming the best fighter in the world—a title he still holds to this day.

Franklin has advanced in age. He's no longer the fighter he once was. Putting him in the cage with Silva would be an awful idea on just about every level. Franklin is better off beating Cung Le this summer—as he no doubt will do—and then moving back to light heavyweight to finish his career.