Where Does UFC's Rich Franklin Go from Here?

Less than a week ago, when I wrote my preview for the Rich Franklin/Vitor Belfort fight at UFC 103, I predicted that Belfort would not only win the match, but he would do it decisively.

At the time, I was met with a cascade of naysayers telling me that I was insane.

"I just can't see him (Belfort) winning, and especially in stunning fashion," one person said.

Others flat out told me I was crazy for even having the notion that Belfort could beat Franklin at all.

However, as we all know now, Belfort did defeat Franklin, and it only took him a little over three minutes to do so.

In my preview, I discussed Franklin's tendency to abandon fighting defensively in favor of attacking.

And what happened in the fight? Franklin dropped his hands, and Belfort caught him with several left hands, the last three of which caused referee Yves Lavigne to step in and stop the fight.

I also discussed Belfort's devastatingly fast hand speed, and it was just that that did Franklin in. He never saw the initial shot coming, and before he could recover, he was dazed, confused, and defeated.

With the win, one would think that Belfort is now in line for a shot at Anderson Silva's UFC middleweight title. However, Silva has many challengers lining up, and has also expressed interest in fighting in other weight classes. However, time will tell on that one.

So the question now is, where does Rich Franklin go from here?

The speculation was that Franklin wanted to move up to the light heavyweight class in order to make a run at champion Lyoto Machida, who holds a victory over Franklin back in 2003.

However, like Silva, Machida also has a list of challengers beating down his door, most immediately Mauricio Rua, who he will face at UFC 104 on October 24.

And with the loss to Belfort, Franklin certainly didn't make a case for a shot at Machida. He looked sluggish at times, and a little confused as to how to approach his much quicker opponent.

At nearly 35 years old, Franklin is far from a senior citizen in the sport. One needs only to look at Randy Couture or Mark Coleman for evidence of that.

Obviously at this point, if Franklin wants to get back to the top, he's going to need to climb the ladder, no matter what weight class he chooses to compete in.

But as he's proven in the past, Rich Franklin is not afraid of a challenge. He doesn't take losses lightly, and always rebounds off of them in convincing fashion, never losing two fights in a row.

Personally, I'd like to see Franklin make the leap to light heavyweight. A suitable opponent at this point could be Stephan Bonnar. Coming off of two straight losses (most recently to Coleman), the American Psycho is going to be hungry and a match-up with Franklin could be just the thing to get him on track. And if Franklin beats Bonnar, he's gotten a top flight tune-up for a higher ranked fighter, like Tito Ortiz.

And frankly, the drawing power of a Ortiz/Franklin bout would be incredible.

Are you listening, Dana White?