Middleweight Musings: Franklin-Henderson Winner Gets TUF Bonus

Dana White recently confirmed the winner of Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson fight will be named a head coach for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. It seems that Rich Franklin’s move to light heavyweight has always been a move in flux.

If Franklin defeats Henderson, his next fight would be against Michael Bisping since the two coaches routinely fight each other at the end of the show. The winner of that fight would be in line for a MW title fight. However, what if Anderson Silva is still the middleweight champion? Would the UFC really give us Franklin vs. Silva III?

If Franklin loses that puts him in a displaced position. He can either become a non-factor in the light heavyweight division or cut back to the middleweight division. If Silva is serious about fighting at 205 pounds it would certainly be the best thing for Franklin’s career. Rich is still the number one contender at 185 pounds until someone other then Silva beats him there. So why not reclaim his belt if given the opportunity?

A win for Henderson may be even more important for his career. Not only is he 39, but a loss would put him at 1-3 inside the octagon. That age and fight record would put him in competition with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture for the fighter most called upon to retire.

In my ideal world, I would like to see Silva vacate his belt now and have the Franklin-Henderson fight determine the new MW champion. If all of that weren’t confusing enough, we still don’t know who Anderson Silva is fighting next. This entire middleweight-light heavyweight back-and-forth is starting to take its toll.

In the same Q&A in which Dana confirmed the TUF coaching news, he also speculated that middleweight Thales Leites could be on the verge of being named the next man to challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. When asked by a fan in the audience what was next in store for Leites, White indicated that his next fight could come against Anderson as early as February.

As early as February would mean that Leites could be Silva’s opponent at UFC 95 in London. Joe Silva, UFC’s mastermind matchmaker, was seated in the audience and conferred with Dana while adding that a Silva vs. Leites match has not been finalized, and Leites is instead at the top of a list that includes several candidates.

Several candidates include: Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia as well as the three middleweights associated with TUF 9—Bisping, Henderson, and Franklin. And those are just the possible opponents for Silva at 185 pounds.

Silva had been rumored to be fighting Chuck Liddell at 205, though that has quelled as of late. The latest rumor is that Silva could be fighting Luis Cane. Other possibilities range from Houston Alexander to Keith Jardine. Finding out who ever ends up fighting Silva next will be a relief more then anything.

Also connected to the Silva, by his own volition, is Chael Sonnen—the WEC’s uncrowned middleweight champion. In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Chael revealed exactly how he plans to defeat Anderson Silva.

“The second Anderson Silva moves a fist in my direction, lifts of foot, moves a knee, flinches an elbow I will change elevation and blast a double so hard I’ll put him straight through the fence if it’s not reinforced,” he said.

Sonnen seems quite confident for a man who did little to finish off Paulo Filho, whose mental state left him ripe for the picking. Also, interesting to note is a transcript of an interview Sonnen had with GracieMag prior to his fight with Filho:

Q: You are one of the best fighters in the WEC. Are you thinking of heading to the UFC?

A: Truth is, after this fight I’m going to the UFC.

Q: Do you have an idea who your first opponent in the UFC will be?

A: Once I’m in the UFC, my first adversary will be Anderson Silva.

Q: Really? Has that been confirmed?

A: Yes, it’s confirmed. Once I’m in the UFC I’ll fight Anderson Silva. I think he’s a great fighter, but I’m only going to start thinking about that after my fight with Paulo Filho. If you want to ask me about it after tonight, I’ll be happy to answer.

Chael seems to be the only one talking about his “confirmed” fight with Anderson Silva. As far as I know, Sonnen hasn’t even been officially vetted into the UFC.

Sonnen isn’t the only man confident when it comes to Anderson Silva. It seems that Patrick Cote would like a second chance. In an interview with MMA News Cote had the following to say:

“I don’t think I won either of the first two rounds but going into the third we were where we wanted to be. Going into the third it was time to pick up the pace. We’ll never know what could have happened now. I was in very good condition and ready for five rounds...He knew that I wasn’t scared of him.

"He landed big shots and I was there coming forward and smiling at him. I wasn’t in his head though so I don’t know what he was thinking...we’ll see what happens over the next six months. I know that if I get another shot at Anderson it will be more of the same only this time.”

Like Sonnen, Cote is a very confident man but clearly this is a ploy to stay in the limelight while recovering from his unfortunate knee injury. There is zero chance the UFC will use up one of Anderson Silva’s remaining fights on a rematch with Patrick Cote. With that being said, I look forward to him recovering and getting back into action someone around June of 2009.

And what article on the middleweight division would be complete without talking about Michael Bisping. Speaking this week on Setanta Sports news, Bisping was asked if he would consider a move back to 205.

“Absolutely, right now I’m concentrating on my career as a middleweight and that my goal, I want to be the middleweight champ," he said. "But when I’ve done what I can at middleweight I do want to go back up to light heavyweight and have another crack at that.

"I am a middleweight, I always was really, I’m a very small light heavyweight but I’d still like to go up. I’ve got a loss to Rashad Evans, I’d like to avenge that someday but apart from that I’m concentrating on middleweight.”

Bisping went on to say he would even consider facing Anderson Silva at light heavyweight if the current middleweight champion chooses to make the 205-pound division his new home.

The ever confident Bisping certainly has some big aspirations for himself. He will need to get through the winner of Franklin-Henderson before entertaining thoughts of Silva or Evans. For the record, Bisping has picked Henderson to win that fight with Franklin.

While clarity is always nice, chaos is usually more entertaining. Welcome to the UFC’s Middleweight division.

Update to the chaos: It appears Anderson Silva may not fight at UFC 95. Apparently he wants a little more time off between fights—go figure for the man that previously said he wants to fight every two or three months. Could this be a contract ploy?...

Brian Oswald is a staff writer for Inside Fights where this article was originally published.