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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
After reports came out last month that Rich Franklin was stepping in to face off with Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in Vancouver, UFC President Dana White was quick to address them as untrue rumors and that Franklin was in the works to face Randy Couture. He also stated there was nothing wrong with Tito Ortiz, as had been speculated, and, in an interview last week with SportsNet.ca, he went so far as to say that Liddell vs. Ortiz was "definitely" the main event for UFC 115.
Well, it won't be.
The UFC announced today that Liddell will in fact face Rich Franklin in the main event for UFC 115, which is coming to the GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 12. Tickets for the event are on sale to UFC Fight Club members tomorrow, April 12, with Newsletter subscribers getting a presale on Wednesday and the general public getting a crack at tickets on Thursday.
Liddell returns to the Octagon for the first time since his second straight knockout loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in April of 2009 at UFC 97. He had been knocked out by Rashad Evans in his fight prior to that, and the two losses prompted White to say he didn't want to see Liddell fight again.
Liddell then returned earlier this year to film the eleventh season of the Ultimate Fighter as a coach opposite Ortiz. Now, rumors of the switch are confirmed and Ortiz is out of the fight. With a picture circulating of a large Franklin picture in the Ultimate Fighter gym opposite Liddell, it would appear the rumors of Franklin taking over for Ortiz at some point during this season are true as well.
Franklin is returning from a knockout loss of his own, to Vitor Belfort at UFC 103 last September. The fight was his second 195 lb. catchweight bout of 2009, and this will be his first back at 205 lb. since facing Dan Henderson at UFC 93 in January of last year.
Penick's Analysis: I understand the "promoter speak" that White uses at times to not reveal everything that's going on, but to flat out lie last week on the SportsNet show really brings down the credibility of anything he says in the media going forward. He'll always get his own personal message out or what he wants people to hear and think, but to have this released from the UFC just days after saying Liddell vs. Ortiz was "definitely" the main event is a little ridiculous.
With that said, when the rumors were first reported about this fight I liked it a lot better than Liddell vs. Ortiz III, and I still like it better now. It's a much more competitive fight, and Liddell and Franklin can both benefit from a victory here in this one. This is a good headliner, and now we'll just have to keep watching the Ultimate Fighter this season to find out why Ortiz leaves the show and gets taken out of the bout against Liddell.
RELATED STORY: Initial report - UFC NEWS: Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin, not Tito Ortiz, in the works for UFC 115 in June: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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