Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: How far from a title shot is the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 126? Hansen, Hyden, Hobaugh, Williams and Penick
Feb 2, 2011 - 4:37:48 PM ROUNDTABLE: How far from a title shot is the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 126? Hansen, Hyden, Hobaugh, Williams and Penick

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How far from a title shot is the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin, and who should they fight next?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The winner won't be close. It seems likely that Rampage will get the next shot if he defeats Thiago Silva, and the Jackson-Silva fight is almost four months out. And then the winner of Jones-Bader (or Thiago Silva if Silva beats Rampage) will either be the next title challenger, or the next guy in the path of the winner of Franklin-Griffin. So there seems to be no path, barring injury, for Griffin or Franklin to get a title shot during the next twelve months.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I don't think the winner is very close at all. Neither guy has been very impressive lately. I like both guys, but they don't realistically have title hopes anymore. The winner has to go on and win at least three more fights before getting a title shot, and I don't see that happening. I would put the winner of this fight against the loser of Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones. The loser of this fight can fight the winner of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think that they are both marquee names in a tough division. Being a superstar in the UFC does not mean that you are a top fighter. Forrest may or not be a top ten fighter. Rich is certainly not anywhere close to my light heavyweight top ten. Big names sell pay per views so even though I feel they do not deserve the shot, the winner of this fight will be given a shot at Quinton Jackson or the loser of the Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones fight. If they can win that next fight then I believe that Dana White will give them a title shot. Do not get me wrong, I am looking forward to a great fight between Griffin and Franklin. Neither of these two deserves to be in the title mix without a few more big wins against top ten fighters.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Quite a ways. I might put the victor of Forrest Griffin-Rich Franklin in against the winner of Jon Jones-Ryan Bader. I suspect that Jones and Franklin will win, and that Jones will subsequently defeat Franklin.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It's looking like Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is next in line for a title shot if he gets past Thiago Silva, and that makes sense with a big money rematch against either "Shogun" or Rashad Evans being the next matchup. So with Griffin and Franklin, the winner will have to get at least one or two wins in the meantime in order to get their crack at the title.

Griffin has the easier path if he defeats Franklin on Saturday. As the former division Champion, holding wins over both Rampage and "Shogun", he may just need to get one more win to get a title shot. His shot at the title would make for another big money rematch, whether it was against Shogun, Evans or Rampage. However, he would have to get past the winner of the Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader fight, as that is the most likely next pairing for all four fighters involved.

Should Franklin win, a matchup with Bones or Bader would be next, and were he to win that fight he still may need to get one more win in order to get a shot. Either way, it's not happening anytime soon.

Those scenarios aside, either of them getting a title shot is going to be contingent on beating one of the young guns in Jones or Bader, and that's not going to be an easy task. Regardless, the two winners from this weekend's big light heavyweight fights should be in for an excellent showdown later in 2011.