Rich Franklin Breaks Down UFC on FUEL TV 6 Bout With Cung Le, Not Thinking About Title Fights

Former UFC middleweight champion returns to the weight class where he was world champion for over two-years when he takes on former Strikeforce champion Cung Le in the main event of the UFC’s first trip to China at UFC on FUEL TV 6.

Franklin and Le were slated to fight one another at UFC 148 in July, but after a number of injuries forced the UFC to shuffle fight cards, Franklin ended up facing and defeating Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 while Le outpointed Franklin’s replacement Patrick Cote to a decision at UFC 148.

“Ace” is the favorite going into the Nov. 10 fight due to having the more well rounded skill set and experience advantage over Le. Even though Franklin is expected to win, at 38-years old, the Ohio native has no time to overlook his opponent as every win and loss at this point of his career is a make or break.

In a recent interview with Inside MMA on AXS TV, Franklin broke down the UFC on FUEL TV 6 match up and explained how numerous aspects of Le’s game as significantly overlooked by others.

I think that what makes Cung Le’s kicks so effective is he doesn’t mind throwing them because his wrestling is so effective and I think that you’re gonna – not that he, he may not be much of an offensive wrestler in this fight, but it may be difficult to take him down, and he’s a good defensive wrestler and that could come into play for him. And so because he’s able to ward off takedowns and kind of push away, that’s where his kicks become very effective, when you start kind of, you know, hesitating when you’re coming in on techniques and stuff like that so yeah, he’s got some other aspects of his game that are probably overlooked by the masses.

After four-and-a-half years without a fight in the middleweight division, Franklin returns to 185-pounds for the match up with Le. While the division has evolved a lot since Franklin left, the same man, Anderson Silva, still holds the title.

Regardless of the fact Franklin has already suffered two losses at the hands of Silva, the future Hall-of-Fame inductee has the goal of making one final run towards the title before his career comes to a close.

I don’t ever look beyond my next fight, especially when – I’ve always had tough fights and Cung Le is a tough and tricky opponent. And when you start looking ahead and trying to plan out your future, something is going to kind of mess that up and make you stumble, so part of the reason I moved down to 185 was to possibly make a title run so, that’s not to say I’m not thinking about that would be a complete lie, but my mind is 100 percent focused on this fight for sure.

UFC on FUEL TV 6 goes down Nov. 10 from Cotai Arena, Venetian Macau Resort Hotel in Macau, China.

The get the latest on UFC on FUEL TV 6, click here. For up-to-date versions of all upcoming fight cards, head over to the rumors section.

Mike Bohn, founder and lead writer of FightCove.com, wrote this article. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeBohnMMA. Also, follow @FightCove on Twitter and “Like” Fight Cove on Facebook.