UFC 147: Rich Franklin Says “It’s Going To Be Fun” Fighting Wanderlei Silva In Brazil

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin will return to the octagon at UFC 147 for the first time since Feb. 2011 when he travels to Brazil to compete for the first time in his over 13-year career. After Vitor Belfort pulled out of the main event against Wanderlei Silva with a broken hand, Franklin stepped up on short notice to take on “The Axe Murderer” in a rematch of their June 2009 bout, which “Ace” won via unanimous decision.

Although Franklin is one of the most well-liked fighters in MMA and is usually the fan favorite, there is little chance the Brazilian crowd will be on his side when he faces off against a hometown legend in Silva. While some fighters may be weary of travelling to fight in their opponents backyard, Franklin told UFC.com that he thinks fighting Silva in Brazil is going to be fun.

“We had a ‘Fight of the Night’ fight, you know since that fight a lot of the fans have been talking about how they’d like to see a repeat, and here we are, and now we’re in his hostile territory of Brazil, and it’s going to be fun.”

Also in the interview, Franklin explained what he needs to do to win the fight, the difficulties in fighting against an opponent with such an aggressive style and how competing against Silva is like “fighting a tornado”.

“The best way to describe Wanderlei’s fighting style – it would be like fighting a tornado. As long as you stay away from a tornado, you’re safe. But if you get too close to a tornado, it does damage. When you come in, he pulls the trigger, and when he pulls the trigger things fly. He’s throwing multi-punches with his hands, following things up with knees and he’s dangerous. The best way for me to finish this fight is to not get lazy in the fight and get caught up in his game, and get caught with something that I otherwise, would otherwise put me on the ground. It’s been 16 months since I’ve been in the octagon so I’m excited to fight again, I’m hungry.”

UFC 147 is scheduled to take place on June 23 from Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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