The sequel looked a lot like the original, only a little bit longer.

Rich Franklin once again defeated Wanderlei Silva by decision in another exciting fight to headline UFC 147 in Brazil on Saturday, but this fight went five rounds instead of three.

Each fighter had their moment in the contest, with Silva nearly finishing Franklin to end the second round following a flurry, but “Ace” survived and went on to dictate the rest of the fight with his crisp, technical striking.

The win was impressive for the former middleweight champion, as he took this bout on short notice and fought in Silva’s raucous home country.

Now, the question is, what is next for both men?

Franklin is still one of the best, but he isn’t quite enough any more to challenge for a title. Silva is clearly far from what he was in the PRIDE days, but still entertaining. He has become somewhat of a gate keeper in the middleweight division.

In the co-main event of Saturday’s card, Fabricio Werdum improved to 2-0 in his return to the octagon, as he ran through Mike Russow.

Werdum continued to show his improved striking, as he quickly overwhelmed the inexperienced Russow with an array of strikes. Once Werdum rocked Russow, he quickly finished up on the ground and earned the TKO stoppage midway through the first.

Werdum is making a strong case to be considered a top 5 UFC heavyweight with his two impressive showings since coming back to the UFC. Perhaps a battle with the likes of Frank Mir could be next in the cards.

For complete results from UFC 147, check out the jump

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UFC 126 takes place tonight from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and this card is stacked from top to bottom with intriguing and exciting bouts. Here are my picks for tonight’s main card.

UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (27-4) vs. Vitor Belfort (19-8) – This is the first time Silva will be facing a striker that may have equal or greater hand speed than him, so this could be his toughest test to date. However, Silva is much more of a complete fighter, as he mixes in kicks, knees, elbows, and has a black belt in jiu-jitsu. While Belfort has one-punch KO power, I think Silva finds a way to get past him and puts on another impressive performance.

Light Heavyweight Bout: Forrest Griffin (17-6) vs. Rich Franklin (28-5) – Both of these guys are former champions in the UFC and both are trying to stay relevant within the organization. This should be a good scrap as both fighters always bring the fight. Franklin should have the edge in striking with his awkward style and angles, but Griffin has a big size advantage and I expect him to use that to smother Franklin and score takedowns, which will earn him a decision victory.UFC Light Heavyweight Bout: Jon Jones (11-1) vs. Ryan Bader (12-0) – This is a fight of the top two young up-and-comers in the division and the winner will be thrust into the top 5 of the division. Jones is such a unique fighter in terms of style and length while Bader is a great wrestler with good power in his hands. I think Jones has more ways to win this fight and will be able to stay off his back against Bader. I see Jones landing a big knee when Bader comes in for a shot, which sets up a TKO finish in round two.

UFC Bantamweight Bout: Miguel Torres (37-3) vs. Antonio Banuelos (19-6): Torres is one of the top bantamweights in the world and he has changed up his training in hopes to becoming a more complete and patient fighter. I see him picking apart Banuelos, who will look to grapple. I see Torres landing a nice combination in the second round before dropping Banuelos and jumping on him to secure a choke for a submission victory.

UFC Welterweight Bout: Jake Ellenberger (23-5) vs. Carlos Rocha (9-0) – Rocha is a very dangerous and slick submission fighter, but I see him struggling with Ellenberger’s wrestling. I look for Ellenberger to land takedowns and ground strikes while avoiding submission attempts to earn a decision victory over Rocha and continue to move up the welterweight ranks.

Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com chats with former TUF winner (and former light heavyweight champ) Forrest Griffin about hepatitis, being heckled by teenage girls and fighting Rich Franklin.

Heavy: I’ll be sure to include the fact in the interview.

Griffin: That is important.

Heavy: So that everybody is aware and everybody knows, Forrest Griffin does not have hepatitis.

Griffin: Actually, you just go ahead and tell all the single women that I do have hepatitis so they stay away.
Heavy: Perfect. I think my wife might want me to share that plan from now on too.

Griffin: Just drop it casually, like, whenever you’re talking to women. What I always do is the “you know my wife” thing, just to make sure it doesn’t get awkward. Then you can just drop my hepatitis things too.

Heavy: In the year-and-a-half I’ve been married, I’ve become very skilled at the “my wife and I” any time there are single women around. She’ll be glad to read that.

Griffin: Well there is some exciting news for me, are we recording this, because this is the good shit?

Heavy: I am, we are; we’re ready to go.

Griffin: Good. Alright, well, I actually just had a very uncomfortable experience. I guess I was going to Starbucks the same time the school here let out, and I got cat-called by a bunch of teenage girls. It wasn’t as fun as you would imagine. It was actually kind of degrading.

Read the full interview.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin broke down the UFC 126 main event between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort for HeavyMMA.com.

No one may be more qualified to discuss the UFC 126 main event between UFC middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort than Rich Franklin.

The former UFC middleweight champion has fought and lost to both Silva and Belfort and has studied them in preparation for those fights. Franklin would be considered an expert if called into court to testify about the match up.

“They’re similar because they’re both Brazilian and they’re both southpaws and both have a win over me,” jokingly said Franklin. “They’re both effective strikers. They’re both fast and use good footwork and all of that kind of stuff.”

While both primarily strikers who possess ground games, Silva and Belfort are different kinds of strikers. Silva employs kicks from the outside and needs distance to execute his craft. Belfort is more effective in the pocket unleashing combinations with his hands.

“Stylistically, on their feet, they’re different fighters. They’re both effective in their own rights,” said Franklin via conference call on Thursday. “It’s going to be interesting to see who’s going to come into the ring if this ends up being a stand up fight how this is going to play out stylistically.”

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Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com reports that Anderson Silva will fight Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 in Las Vegas on February 6.

The card is set to be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and top contender Vitor Belfort, while a light heavyweight clash between Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin will serve as the co-main event. Also on the card, fast-rising light heavyweight contenders Jon Jones and Ryan Bader will face off to determine who continues to rise in the competitive division.

Also on the pay-per-view portion of the event, former longtime WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres makes his UFC debut against Antonio Banuelos, while lightweight sluggers Paul Kelly and Sam Stout will face off in the first bout on the main card.

While several preliminary bouts have been rumored, including a lightweight tilt between Gabe Ruediger and Paul Taylor, as well as a welterweight contest between Jake Ellenberger and Carlos Eduardo Rocha, none have been made official as of yet.

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