The UFC announced today that a rematch between Rich “Ace” Franklin (25-4) and Dan Henderson (25-7) will be the main event for UFC 103 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on September 19th.
The first bout between the two was a light heavyweight fight in the main event at UFC 93 held this past January in Dublin, Ireland, that saw Henderson come away with a split decision victory. One judge scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Franklin, while the other two judges had it 29-28 in favor of Henderson.
Both fighters have fought once since their first meeting, with Franklin defeating Wanderlei Silva in a catch weight fight of 195 lbs. at UFC 99 by unanimous decision, and Henderson beating Michael Bisping with a second round knockout at UFC 100.
Franklin, who is a former UFC middleweight champion, has decided to stay in the light heavyweight division in hopes of working his way up to a title shot.
Henderson is on a three fight win streak after losing his first two UFC fights to Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva respectively.
Interestingly, the UFC didn’t announce what weight the fight would take place since Henderson wants to stay at middleweight and Franklin at light heavyweight, but according to mmaweekly.com sources close to the fight confirmed it would be at light heavyweight just as their first fight was.
Joining Franklin and Henderson at UFC 103 are previously confirmed fights between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck and Frank Trigg, Hermes Franca and Tyson Griffin and a recently confirmed heavyweight bout between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Junior Dos Santos.
By: Dusty Adams