Although the UFC originally announced that the main event of UFC 103 would pit Rich Franklin against Dan Henderson for the second time, now the UFC has announced that Franklin will take on Vitor Belfort instead.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion had been scheduled to fight Jorge Santiago in a middleweight bout on Affliction Trilogy. Now, Belfort is going back up to the light heavyweight division for this fight with Franklin.
Dana White has indicated that Belfort would be an interesting challenge for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Presumably, win or lose, Belfort would drop back down to the middleweight division after UFC 103.
Belfort’s last fight inside the Octagon was a split decision loss against Tito Ortiz at UFC 51 in 2005. Since that time, Belfort has gone 6-3 and is currently on a four-fight win streak. His most recent victory was a first round knockout of Matt Lindland at “Affliction: Banned” back in January.
As for Henderson, his next fight will be a rematch with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. The date of their fight will depend on Silva’s condition after his light heavyweight bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 on Aug. 8.
not sure if this is a fight I would pay to watch.