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MMA

MMA Top 10 Light Heavyweights: What's Next for Rich Franklin?

Posted Jun 17, 2009 3:06PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

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After his victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99, Rich Franklin is now on my list of the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts -- and Silva is off it. But what's next for Franklin? I'd love to see him get a Top 10 opponent, but most of the rest of the Top 10 are already committed to other fights: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva, Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva.

I think the best option is to match up Franklin with Luiz Cane, and I think a dark horse possibility is Franklin vs. Tito Ortiz, if Ortiz returns to the Octagon. In any event, my list of the top 10 light heavyweights in MMA is below.

Top 10 Light heavyweights in MMA
1. Lyoto Machida
2. Quinton Jackson
3. Rashad Evans
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Mauricio Rua
6. Dan Henderson
7. Rich Franklin
8. Keith Jardine
9. Luiz Cane
10. Renato Sobral

Tags: Anderson+Silva, AndersonSilva, Babalu, Dan+Henderson, DanHenderson, Forrest+Griffin, ForrestGriffin, Keith+Jardine, KeithJardine, Luiz+Cane, LuizCane, Lyoto+Machida, LyotoMachida, MMA+rankings, MmaRankings, Rampage+Jackson, RampageJackson, Rashad+Evans, RashadEvans, Renato+Sobral, RenatoSobral, Rich+Franklin, RichFranklin, Shogun+Rua, ShogunRua, Thiago+Silva, ThiagoSilva, Tito+Ortiz, TitoOrtiz, UFC+99, Ufc99, Wanderlei+Silva, WanderleiSilva

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-17-2009 @ 4:44PM

imshortyk said...

I agree with these standings except for Rashad and Rampage. I think Rashad belongs in that second slot before Quinton based on what I've seen from both fighters so far. I suppose their fight later this year will determine that but right now I think Rashad is above Quinton.

6-17-2009 @ 6:56PM

steverenegade said...

Jon Jones will be the star of the future. He should fight Shogun first, then Machida. He will beat both of them. Remember this prediction.

6-17-2009 @ 7:00PM

steverenegade said...

Jon Jones will be the star of the future. He should fight Shogun first, then Machida. He will beat both of them. Remember this prediction.

6-18-2009 @ 7:40AM

Eric said...

I think Luiz Cane would be a bad matchup for Franklin. I really like Franklin, but I don't think he is capable of winning many fights at this level in the light heavyweight division.

6-18-2009 @ 8:57AM

easy7179 said...

i like franklin but i don't see him really getting into the mix at the top. he's probably relegated to novelty matchups with older stars/former champs etc. like tito or chuck. although i can definatly see him beating guys like cane and jardine.