Alliance keeping Franklin at light heavyweight

Staff photo by Nick Daggy/Rich Franklin is greeted by local fans as he enters US Bank Arena Saturday night to fight Anderson Silva for the middleweight championship belt.

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By Dann Stupp, Contributing Writer Updated 8:37 AM Monday, May 11, 2009

Rich Franklin is apparently done with the middleweight division.

The 34-year-old fighter and former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ spent most of his career in the 185-pound weight class, but earlier this year, he jumped to light heavyweight (205 pounds) for a fight with Dan Henderson.

Franklin then recently accepted a bout with Wanderlei Silva at a catch-weight of 195 pounds. However, once that UFC 99 main event concludes June 13 in Germany, Franklin is returning to the light-heavyweight division.

And it’ll likely be a permanent move.

Despite a worldwide top-five ranking in the middleweight division, Franklin, after consulting with the UFC brass, opted to move up a weight class. Franklin had lost his belt and a subsequent rematch to current middleweight champ Anderson Silva, and a third fight was unlikely to happen.

Over the past half year, Franklin has been hesitant to call the move to 205 a long-term solution. But after spending the past two weeks training with Anderson Silva in Los Angeles and building something of an alliance, Franklin admits his middleweight days are probably behind him.

“I’ll say this much,” Franklin said. “With training with Anderson out here in L.A. and him being the champ at 185, it really makes me feel like I don’t have a place at 185 pounds anymore.

“I don’t see myself going to back to 185.”

Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva were once training partners and friends. But now that Anderson is helping Franklin prepare for the fight with Wanderlei, a rift has developed, and the two Brazilian fighters are at odds.

Franklin, though, is trying to stay out of the mix.

“My decision to come out to L.A. was made way before that feud ever really started,” he said.

Gurgel to make Strikeforce debut

Jorge Gurgel makes his Strikeforce debut June 19 at the organization’s “Challengers” series event at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.

Gurgel (12-5) fights fellow lightweight Conor Heun (8-2) on the Showtime-televised portion of the card.

Gurgel, a former Wright State student who runs his Team Jorge Gurgel MMA facility in West Chester Twp., spent three years with the UFC as a fighter and contestant on the second season of its reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter.”

However, the organization released Gurgel in November after back-to-back losses (despite Gurgel winning a Fight of the Night bonus in his final bout).

Strikeforce signed Gurgel within 24 hours of the release.

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content partner site of Yahoo! Sports. For the latest MMA news and rumors, go to www.

MMAj

junkie.com.

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