UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson Preveiw

On January 17, 2009 live from O2 arena in Ireland the UFC will present UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson.  The card include several former world champions looking to get back on track and attempting to get a title shot against the new light heavy champion Rashad Evens. This card also includes on the return of a UFC hall of fame Inductees Mark Coleman.

Franklin vs. Henderson

Rich “Ace” Franklin (25-3) has looked unstoppable in the UFC to everyone except the current middleweight champion Anderson Silvia. Silvia has handed Franklin 2 or his 3 losses and forcing him to move to another division in order to have a chance at holding a title.  Franklin is trying to continue his dominance in UFC by moving up to the light heavy weight division and his next test will be in the former pride champion Dan “Hendo” Henderson. Dan Henderson (22-7) came to the UFC from pride as the middle and light heavy weight champion. He then lost his the light heavy weight match to unify the title to Quinton Jackson and then the middleweight title to Anderson Silva.  Henderson is coming of his first win in the UFC since his return and would like to make a statement against another top contender.

Colman vs Rau

The 2005 PRIDE Grand Prix Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-3) returns to the Octagon to take on UFC Hall of Famer Mark “the Hammer” Coleman (15-8) This is the second time these two have faced each other, the last time these tow met was in Japan in 2006, with the Coleman pulling off a win by breaking Rua’s arm in the first round. Colman who is returning to the UFC for the first time since 1999 at the age of 42 will attempt to come out of retirement and dominate in the way fellow hall of famer Randy Couture has. Rau is making his second appearance in the octagon and is hoping to have better luck then his last match when he lost to Forest Griffin and lost his title shot.

The light heavyweight matchs has a lot of potential for each fighter. The light heavyweight division is wide open it seem. Rashad Evens one the title from Forest Griffin after knocking out number one contender Chuck Liddell. Forest Griffin had captured the title after beating Rampage Jackson who had won it from Chuck Liddell. The belt seems to be changing hands frequently and seem to be wide open for someone to pop in and get a title shot.

The rest

The rest of the night has a couple of fights that could be really interesting including Marcus Davis who had a tendency to be involved on the fight of the night. Also, include in the card is the veteran Jeremy Horn who have over 100 professional fight in his career.

Stats from www.ufc.com