A little more than two years have passed since Rich Franklin lost the UFC middleweight crown to Anderson Silva, but his determination to regain the belt hasn't waned. Franklin's desire to be champion again is as strong as ever.
His determination is so strong that he is willing to go through larger opponents to accomplish his goal. Franklin hasn't abandoned the middleweight division, where Silva remains champion, but the light heavyweight crown is now on his agenda as well.
The 34-year-old Cincinnati native believes the time is right to compete in two weight classes. His physical stature allows him to fight comfortably at 185 and 205.
"I'm kind of at a weight where I'm in between both of the weight classes," said Franklin, who is 26-3-0. "It's difficult for me to make 185, but I'm a small 205-pound fighter."
Though smaller than most light heavyweights, size shouldn't be much of a factor Saturday night (live pay-per-view at 3PM ET, tape-delay at 10PM ET) when Franklin steps in the Octagon to face ex-PRIDE dual titleholder Dan Henderson. The two meet at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.
Henderson, who held the 185- and 205-pound titles simultaneously while in PRIDE, also has his sites set on reclaiming a title belt. The winner of Franklin-Henderson will take a major step closer to landing a title shot, whether at middleweight or light heavyweight.
"I'm okay with going in either weight class, I'm right in between," said Henderson, who will carry a record of 23-7-0 into the cage. "I would like to eventually get a title shot at either weight class.
"Beating some of the top guys will get you that title shot. It's just a matter of good match-ups the UFC puts you in. It's a matter of how well you do in those match-ups."
Franklin is confident he will put on a solid performance Saturday night. Much of that confidence comes from the way he feels, physically.
Not having to cut much weight has Franklin feeling relaxed. He doesn't have to starve himself and can focus more on fine-tuning his techniques.
The affect of not having to cut much weight was noticeable Sept. 6 when Franklin returned to light heavyweight for the first time in several years. He took on close friend Matt Hamill at UFC 88.
"Leading into a fight when I fought at 185, I felt a little more lethargic going in ... the whole weight cut and everything," Franklin said. "It takes a toll on my body, but relatively speaking, I'm fighting a smaller opponent, so it's kind of give and take there.
"I felt much better the whole week ... when I was fighting Hamill. I said to my coach: 'I don't feel like it's fight week because I should feel miserable right now, chewing on ice cubes and not being able to eat. The tradeoff there is I'm going to be fighting guys who are probably a little bigger than me."
Franklin won't necessarily be the smaller guy against Henderson. They are relatively the same size, physically. Henderson, however, might have the edge in strength.
This doesn't concern Franklin. He expects to be stronger given that his most recent fight was against a very strong 205-pound opponent.
The key for Franklin is to execute his fight plan.
"I don't feel I have to make major adjustments," Franklin said. "Obviously, I'm going to try to put on a little bit of weight and if I can add a few pounds of muscle to my frame, it's not going to hurt me.
"Realistically, Matt was a strong guy. He's probably one of the stronger guys at 205 pounds. At no point in that fight did I ever feel like I was in any kind of trouble or that I was outmatched in strength; that I was somewhere that I didn't belong.
"I felt comfortable at 205 pounds and I believe I'm going to continue feeling comfortable at that weight. I don't think I'm going to be outmatched in size or strength. ... I feel I'm the same fighter moving into a new weight class, which is really a new set of guys who I have to look at on the other side of the Octagon. It's nothing more than that."
There is no doubt in Franklin's mind that he will leave the Octagon victorious Saturday night. The same can be said for 38-year-old Henderson, who resides in Temecula, Calif.
Neither fighter, however, believes this is a make-or-break match. Each man is sure a loss won't significantly diminish his chance of landing a title shot down the road.
"I try to think of each fight as one fight at a time, which is exactly why I would never look at this fight as an eliminator match," Franklin said. "I don't try to put that kind of pressure on myself."
Henderson immediately chimed in, "I don't view it as an eliminator either. It's (a fight) all the fans have wanted to see and have been talking about for years, ever since he was the champ and I was the PRIDE champ. One of us isn't going to have to retire after this fight."
Franklin McNeil covers boxing and mixed martial arts for FightHype.com and The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. He also covers mixed martial arts for ESPN.com and is an analyst on ESPN.com's "MMA Live."
[EDITOR'S NOTE: FightHype.com is extremely proud to announce the addition of renowned columnist Franklin McNeil to the team.]