UFC 93 will deliver a fight that many fans have been talking about for a while now. I'm still pissed it's taking place at 205, but I'll digress since I've ranted about that enough I suppose. In breaking this fight down, it's really not that difficult when you think about it. Franklin will want to keep it on the feet, and Henderson will want to close the distance to engage in clinch work or take Franklin down. At least that's what Henderson should do, because he's going to get tagged over and over again when he throws that big right and misses.
If you saw Dana White's vlog I posted yesterday, you can see that Franklin will be the bigger fighter. He'll come into the fight around 210, with Henderson coming into the fight around 203. Franklin's last opponent(Matt Hamill) and Henderson have a lot of similarities so I'll use that fight as a gauge to emphasize Franklin's strengths.
Hamill and Henderson have limited technical aspects to their striking games, but both have power while coming from wrestling backgrounds. Franklin has very good take down defense with the ability to get back to his feet if taken down as evident in the Hamill fight. Even if Henderson does take Franklin down, he's never really possessed devastating ground and pound, plus Franklin has a decent guard. Franklin will not go for submissions though as he'll be trying to get back up to his feet. Hamill is freakishly strong supposedly, and Franklin pretty much negated that as well. So you can couple that with the size advantage Rich will enjoy. We know that both fighters are capable of going the distance so cardio shouldn't really be a factor.
I think the main difference in this fight will be Franklin's ability to out-strike Henderson on the feet. I'm not sure if we'll see many of those devastating liver kicks that Franklin likes use, due to the possibility of being taken down. He used them in the Hamill fight, but I think that was more of him being comfortable in doing so because he trained with Hamill in the past. Franklin will pepper Henderson with jabs, and then make him pay as he counters the big right or left hook Henderson brings. Odds makers have Franklin as a slight underdog last time I checked. It's doubtful that he'll be able to finish Henderson. Henderson has never been KO'ed, and Franklin doesn't really possess one punch KO ability(save the Quarry fight). I have my doubts that this fight will be full of excitement, but I hope I'm wrong.
I see Franklin taking the decision. What are you thoughts on the fight?
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