In and out of the cage, Rich Franklin is making a career out of lateral movement: bumped from the middleweight division by Anderson Silva, he appears to have settled into a complacent role as filler putty for headlining holes in the UFC’s main events.

UFC 93 was a light heavyweight bout against Dan Henderson; UFC 99, a catch-weight bout against Wanderlei Silva; now there’s Dallas and UFC 103, which sees him in another 195-pound fence-straddle against a returning Vitor Belfort. It’s hard to ascertain exactly what the fight means: Franklin is supposed to be a 205-pound presence, so beating Belfort -- who eyes the 185-pound division -- can’t influence that much. Belfort has more to gain here.

Will Vitor Belfort shrink?

Even if you excuse his dynamic debut performance at UFC 13 -- all hands, no effort -- as the product of subpar opposition, Vitor Belfort is still a sharp, tight stand-up artist who can end fights faster than IV sedation.

The ticks of the clock are Belfort’s biggest issues: as the fight wears, he fades mentally, and instructs his body to do the same physically. Whether that’s been corrected at Xtreme Couture hasn’t been discovered. Rich Franklin will prompt him for an answer.

News out of MMAWeekly: Wrestlers Josh Koscheck and Frank Trigg are expected to square off at a September UFC event, date TBA.

Good fight. I’m still not a fan of Trigg’s welterweight prospects -- there’s more intrigue for him at middleweight -- but it should prove to be an interesting striking challenge for both men if the matchup is made. Trigg had two sensational fights with another wrestler in Matt Hughes, which followed the pattern of wrestler/wrestler matches usually stalemating each fighter’s strongest attribute and forcing them to use other skills to win.

More importantly, I would expect pre-fight jawing from both men to reach epic proportions. In the parlance of pro wrestling, they’re both “heels.” I would expect the referee to be the only one cheered during the introductions.