A title eliminator match between Lyoto
Machida and Quinton
Jackson could be inevitable at this point, which means
Franklin’s road to a title shot will be long, winding and full of
scary men wishing to cause him grievous bodily harm.
After his gutsy knockout of Chuck
Liddell, Franklin deserves a quality matchup. No man fits the
bill better than Griffin. While it’s far from a guaranteed win for
the reformed math teacher, it would be a fun scrap and the sort of
fight Franklin needs to win if he’s to be considered a serious
contender.
Until Josh
Koscheck and incumbent champion Georges
St. Pierre go through the motions on the next season of “The
Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC welterweight crown is on hold. This
means Kampmann will likely need at least two wins to solidify
himself as the division’s No. 1 contender.
Logic and a love of violence say match him up with Hardy and let
the winner fight whoever walks away from the Thiago
Alves/Jon Fitch
rematch in one piece. Not only does this set up a sellable
matchmaking narrative, it also gives us a fascinating style clash
between Kampmann and Hardy.
After losing to Paul Daley via
TKO at UFC 103, Kampmann needs to prove he can hang with the
division’s elite strikers and Hardy will give us an answer to that
question one way or another. Read more
Dan Hardy File Photo: Stephen Albanese/Tailstar.com
