On Oct. 14, 2006, UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (Pictures) entered the Octagon as a winner. With a record of 20-1 and 19 wins by stoppage, Franklin had superstar written all over him. His TV friendly looks and well-spoken demeanor had made him one of the fresh faces of MMA, and on that night, he was matched up against Brazilian import Anderson Silva.

With mega-star status on the line, Franklin displayed the heart of a champion, but he suffered a brutal knockout defeat. He made no excuses -- he had done his best.

His best? In the seminal action film "The Rock," John Mason -- as played by Sean Connery -- tells Stanley Goodspeed: "Losers always whine about doing their best. Winners go home and f--- the prom queen!"

On Saturday, when Franklin returns home to Cincinnati, Ohio, and attempts to reclaim the title from Silva, all eyes will be watching to see if he can make it a homecoming to remember.

Franklin's undoing in the first fight was his mistaken belief that he could handle Silva in the Thai clinch. With his fierce striking ability, Franklin must have felt that the punches he could land in the clinch would more than offset Silva's knees.

In fact, "Ace" did land some punches, but Silva shook them off. The Brazilian then sliced through Franklin's defense with a devastating series of knees to the ribs and face that ultimately left Franklin bloodied and broken on the Octagon floor, rescued by "Big" John McCarthy after just three minutes.

In the year since losing the title, Franklin and Silva have each fought twice. Franklin stopped Jason MacDonald (Pictures) impressively at UFC 68 and won a lackluster decision over Yushin Okami (Pictures) at UFC 72. Anderson Silva submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Travis Lutter (Pictures) at UFC 67 and dominated Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) at UFC 73.

Franklin, whose brutal training sessions have become something of a legend in the MMA world, has the conditioning, experience and intelligence to make sure the rematch is not a carbon copy of the first fight. His forte is his striking, but with Silva's superior dirty boxing, Franklin's best strategy would seem to involve keeping a comfortable distance outside Silva's knees, where he can serve the current titleholder jabs and straight lefts.

Renowned boxing analyst Teddy Atlas has frequently said that in order for some fighters to maximize their advantages, they "need to be all the way inside or all the way outside." That certainly holds true for Franklin.

If Silva closes the distance and clinches, Franklin must take the fight to the ground. To win the former champ must part with the idea that he can outfight Silva in the clinch, swallow his pride and focus on his strengths and Silva's weaknesses.

Silva believes he has improved significantly since defeating Franklin last year. Coming in to that fight, he was best known as a UFC competitor for his paint-by-numbers destruction of Chris Leben (Pictures) in which he displayed pinpoint accuracy with punches and knees. His biggest weakness going into the Franklin fight was believed to be his ground game. When Franklin chose to stand with Silva, questions about the Brazilian's ground skills remained unanswered.

That is, until his dismantling of BJJ black belt Travis Lutter (Pictures) at UFC 67. When Lutter was in Silva's guard, he was unable to accomplish anything, partly because of the ridiculous ease in which Silva can put his opponent in a body triangle -- a stifling position that simultaneously controls and exhausts the man in the guard.

However, when the two reversed positions, Silva easily slapped on a triangle choke. Even more impressively, Silva maintained the hold and finished Lutter with elbows and fists.

With his absurdly long and flexible legs acting like longer, stronger arms, Silva definitely poses substantial problems for anyone on the ground.

Discounting two of Silva's losses -- an irrelevant decision in his first professional fight seven years ago and a disqualification for kicking a downed opponent -- the book on how to defeat Anderson Silva reveals only a hint of promise: Two of his four losses have been by submission.

Three years ago, Ryo Chonan (Pictures) caught Silva in a Hollywood-highlight-reel, flying scissor heelhook submission. If you blinked, you missed it. Prior to that, Silva's only other revealing loss was a triangle choke submission defeat at the hands of Daiju Takase (Pictures). Perhaps what Silva's record doesn't show is more revealing than what it does -- the man has never been taken out on his feet.

And while conventional wisdom in MMA says the best strategy to defeat your opponent is by taking the fight to where they're least comfortable (i.e. take a kickboxer to the ground, force a wrestler to his feet), Franklin's ground game has never been tested against a high level jiu-jitsu stylist.

Yet Franklin is one of the most intelligent and analytical fighters in MMA. You can rest assured that he has studied Silva's tapes. Still, sometimes fighters devise a strategy, then get in the cage and just wing it.

That didn't work last time for Franklin, and it won't work this time. He needs to pick a game plan and stick to it, and that plan needs to be traditional boxing coupled with takedowns. He shouldn't make too much of an effort to submit Silva because he'll need energy for this five-round fight. Once he takes Silva down, he should search for an opportunity to land from the half-guard.

Franklin is the physically bigger and stronger fighter, but it's not in his best interest to get sucked into a BJJ match in which technique, agility and skill trump strength. If there's no opportunity to mount Silva or land punches from the half-guard, Franklin should look to stand again.

If Franklin tries to prove to his hometown fans that he can out-strike Silva in the clinch or submit him on the ground, Cincinnati could be waiting for their homecoming king for a long time.

If the former champ follows the plan, though, he can out-box Silva and even knock him out with his fists early or a kick late. In that case: Look out, prom queen.