Silva slated for middleweight rematch with Franklin

LAS VEGAS (Ticker) - Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva will square off against Rich Ace Franklin at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 20.

Franklin lost in one round to Silva in their middleweight title bout in October 2006.


Anderson Silva has shown he is probably one of the most deadly 185-pounders we've ever seen, said Dana White, president of the UFC.

"He has shown no signs of slowing down in his two fights since beating Rich Franklin last year. Rich told me he has never trained harder for a fight than he has for this, and he is determined to not only win his title back, but to do so in front of his hometown fans.

Silva has fought and won twice since taking the belt from Franklin.

Silva, who fights out of Curitiba, Brazil, has phenomenal striking skills as well as a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

After defeating Chris Leben and Franklin, "The Spider" faced off against Travis Lutter in February in what was meant to be his first title defense.

Lutter could not make the weight and the fight was changed to a three-round non-championship bout. Silva won by submission after 2 minutes, 11 seconds of the second round.

Silva fought Nathan Marquardt at UFC 73 in July and finally got his first successful title defense under his belt with an impressive first-round TKO win.

At UFC 72, Franklin defeated Yushin Okami by a unanimous decision to win a rematch with Silva and a shot at redemption.

Also slated for the UFC 77 card is a heavyweight match between former UFC champion Tim The "Maine-iac" Sylvia and unbeaten Brandon The Truth Vera.

It is the first bout for Vera since a contract dispute with former management sidelined him for almost a year.

The dynamic Vera expects to pick up where he left off last year by defeating Sylvia as he bids to become UFC heavyweight champion.