Luke Thomas: Cung Le vs. Rich Franklin to Headline UFC's Macau Card in November

Mark J. Rebilas, US PRESSWIRE

By Luke Thomas - Senior Editor

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Aug 5, 2012 - The UFC's first foray into Chinese territory now has a main event. UFC President Dana White announced at Saturday's UFC on FOX 4 post-fight press conference that Rich Franklin will battle Cung Le in a middleweight scrap for the UFC's scheduled November 10th card in Macau, China.
The event will be the sixth fight event in the UFC on FUEL series and will be held at the 15,000 seat CotaiArena inside the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.
Franklin, 37, most recently fought at UFC 147 in June where he defeated Wanderlei Silva at a 190-pound catchweight bout by unanimous decision. After a run at middleweight where he was champion until 2006, Franklin most-recently competed at light heavyweight, beginning in 2008 with a win over Matt Hamill at UFC 88. This bout with Le marks Franklin's formal return to the 185-pound middleweight division.

Le, 40, was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but has predominately lived in the U.S. During his run in sanshou kickboxing, Le competed in China on numerous occasions. In the UFC, he most recently fought and defeated Patrick Cote in July at UFC 148 by unanimous decision.
Franklin and Le were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 148, but Franklin volunteered to face Silva at UFC 147 when the original headliner, Vitor Belfort, was removed from the card due to injury.
There are no other known bouts for the UFC on FUEL 6 card at this time.