Dana White Likes the ‘Idea of Tito Ortiz vs. Rich Franklin’; Nothing Set Yet

Rich Franklin at UFC 115

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz was able to jump start his career at UFC 132 when he submitted former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader.

And while Ortiz came up short in his late notice bid to take out Rashad Evans one event later at UFC 133, his career resurgence is still in full swing.

Following the back-to-back fights in just a month’s time, Ortiz is getting some much needed vacation time in right now, but the ideas for his next fight are already in motion.

Speaking to fans via UStream on Friday in Brazil, UFC president Dana White has a fight in mind for Ortiz, but nothing is set in stone just yet.

“I don’t know yet, still working on fights for Tito,” White said. “But we do like the idea of Tito vs. Rich Franklin.”

Franklin was originally scheduled to compete on the UFC 133 card in Philadelphia, same as Ortiz, but a late injury to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira forced him off the show.

Recently, Franklin has commented that he sees himself back in the Octagon before the end of the year, most likely in December. Add to that Ortiz’s time off following the two straight fights and the timing could work out for the two former champions to meet in the Octagon.

While Franklin and Ortiz have been part of conversations with fans for years, the two fighters have never actually been presented as potential opponents for each other by the UFC. For Franklin’s part, if the fans and the UFC want to see it, he’s happy to accept.

“The fans have talked about how they would be interested in that fight,” Franklin told MMAWeekly.com about facing Ortiz. “It’s something the fans have talked about being an entertaining fight, and if it’s something the UFC wanted to put on, I’d be open to that.”

It remains to be seen if the UFC will decide to put together Rich Franklin vs. Tito Ortiz, but right now it appears to be the most popular option.

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