UFC 68: Who will Rich Franklin fight in Ohio?

Okay, so maybe this is putting the cart before the horse – UFC 66 is still weeks away.

And, there's no official confirmation from the UFC that it is even happening.

Nonetheless, it's worth discussing.

MMAWeekly.com first reported that "Ace" is tentatively scheduled to make his return to the Octagon on March 3, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio.

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Franklin hails from nearby Cincinnati.

In fact, it would be a classy move by Dana White to get the former champ back on track in front of a hometown crowd.

And, it's well-known that the UFC can't trust Tim Sylvia to headline a pay-per-view event. Therefore, it makes sense to have a major draw such as Franklin as the co-main event.

For what it's worth, Franklin still needs to get medical clearance that his schnozzle is completely healed and, if that's the case, doesn't suffer any injuries during training.

Let's just pretend – for a moment – that the stars align and Franklin does indeed fight at UFC 68.

Who will he fight?

Well, that all depends on the brain trust that is UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and UFC President Dana White.

There's three clear options:

1. Throw the 32-year-old a bone and serve up a young and relatively inexperienced fighter who can hang, but not win. This will ensure that Franklin restores some of that winning confidence, and more important, escapes the fight injury-free.

2. Arrange a fight with an up-and-comer who has a chance to win, but probably won't. Heck, why not just toss Patrick Cote into the fire again – he's used to it.

3. Schedule a fight with one of the top contenders in the division, which (let us peer into our crystal ball) will probably be someone like Mike Swick, Nathan Marquardt or Yushin Okami.

What about option four – instant rematch with Anderson Silva?

Yeah right. That would be total career homicide of the long-time UFC poster boy. And, Dana White just wouldn't do that ... no way, right?

Fortunately for Franklin, the UFC middleweight class isn't that strong right now. He could probably rattle off one or two wins -- even against the "top" contenders in the division.

Our guess is that he'll fight someone somewhere between options #1 and #2.
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Here's a nice breakdown of the current UFC middleweight class and fighter records* for 2006 courtesy of MMATorch.com:

Kendall Grove (4-0)
Travis Lutter (3-0)
Mike Swick (3-0)
Martin Kampmann (2-0)
Nathan Marquardt (2-0)
Yushin Okami (2-0)
Anderson Silva (2-0)
Dean Lister (1-0)
Jason MacDonald (1-0)
Evan Tanner (1-0)
David Terrell (1-0)
Chris Leben (3-1)
Rory Singer (3-1)
Patrick Cote (2-1)
Ed Herman (2-2)
Kalib Starnes (2-2)
Luigi Fioravanti (1-1)
Rich Franklin (1-1)
Charles McCarthy (1-1)

We have a feeling Franklin's "warm up" opponent is on this list. So let's just do some quick elimination:

Kendall Grove (4-0)
Travis Lutter (3-0)> Fighting in February
Mike Swick (3-0)> Probably too much too soon, but timing leaves him available
Martin Kampmann (2-0)> Rising fast, maybe we see him against Swick?
Nathan Marquardt (2-0)> Fighting in January
Yushin Okami (2-0)> Probably too much too soon, but timing leaves him available
Anderson Silva (2-0)> No way in hell ... and he's fighting in February
Dean Lister (1-0)> Fighting in January
Jason MacDonald (1-0)
Evan Tanner (1-0)> Have you seen this guy lately? He's a mess.
David Terrell (1-0)> Can't rely on to stay healthy and could ruin marketing efforts
Chris Leben (3-1)
Rory Singer (3-1)--> No way, too green
Patrick Cote (2-1)> Probably fighting in February against Scott Smith
Ed Herman (2-2)> We'll probably see him early next year
Kalib Starnes (2-2)> Too disappointing
Luigi Fioravanti (1-1)
Charles McCarthy (1-1)> Captain miserable vs. the former world champ? Don't think so.

That leaves us with our final four:

Kendall Grove (4-0)
Jason MacDonald (1-0)
Chris Leben (3-1)
Luigi Fioravanti (1-1)

Grove is recovering from a hand injury and he's too marketable to put in the cage with Franklin so soon. It's a possibility, but we can't see it happening. Fioravanti could be an acceptable sacrificial lamb, especially if he takes care of Dave Menne on December 13.

But, our guts tell us that the loser of the Leben-McDonald fight on December 30 gets Rich Franklin.

Call it a hunch.

*The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) exhibition fights included in records