But he will be ready for an exciting fight as he tells 411mania.com:

"I'll tell you what, that's what excites me the most about the match-up. Forrest and I are both very tenacious fighters and both of us are very known for our cardio and our willingness to not quit. So I think that is going to make for an exciting fight. I like the match-up. For me, February is a good time for me to come back. Mentally, I'm in a good spot. I'll be ready to go by then. I know I'm going to come on top of my game, but I know its not going to be an easy fight either. So I'm not going to sit here and say anything about how I'm going to walk through Forrest or anything like that because I know it's not going to happen that way."

Finally healed from a broken arm courtesy of Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin is looking forward to what promises to be a war with fellow light-heavyweight stalwart Forrest Griffin. With both fighters coming off victories, "Ace" sending the "Iceman" to perhaps his final nap in the Octagon and Griffin scraping by a past-his-prime Tito Ortiz, Franklin believes a win over the former Light-Heavyweight Champion will push him into the upper echelon of the division. It's still early but who ya got, Maniacs? Will the 14 month layoff be too much to overcome for Griffin? Is Franklin primed to make a run at 205-pounds? With a matchup like this, do you even care about the divisional ramifications?