UFC 133: Rich Franklin ready for a 'potential war' against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Can Rich Franklin retire Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 133?

The Brazilian is teetering on the edge of relevancy -- and maybe even employment -- after consecutive losses to division up-and-comers Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, respectively.

His downfall in both fights was his wrestling, or more specifically, his lack of takedown defense.

That won't be an issue on August 6 in Philadelphia, as the stellar boxing skills of "Little Nog" will finally get the chance to be on display against the accurate and always dangerous hands of "Ace."

But while Franklin tells SI.com that he's "preparing for a stand-up battle," he also knows this thing could go south at any time.

"I don't know, I've never wanted to call fights or anything like that. I'll say this much -- I'm preparing for a stand up battle with him, but it really wouldn't surprise me if for this camp he decided to take it to the ground. So really I'm kind of on my toes as to how this is going to end up being for this fight, I really don't know. It's going to be a tough fight for sure. The Nogueira brothers, these guys are definitely difficult to knock out for sure so I don't see this being something that's going to end in the first round. This has potential war written all over it."

Like Nogueira, Franklin has struggled as of late, having last competed against a much larger Forrest Griffin back at UFC 126 on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas.

The original "Ultimate Fighter" bullied the former math teacher, sending him to a three round unanimous decision loss and dropping him to 2-3 over his last five fights.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where either of these two legends is put on the chopping block, but as the old regime continues to fall, which one of these warriors will leave "The City of Brotherly Love" victorious?

Let's hear your pick!