FanHouse WanderleiSilva

Last week, UFC President Dana White surprised a few people by saying that he'd like to put together a matchup between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and current Affliction middleweight Vitor Belfort.

The statement was surprising because White's been burned in the past announcing matchups that never happened and deals that fell through. Most recently, he did a verbal contract with Mirko Cro Cop prior to UFC 99, but the Croatian star bolted after one fight. Most famously, he had then-PRIDE fighter Wanderlei Silva enter the octagon at UFC 61 to announce a matchup with UFC superstar Chuck Liddell. But talks soon fizzled and White wasn't able to put the two together until after he bought PRIDE and acquired Silva's contract.

So what do those situations tell us about Belfort?

Days after his loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 99, Wanderlei Silva says he has no interest in retiring, and that he hopes the UFC will allow him to fight twice more this year, once in September and once in December.

After his victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99, Rich Franklin is now on my list of the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts -- and Silva is off it. But what's next for Franklin? I'd love to see him get a Top 10 opponent, but most of the rest of the Top 10 are already committed to other fights: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva, Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva.

I think the best option is to match up Franklin with Luiz Cane, and I think a dark horse possibility is Franklin vs. Tito Ortiz, if Ortiz returns to the Octagon. In any event, my list of the top 10 light heavyweights in MMA is below.

Rich Franklin earned one of the most significant wins of his MMA career Saturday, beating Wanderlei Silva in a hard-fought decision in the main event at UFC 99.

The fight was a three-round battle in which Franklin took the upper hand early and was able to hold on late. Franklin landed several hard strikes to Silva's face in the first round, and after the first he could be heard telling his corner, "I think I broke his nose."

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This is the UFC 99 live blog for the main event between Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin. The main event will start around 5:20 PM ET, and the Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva live blog is below.

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FanHouse will have live UFC 99 results for all of Saturday's UFC 99 fights, as well as a live blog and round-by-round updates of the televised main card. Fights featured on the UFC 99 card include Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, Cheick Kongo vs. Cain Velasquez and the return of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who is taking on Mostapha Al Turk.

UFC 99 is now underway. In addition to posting the results here, I'll also be tweeting the outcomes of the fights, so you can find out everything that happens by following me on Twitter.

The UFC definitely hopes to promote a middleweight title fight between Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva. But UFC President Dana White said in Germany on Friday that even if Wanderlei beats Rich Franklin at UFC 99, he wouldn't move ahead of Michael Bisping in the middleweight pecking order.

Asked about several of the top middleweights, White said that he thinks Michael Bisping would earn the next title shot if he beats Dan Henderson at UFC 100. White added that Wanderlei would then likely fight Nate Marquardt -- if Marquardt beats Demian Maia at UFC 102.

Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva are two fighters going in different directions; the former on his way up to the 205-pound weight class, the latter moving down to 185.

So in the transition, the UFC decided to pair off the duo in an intriguing matchup between a former UFC champ and former PRIDE champ at UFC 99. And while there appears to be little at stake aside from a won or loss on their records, there is likely more to it than that.

So what exactly will it determine and how will the matchup go down? Let's take a look.

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All 24 fighters stepped on the scales Friday in Cologne, Germany, for an eventful UFC 99 weigh-in. The loudest cheers were for Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who will have the crowd on his side fighting a day's drive from his home in Croatia. Wanderlei Silva, fighting at a catchweight of 195 pounds for the first time in the main event against Rich Franklin, looked chiseled as he stepped on the scale at one pound under the limit. And two shoving matches broke out during stare-downs featuring undercard fighters: Denis Stojnic and Stefan Struve got a little too close and UFC President Dana White had to break them up, and then Paul Kelly bumped heads with Rolando Delgado, prompting Delgado to respond with a hard push. White could be heard saying, "Don't put your hands on each other" when the next pair of fighters had their stare-down.

Video is here and full weigh-in results are below.

UPDATE: For UFC 99 weigh-in info and results, follow me on Twitter.

All 24 fighters will step on the scales Friday at 10 AM ET for the UFC 99 weigh-ins, and if you can't be there in Cologne, Germany, you can watch the video right here. UFC 99 features a main event of Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, held at a catchweight of 195 pounds, plus big heavyweight fights featuring Cheick Kongo vs. Cain Velasquez and Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic vs. Mostapha Al-Turk. The weigh-in video is below.