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Rich Franklin To Undergo Abdominal Surgery, Plans To Return In May 2010

The former UFC middleweight champion Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin is coming off a knockout loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort.  After his difficult loss to Belfort, Franklin felt that it was time for him to heal both mentally and physically.  ‘Ace’ explains how mentally exhausted he’s been feeling lately and would prefer to take a short break from MMA.  With this time off, he took the opportunity to schedule surgery in order to repair a small tear in his abdominal muscle that has been bothering him for quite some time.  Franklin need to give his body some time to heal up as well.  He says he’ll be ready to make his Octagon return most likely in May of 2010.

Snip from Rich Franklin:

“[In regards to his upcoming abdominal surgery] It’s not real painful yet, but I’m having it taken care of prior to it becoming a major problem…I wanted to take some time off before the September fight, and I’d spoken to Dana (White) about it…Unfortunately, they kind of put themselves in a situation where they needed a headliner, and I was that guy…I had big fights, fights that were out of the country, main-eventing every time, and it works on you mentally…I haven’t really had a significant break other than the time that I broke my hand (during a 2006 win over David Loiseau). I felt like I needed some time to mentally reset, physically reset, and so that was the plan. [In regards to his next UFC return] My head says May, and it seems to be right, and I’ve talked to the doctor about possible recovery time, and they’re talking six to eight weeks…I think I would be able to make a May time frame.”

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