Rich Franklin Says Vitor Belfort Rematch Could Happen ‘If Stars Align’

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin refused to completely rule out a rematch with Vitor Belfort.

Franklin last competed in 2012 when he was knocked out by Cung Le. Since then, the 44-year-old has served as the vice president of ONE Championship.

The Singapore-based promotion recently signed a lot of ex-UFC talent at the end of last year such as Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson and Sage Northcutt.

The latest signing was former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, who notably knocked Franklin out at UFC 103 in 2009. Could a possible rematch 10 years in the making occur at ONE Championship?

“The more I entertain this conversation, the more it’s going to start a whole bunch of chatter,” Franklin told MMA Fighting. “But everybody has talked about that with me being an executive with ONE and him being a fighter now in the organization.”

Trial Training Camp

While Franklin laughed the idea off, he did not rule it out. He added that he would have to have some sort of trial training camp so that his coaches could assess whether a comeback would be feasible.

“If the stars align, anything is possible,” the recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee said.

As for Belfort, “The Phenom” turned 42 earlier this month and last competed in May last year when he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida.

The Brazilian retired afterward, having only won once in his last five fights, before coming out of retirement to sign with ONE in February.