There have been a lot of rumors swirling around former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin lately regarding UFC 115 and his possible involvement in the event with either Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell or Randy “The Natural” Couture facing him. Franklin spoke to the Boston Herald about the possibility of facing Couture, as well as looking to make another title run;

“It’s not signed yet, but we’ve been working Randy now for a while. We’ve talked June, then we talked August and now we’re talking June again. I think we’re having problems with Randy’s scheduling. So I really don’t know what the plan is at this point. I’m at a point now where I’ve fought enough fights and it’s time for me to make a title run again and see where that takes me. That’s where my focus is now. The last show I went to was New Year’s Eve and I happened to be sitting next to Randy that night. We’re sitting there joking around. He and I went to the Middle East together. It’s not somebody that you necessarily look to for fighting. My standard answer when they say, `Hey we want you to fight so and so?’ is I say `How does Randy feel about that?’ If he’s cool with it professionally, great. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to be friends when it’s all said and done.”

Franklin has seen his career enter a state of limbo since losing his challenge for Anderson Silva’s UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 77 as he has fought twice at Light Heavyweight and twice at a 195-pound catchweight, going 1-1 in each weight class including his most recent loss at 195 pounds to Vitor Belfort at UFC 103 last September.

While Franklin has had problems gaining traction in his push towards championship gold as of late, if he fights Couture and manages to pull off a victory, it’s not unlikely that someone with the credentials and the fanbase that Franklin has could move into immediate title contention.