Tomorrow night, Chuck Liddell returns to the octagon once again. Liddell has been out of action since losing his last fight to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 97 by TKO. When The Iceman returns, across from him will be Rich "Ace" Franklin in what will be a collision of MMA legends and a great treat for fans of the sport.

If you're a long time follower of the sport, then you'll know Chuck Liddell is a former light-heavyweight champion with wins over the likes of Tito Ortiz (twice), Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Randy Couture (twice), and Jeremy Horn. Rich Ace Franklin is the former middleweight champion, with wins over Ken Shamrock, David "The Crow" Loiseau, Evan Tanner (twice), and Nate Quarry. It's too bad this fight couldn't have happened back in 2005, when these two were kings of their divisions.

Either way, the bout should be an exciting one with these two just standing up and trading blows. Don't be surprised if either one goes for a take down here or there to keep themselves up on the score cards, though. These two have a style that match up perfectly, Rich Franklin isn't one to be shy from pulling the trigger, and Liddell can be both a counter punch or hunt his opponent, so it'll be intriguing to see how these two match up.

Prediction:

Chuck's reflexes, speed, power and accuracy have all dwindled over the years. His chin also hasn't been holding up the best either, not that he has a glass jaw (he took quite a few hard shots from Wanderlei Silva, who still hits very hard) but it's taken a lot of abuse over the years, and it's starting to catch up to him.

I expect Rich Franklin to dictate the pace of the fight early into the fight using his speed advantage. Liddell will probably come at him hard in the beginning, but will start fighting Ace's game when he gets tagged a few times. Then Rich will stay mostly on the outside, throw some leg kicks to slow him down, picking shots to rattle him up and keep him at bay. Honestly, I expect Chuck to get dropped at least once in this fight.

Liddell on the other hand, will probably look for the one-hit KO punch as usual. As long as Franklin can avoid that, which I don't see him to have too much trouble doing, he should be able to get the decision. I don't see either man finishing the other, they're both coming off of TKO losses and long lay offs, so they'll settle with just winning on points, but still anticipate fireworks through out the fight.

Rich Franklin should be able to get a comfortable win over Liddell. He has a solid chin, he's smart and calculated, hits pretty hard, has decent wrestling, good BJJ, and is overall a good, well-rounded fighter. The only advantages Chuck seems to have over him is the one-punch KO power and a stronger wrestling base, but I don't expect wrestling to be a factor. Unless Liddell decides to surprise us all and turn this into a wrestling match, but it's more likely that Chuck Liddell sticks to what he's been doing over the years.

So, that's my final prediction on the main event at UFC 115, Rich "Ace" Franklin via decision.

Other Predictions:
Loiseau over Miranda
Danzig over Wiman
Griffin over Dunham
MacDonald over Condit
Yvel over Rothwell
Thiago over Kampmann
Barry over CroCop