Rich Franklin Goes Under the Knife but Could Return in Late Spring

Since losing to Vitory Belfort in the main event of UFC 103, former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, has dropped off the map. But now he is back to tell Sports.ca that he will be out for a while due to a sports hernia:

"I'm taking some time off," he said. "I have hernia surgery scheduled next week. I have a slight tear in my upper stomach. I need to get it taken care of. Once I do that, then I'll get back to a normal training regimen."

The injury is the type that can progress to something much worse, so Franklin is looking to fix it as soon as possible.

"It's a smaller tear so I'm taking care of it before it becomes a bigger problem."

Franklin is hoping to be limit his recovery time to six-to-eight weeks though it could go as much as six months. That would put him at early to mid March as when he could start training making a return in the late spring possible.

Franklin mentioned that he wants to fight in May.

"I'm hoping may maybe June," he explained. "I'm not opposed to going to Montreal at all. I've fought in Canada several times and I love the fans and they love me. I could see them (UFC) saying something about Montreal. I could see it."

The Montreal card is UFC 113 and is scheduled for May 1st. There is no event scheduled for June but the UFC is holding an event at the end of May.

UFC 113 wi be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Champ Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans are rumored to be on the card as well.