Rumors and reports are reaching a high tide with regards to a potential fight between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin.

Fighter's Only reports that that Liddell will fight Franklin as the main event of the UFC's counter to Strikeforce's CBS card.

However, MMA Junkie is reporting that Liddell vs. Franklin is in the works for UFC 115 in June. This would fit with Rich's surgery schedule as the former middleweight champion underwent hernia surgery in January of 2010 and was expected to make his return in May or June.

For those wondering what happened to Tito Ortiz --who is Liddell's rival coach on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter-- reports point to Ortiz's cryptic twitter messages as evidence of personal strife that has forced Tito and the UFC to change plans. It was originally believed that Liddell and Ortiz would fight in the main event of UFC 115 in June following the finale of this season of TUF, as is standard protocol with recent seasons of the reality show. Having Liddell fight Franklin in June would satisfy the Vancouver card's need for a main event.

With regards to the Fighter's Only report, it was previously reported that the UFC was preparing to counter Strikeforce's CBS Nashville card, with their own offering in the "Music City". Despite the expected event there has been little news regarding potential fights for a card that is designed to put pressure on Strikeforce and CBS, perhaps forcing the promotion to move their card back a week and go head-to-head with the WEC's pay-per view debut. It was rumored that Kimbo Slice would be moved off of UFC 113 but the promotion then made him official for the Montreal event. There was also the rumored Matt Serra-Mike Swick fight but Swick underwent shoulder surgery.

Loretta Hunt reported yesterday that Strikeforce has decided to stick with their April 17th date hoping to rely on CBS promoting the event during their coverage of the NCAA tournament, which begins next weekend.

Update: Josh Gross writes:

According to Tennessee State Athletic Commission regulations, Zuffa has until Thursday, March 18, to file an event permit application should the Las Vegas-based promotional company wish to counter Strikeforce's April 17 date in Nashville.

Update #2: Dana White tweeted that this is not true.