By MATT MOLGAARD
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

Rich Franklin hasn’t enjoyed the most success lately. He’s earned just two wins in his last five outings, and was completely starched by Vitor Belfort in that span. Forrest Griffin applied complete dominance to the former middleweight champion back in February, and if Rich was aiming to get things back on track at UFC 133, well, that obviously didn’t happen.

Franklin’s scheduled bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was nixed when “Little Nog” withdrew due to injury. Now “Ace” finds himself sitting on the shelf with a similar issue; the struggling light heavyweight suffered a shoulder injury (torn right labrum) just days ago, and will require minor surgery.

The recovery period is expected to last two to three months.

Initial rumors of a bout between Tito Ortiz and rich Franklin now look abysmal. Where Ortiz goes from here remains to be seen. Rich Franklin however, is out for the remainder of the year: that much is certain.

"The timing of this shoulder injury is unfortunate considering my fight was pulled from the UFC 133 card, but I know everything will go as planned and that I will recover quickly," States Franklin. "The UFC is being supportive, and I hope my fans also will be understanding. I promise to get back in the octagon and fight again as soon as possible."

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