The UFC is headed to Ireland in January for UFC 93. It’s supposedly around the same time Affliction was planning a show, which means the UFC actually put together a decent card for a foreign show.

Rich Franklin is headlining the card with a bout against Dan Henderson, which is a fight a lot of people have wanted to see for a long time. Both guys need a win and it will be a very intriguing matchup.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will be back in action after being sidelined for more than a year with an injury as he takes on Mark Coleman. It will be interesting to see how sharp Rua is, even if Coleman isn’t much of an opponent.

Also rumored for that card is a match between rivals Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.

That is the basis for a very solid show and another big strike against Affliction. If Fedor Emelianenko isn’t on the card, then casual fans will have a hard time justifying buying an Affliction show over a UFC card. It’s also the first time for the UFC in Dublin, Ireland, so the UFC expansion project continues in a big way. The only downside of that is waking up in the early morning to conduct interviews with people an ocean away during the media week (wahh, poor me).