Ex-middleweight king Rich Franklin bared his thoughts about heavy-handed wrestling expert Dan Henderson, whom he will battle in the main feature of UFC 93.

“He's pretty tenacious,” Franklin said in a UFC promotional interview. “He's pretty much coming forward the whole fight.”

Franklin, who is coming off a TKO victory over Matt Hamill in UFC 88, said he is going to have his hands full when he deals with Henderson.

“[He has] great wrestling skills, heavy-handed with his cross… He's somebody who’s gonna push the pace the whole fight,” said Franklin, who totes a 26-3 record.

The former middleweight champion said he may have to stick and move to control the heavy-charging Herderson. The match up is slated Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland.

“I believe if I don't get stupid and stand in front of him, [I’m gonna make it],” he said. “[I’ll] use my footwork to my advantage and move around. That's gonna be the key to win.”

Henderson is the former PRIDE Fighting Championships title holder in the 183 and 205 pound divisions. He holds a record of 23 wins and 7 losses and is coming off a victory over Rousimar Palhares in UFC 88.

Franklin, meanwhile, said he has already adjusted in fighting at the light heavyweight class.

The Ohio-based fighter used to compete at the 185-pound class, where he was defeated by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. 

“In the Hamill fight, I felt good in that weight. So now I'm kinda excited to be in that [light heavy]weight class,” said Franklin.

He conceded, however, that he would have to contend with bigger and heavier fighters. 

“These guys are big, they might be dealing me with the strength and the weight, that kind of stuff… pushing me around 15 or 25 minutes of the fight,” he said.