Rich Franklin UFC 126 Preview

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I am a life-long resident of northern Ohio, and a fan of all of the Cleveland sports teams. Rich Franklin is from Cincinnati, and presumably a Bengals and Reds fan. If you’ve ever heard the fair-weather Bengals fans yell “Who Dey?,” you’d know that I have more than reason not to like Franklin.

When I was in school, I always hated math classes, starting in elementary school and continuing through my college graduation. Before he was exclusively a fighter, Rich Franklin was a math teacher at a high school in Cincinnati.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve liked Chuck Liddell: I like the Mohawk, the thunderous knockouts, and the post-victory celebration. Rich Franklin knocked Liddell out cold at UFC 115, essentially ending my favorite fighter’s career.

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Despite all these reasons, I don’t dislike Rich Franklin one bit. It’s hard not to support a guy that gives his all every time he’s in the cage. Franklin has been a fixture in the UFC since 2003 and continues to give gutsy performances in each outing. Franklin has 34 fights in his professional career, and each of his 5 losses has come at the hands of MMA’s elite. Rich has been defeated by Anderson Silva twice (both in Middleweight title bouts), Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson, and Vitor Belfort. None of those names are of fighters that one should be embarrassed to lose to. Along the way, Franklin has knocked off some of the sport’s biggest rising stars in order to keep himself firmly planted at the top of the division.

Following his second defeat at the hands (and knees) of Anderson Silva, Rich made a bump up in weight to begin carving out a place for himself in the 205 lb. division. While many fighters would be unable to hack it against much larger opponents, Franklin has proven that he can hang with anyone. He lost a controversial split decision to Dan Henderson and knockout to Vitor Belfort, but otherwise has defeated Matt Hamill, Wanderlei Silva (at a catchweight of 195 lbs), and the aforementioned Chuck Liddell at 205 lbs. Franklin has managed to remain at the top of the division, regardless of what division he’s fighting in.

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Not that he needed any more reasons to be liked, Franklin showed true toughness in his dramatic victory over Chuck Liddell. Early on in the fight, Chuck was showing signs of his former self, giving Franklin all that he could muster in the striking department. If you’ve ever seen Chuck fight in his prime, you know that he can pack a punch and his kicks are lethal as well. In the fight with Franklin, Liddell unleashed a kick that was blocked by Franklin. Despite not connecting with Franklin’s head, the kick broke Franklin’s arm, but Rich continued to stick it out. Rich remained calm and collected and modified his gameplan to feature his right hand in striking, as his left arm was broken. With round 1 coming to a close, Chuck swung for the fences to put a stamp on a successful round, but Franklin caught Chuck with a short right hand that knocked Chuck out cold.

Rich was sidelined due to the broken left arm for a time, but now that he’s returning against Forrest Griffin, the stakes are as high as ever for Franklin. A victory over Forrest would put Rich one step closer to the UFC Light Heavyweight title, which has been difficult to retain ever since Liddell held it in 2007. In a battle of two likeable fighters, one can be assured that Rich Franklin will put on a competitive, high-paced fight that is sure to leave the viewers wanting more. Who knows, after UFC 126, we may even have another reason to like Rich Franklin.

By Curt Heinrichs
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer