Rich Franklin is in an awkward position. He's clearly the 2nd best fighter at middleweight but has two devastating losses to the champ, Anderson Silva.
He's beaten the likely next contender to the title, Yushin Okami, and his recent win over Lutter keeps him firmly planted as the clear number two guy in the division. He is a perfect 10-0 in the octagon to dudes not nicknamed "the Spider," and can earn a lot of money keeping guys from earning their chance to fight the champ.
In a recent interview with mmaweeklyradio, Franklin's manager Monte Cox provided what may just be the answer for "Ace". Seems that a move up in weight just may be in order for the former grade school teacher.
Rich has fought at this weight before, and the only loss he incurred during this tenure was to current 205 phenom, Machida. Pending they match him correctly, this could be an intriguing move if Dana White and Joe Silva agree with the move.
This move would be good for both divisions, as it would add depth at 205 and would open up the gates for guys to earn their chance to get mauled by Anderson Silva without getting mauled by Franklin first.
Here is a look at several first fight match-ups for Rich Franklin at 205:
1) Winner of Jardine-Silva
2) Winner of Evans-Irvin
3) Rematch with Machida should he defeat Ortiz.
Any of these match-ups would be extremely entertaining and I could see Franklin as even money against any of these guys except Machida.
For more on this story check out MMAWeekly.com.
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5 months ago
Franklin and his management don't really have any other options at this point. He has essentially fought everyone at 185 (except hendo) but he cannot beat silva. You could argue he deserves another title shot after another victory.
However, Silva vs franklin 3 would not be something fans would want to see again and i've heard franklin even admit that in an interview. That leaves him in a bad position and left with no other option besides moving up to 205. We all know there are plenty of quality guys to fight there.
On a side note i wish wandy would move to 185. He looked real small at 205 vs liddell and he might be able to do some damage at middleweight. That is where i think he can be most successful at this point in his career.
from 5 months ago
i wonder if wanderlei can make 185? i agree he does look small at 205 fighting those guys that walk around at 220-230. I wonder if that move would help or hurt him? interesting thought.
5 months ago
I think the question has to be is Rich Franklin going to ever fight for a title again at any weight class. There are fights for him at both weight classes, but I think Franklin is going to turn into a gate keeper whatever weight he is at. For him to get a title shot at 205 wouldn't he have to beat at least two of these guys: Wand, Jardine, Evans, Liddell, Forrest, Shogun, Rampage. I don't see Rich making a run for a title at 205. If he stays at 185 he has fights with Hendo, Marquardt, Bisping, Leben, Maia and Almeida. I'd rather see Franklin be a stepping stone at 185 then get lost in a super-competitive 205.
Derek I agree about Wand, I'd love to see him move down to 185 and bang in that division.
from 5 months ago
i actually would rather he left the ufc altogether because i think he could be the middleweight champ of any other organization that doesn't have Anderson Silva fighting for it. I mean does anyone see him losing to Cung Le? lol
5 months ago
it would the best for hik to move up, i see him beating alot of 205ers
5 months ago
I agree that Wanderlei should move down... Silva V Silva...that would be a great fight.
Another option, which I am sure will make some grumble...is to give the weight classes an extra 10lbs. This would open up some more opps and make for some real interesting fights.
I think the next logical step for Franklin is a Hendo fight...I would pay to see that. Sooner or later someone is going to catch the spider and I rekon one these two is likley to do just that... either that or get beat again :)
from 5 months ago
a fight with Hollywood Henderson? hmmmmm interesting...........
5 months ago
beating a lot of fighters....yes
winning the title at 205....not likely
At least at 185 he is a contender...205 is so stacked in the UFC....Franklin would need to get through about 3 top guys (Liddell, Machida, Silva) before he could even be considered for a title shot... I just can't see him wanting that.
from 5 months ago
i dont see him winning the title either, but at least this move creates some interesting matchups for him. that must be key to keep him motivated to fight at this point in his career.
5 months ago
Dear Bryan,
If you want to be MMA writer, you should learn to spell fighters' names correctly. When I saw "Machido" I thought it was a typo, but you did it again. It's LYOTO "THE DRAGON" MACHIDA.
Do all of us a favor and go back to your previous job.
from 3 months ago
So, you're one of those guys that rips on spelling. Don't downgrade what he wrote because he misspelled one name. The funny part about it is in your rant about his spelling your grammar is questionable.
Dear Marko,
If you want to rip on someone for not spelling a word correctly, you should learn that "If you want to be MMA writer" is caveman talk.
5 months ago
There are still a lot of guys at 185 that could give Rich trouble, namely the guys Ryan mentioned above. I think he would lose to Hendo and Marquardt, and possibly to Maia, Almeida, and Leites after those guys win a few more fights. Leben and Bisping could also give him a run for his money.
He will have little success against the powerful strikers and strong wrestlers at 205 in my opinion, and I think he would lose to all the top guys at light-heavyweight except for Rashad and Jardine. He would not earn his way to a title shot in that division.
His best bet is to wait for a BJJ guy like Almeida or Maia to dethrone Silva at 185, then he can get his title back, albeit briefly. He could always go to another org and be the champ there as well once his contract is up. He is a little lucky that Lutter got sloppy in his armbar attempt in their fight.
from 5 months ago
Agree that Franklin just needs to bide his time. He is a good fighter but Silva is perhaps the wrong match-up for him. I rekon when Silva is dethroned it would make 185 very interesting very quickly.
I also agree that he would have problems at 205.
However, I don't think him escaping the armbar was down to luck...it was skill. A lot of guy's would have been finished in that position...I thought to myself 'it's over', he showed great skills spinning out of it and think he should be credited for that rather than saying Lutter messed it up.
5 months ago
Im not really sure hes willing to leave the UFC, as hes been mentioned by Dana White as one of the guys that would always have a job, along with Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell.
5 months ago
True, he did show great poise in escaping that armbar, and it is much harder to do that in a real fight than in practice. Lutter wasn't able to get his right leg across Rich's face, which would have made it harder for him to escape.
And I agree that Franklin will probably stay with the UFC in the long run, considering he has five fights left on his new contract. He will be 34 soon, so I wonder how many good years he has left. But it would have been nice to see him compete in DREAM's middleweight grand prix, or see him fight some middleweights outside the UFC.
5 months ago
i think that would be the best thing for rich to do,i was hoping for him to do that after the second lose to silva he is not going to beat silva so i suggest he moves up to 205 where i think he has alot better chances to win fights,i would like to see him fight lyoto,then maybe someone like thiago silva but lets hope he deos move up thats about all i can say
from 5 months ago
Rich always looked pretty big at 185 anyways. I think at his age, he will carry 205 well into the ring. That division is stacked and he only adds more depth and excitement. I have no idea what direction they will go in his first fight at 205 though.
3 months ago
Yeah there are many different ways they could go for Franklins first fight at 205, if he makes the jump. I think an interesting match-up would be Matt Hamill.
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