Rich Franklin at UFC 103: An Ace or a Joker?

Eventually it always happens—and no matter how great their physical condition may be—not even the greatest of our sporting heroes will be able to outrun, outfight, or escape it.

That train is never late.

Whether it be a prize-fighting boxer, an ice hockey hero, or a former champion cage-fighter for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the black dog of despair—who shows its ugly self in the form of old age and bad reflexes—will come nipping at their heels eventually.

And unfortunately, most times, it comes at the worst time, which is during the height of the athlete's popularity.

Sadly, being in past-prime condition is a physical problem, which seems to target the legs and slow the reflexes while simultaneously shortening the careers of our most popular and beloved fighters.

Father Time can be a sudden and extremely ruthless opponent; without warning, he creeps up from behind, taps our fight sports heroes on the shoulder, and in the time it takes to turn and see the culprit, it's already too late—they are surprised, sucker-punched, and knocked out cold.

This can also be the loneliest time in the careers of our former champions.

The cheers from their loyal fans have stopped, the seats of their home stadiums are empty, and the famous last name which was once synonymous with their sport no longer adorns the top slot on any of the famous billboards.

All these things usually signal to our former heroes that the end of a long career is just around the corner, and the only headlining appearance remaining is the one announcing their forthcoming retirement.

It's unfortunate, but winning a fight is sometimes regarded as a team effort, yet when our sports heroes start to slide off the losing end of the ladder, they seem to do it alone.

Theirs is a phenomenon similar to denial. They refuse to evaluate thier careers, or accept reasoning; instead, they insist that they can still compete at the highest level.

Sadly they appear to resemble a jilted lover, one who is told he is needed no longer, yet for some reason ignores the message and continues to harass his partner, further damaging himself in the process.

The greatest hockey player ever, in my opinion, was Wayne Gretzky, who recognized that he was finished when he said "These kids today are too big, too strong, and much too fast for me; it's soon time to retire."

Gretzky was one of the lucky ones.

The greatest heavyweight boxer ever, Muhammad  Ali, stuck around the game much too long, got beaten up by lesser opponents late in his career, and developed debilitating Parkinson's disease because of it.

Chuck Liddell, who was the long-standing 205-pound champion for the UFC and once arguably the best cage-fighter in the sport, started suffering losses and making amateurish mistakes that led to repetitive knockouts.

Throwing one punch at a time, without a jab or kick to set it up, and leaving himself wide open for counter punches were two bright amber warning lights that flashed on and off in the mind of his fans and his boss, UFC president Dana White.

White acted on his own instincts and told Liddell that his fighting career in the UFC  was done, and the "Iceman" is now scheduled to make his television debut on a show called Dancing with the Stars, which is a much safer way to get a paycheck, to say the very least.

After witnessing the performance of Rich Franklin in the main event last night at the UFC 103 event in Dallas and seeing Franklin stopped by "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort, by a barrage of punches that Franklin literally still hasn't seen, it seems to this writer that the end is possibly near for "The Ace."

New contract or not, he may need to take a long hard look at his job description and then look at his perfect health, then hopefully make a further decision regarding the rest of his UFC career—the right one.

The UFC has some outstanding events, with new fighters to replace the old, and, believe me, there now exists some great young warriors who are more than ready to step up to the Octagon and perform.

These fresh young warriors—such as Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, and Nate Marquardt—are much more well-rounded and better skilled than most, or all, of the older original UFC fighters from 10 years ago.

With a little more name recognition, they could be ready to step up or take over from fighters such as Liddell, Hughes, and Franklin, should they decide to retire.

However, sadly, the recent contract signing from two of these past-prime cage-fighters, is pointing toward more of those gatekeeper type fights in the coming months.

I wish them all continued success, but, quite honestly, I'm not looking forward to seeing Franklin fight again anytime soon.

I am quite certain that he will become a stepping stone for up-and-comers, or hungry young contenders wishing to add a recognized name to their resume; he deserves to retire with more dignity than that.

Franklin is not only a former 185-pound UFC champion, he was also one of the best 185-pound fighters ever in the sport before being dethroned by elite fighting machine Anderson "Spider" Silva.

And now, even though he is only in his mid-30s, against Belfort, Ace looked slow, confused, a virtual knockout waiting to happen—a past-prime candidate if there ever was one.

The Ace is an extremely cerebral fighter, a former mathematics teacher, and a helluva nice guy; however, losing a fight in this most recent way may allow him to realize that it's virtually over, and it's time to hang up the gloves and enjoy the rest of his life with his brain healthy and intact.

Now, let's all kneel and pray—shall we?—and hope that Franklin doesn't become another Ken Shamrock. 

247
reads

26
comments

2
likes

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?