Rich Franklin: 'It's Going To Be One of the Best the UFC Has Ever Had'

The UFC is set to invade Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada this Saturday night for UFC 115 live on pay-per-view.

Eleven fights are featured on the card with Spike TV hosting two preliminary fights and five scheduled for the main card portion of the event.

Rich "Ace" Franklin (25-5) makes his return to the world famous Octagon to face UFC Hall of Famer, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell.

The two light heavyweights were not originally supposed to face another. Franklin stepped in and accepted the fight against Liddell with a week remaining in this season of the Ultimate Fighter. 

Rich explained that the short duration on the show is what helped make the decision easier.

“It definitely made the decision a lot easier to go out there, especially with it being on the whim. Had I known that I was going to coach the whole season, then I could have made the adjustments and all that kind of stuff ahead of time,” Franklin explained.

“For example, when (Dan) Henderson and I fought and the winner was going to get the spot to coach on the show (Ultimate Fighter Season 9). Although I wasn’t eager to do it, it wasn’t something that I didn’t want to do either. It’s definitely difficult to leave home for six weeks but when you know that is coming then you can prepare for it.”

The former middleweight champion went on to add that he did not have much time to prepare for the show, but because UFC president Dana White called and since the stint on the show was brief he accepted.

“Dana called me on a Wednesday night and I was in Vegas on a Thursday night. Because he called me and it was only a week it was easy for me to rearrange things and drop whatever it was that I was doing.”

With that being said, Franklin took some time off to rest both physically and mentally after his last fight but states that the timeframe of this card worked in just perfect.

“I was ready to pick it back up in June, July, or August is what I thinking of a time frame. The UFC had already contacted me several times earlier in the year for fights,” Franklin explained. “For example, they called me about fighting in Australia (UFC 110) but I didn’t want to go in February. Dana called me about mid to late March for the Ultimate Fighter and I was already back in the gym training because I had just recently came off my umbilical hernia surgery that I had. I was already putting the wheels in motion to get ready for the next fight.”

UFC President Dana White is not the only one happy that Franklin stepped up and saved the day. Fans of the sport have expressed an immense interest in seeing this fight and a big reason for that is because Rich never fails to present exciting fights when he steps into the Octagon.

“It’s going to be great energy live and I think that it’s going to be one of the best the UFC has ever had. And, I believe the UFC pay-per-view numbers will show that.” Furthermore Rich states, “I think it’s because Chuck and I both do (put on exciting fights) and the fans know it. They know this is one of those fights that you’re going to show up and it’s going to be a great show. Stylistically, I think everyone knows what we’re going to come in and do. The fans like that and it’s a good matchup for them.”

It is that type of attitude that has drawn fans to Franklin and his work ethic in the sport has been second to none which has allowed him to fight the way he does.

That same hard working style translates into everything he does and not only when he steps inside the Octagon.

“It’s not just this sport, it’s pretty much everything I do basically. The reason why is, really, I’m not athletically the most blessed athlete in the world. I have decent athletic talent but I’m not the greatest athlete in the UFC and the main ways that I beat people is through my work ethic,” Franklin added. 

“It’s really how I compensate for a lack of superior strength or a lack of superior speed. I’m not one of those guys that possesses one attribute that sets me apart from any other fighter but I’m well meshed at everything. One thing I know that I have over about 99 percent of people in this sport is my work ethic and it’s something I rely on.”

Franklin relied on the exceptional coaching staff of his home based gym in Cincinnati for this fight and also made a few visits to Matt Hume's AMC Pankration in Seattle.

“I spent the entire 8 week prep at home (Cincinnati) and I spent a couple of weeks with him (Matt Hume) but non-consecutively though. The whole camp was here in Cincinnati.”

Rich explained that while the stay at home for this camp has been exceptional he still cannot escape the tasks around the house.

“It’s kind of a double edged sword. Leaving town is nice because I don’t have to worry about anything. As far as little stuff like my pool, it took a lot of effort getting my pool open this year and if I was in Seattle training for this fight then my pool would’ve never of gotten open but I wouldn’t worry about it either because there’s nothing I could’ve done about it. Getting my grass cut, the church’s grass cut, all that kind of stuff. So the blessing is, is that when the fight is over I don’t have to come back home to two months of chores that aren’t done.” 

With being home for this camp in mind, Franklin’s apparel brand American Fighter is also based out of Cincinnati, Oh. They teamed up with mega-brand Tapout for a UFC 115 signature shirt and according to Rich the experience working with Tapout has been great.

“Tapout has been good, obviously they’re the biggest brand in the business and they were always good to me when I was with them originally. When I was with Tapout originally it was a much smaller company then it is now. They’ve treated us (American Fighter) really well and it’s just a completely different animal since I’m with them again.”

In closing, Franklin was very quick to show support to the fans that have supported him throughout his career and the people that continue to lend a hand in helping him achieve greatness.

“Thank you to the fans, they have showed a tremendous amount of support for this fight and that makes it exciting. Also, American Fighter, Tapout, Starchem Labs, and we work with the disable American vets as well. Thanks”

Additional information on Rich “Ace” Franklin can be found via www.americanfighter.com www.richfranklin.com