Rich Franklin
From FightWiki
Rich Franklin is an American mixed martial artist who currently fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the former UFC Middleweight Champion, losing his belt to Anderson Silva. Franklin has moved up into the UFC's stacked Light Heavyweight division, where he competes now.
UFC President Dana White revealed during a special Q&A session in Fort Bragg, North Carolina on December 9, 2008 that the winner of a planned light heavyweight attraction between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson at UFC 93 on January 17 will be named a head coach for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
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Name | Rich Franklin |
| Nickname | Ace | |
| Association | Team Extreme | |
| Weight Class | MW/ LHW | |
| Style | Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | |
| Birth Date | 05.10.1974 | |
| Country | USA | |
| Franklins Pictures | http://www.richfranklin.com/home.asp |
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 24 - 3 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) (1 NC) |
| Wins | 13 (T)KOs 9 Submissions 2 Decisions |
| Losses | 3 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 0 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | Dan Henderson | X | UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson | 1/17/2009 | X | X | x | |
| Win | Matt Hamill | TKO (Kick to Body) | UFC 88:Breakthrough | 09/06/2008 | 3 | 0:39 | Return to Light Heavyweight | x |
| Win | Travis Lutter | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2 | 4/19/2008 | 2 | 3:01 | x | |
| Loss | Anderson Silva | TKO by multiple strikes | UFC 77: Hostile Territory | 10/20/2007 | 2 | 1:07 | For UFC Middleweight Championship | x |
| Win | Yushin Okami | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 72: Victory | 6/16/2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Became #1 contender in UFC Middleweight Division | x |
| Win | Jason MacDonald | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | UFC 68: Uprising | 3/3/2007 | 2 | 5:00 | x | |
| Loss | Anderson Silva | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 64: Unstoppable | 10/14/2006 | 1 | 2:59 | Lost UFC Middleweight Championship | x |
| Win | David Loiseau | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 58: USA vs Canada | 11/19/2005 | 5 | 25:00 | Defended UFC Middleweight Championship | x |
| Win | Nathan Quarry | KO (Punch) | UFC 56: Full Force | 8/21/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | Defended UFC Middleweight Championship | [1] |
| Win | Evan Tanner | TKO (Doctor Stoppage) | UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | 6/4/2005 | 4 | 3:25 | Won UFC Middleweight Championship | x |
| Win | Ken Shamrock | TKO (Strikes) | UFC: Ultimate Fighter Finale | 4/9/2005 | 1 | 2:42 | x | |
| Win | Curtis Stout | Submission (Punches) | SB 38: SuperBrawl 38 | 12/12/2004 | 2 | 1:28 | x | |
| Win | Jorge Rivera | Submission (Armbar) | UFC 50: The War of 04 | 10/22/2004 | 3 | 4:28 | x | |
| Win | Ralph Dilon | Submission (Kimura) | AFC - Alaska Fighting Championship | 7/14/2004 | 1 | N/A | x | |
| Win | Leo Sylvest | Submission (Strikes) | SB 35 - SuperBrawl 35 | 4/16/2004 | 1 | 1:13 | x | |
| Loss | Lyoto Machida | TKO (Punches) | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 - Inoki Festival | 12/31/2003 | 2 | 1:03 | [2] | |
| Win | Edwin Dewees | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 44 - Undisputed | 9/26/2003 | 1 | 3:35 | x | |
| Win | Roberto Ramirez | KO (Punch) | Battleground 1 - War Cry | 7/19/2003 | 1 | 0:10 | x | |
| Win | Evan Tanner | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 42 - Sudden Impact | 4/25/2003 | 1 | 2:40 | x | |
| Win | Ryushi Yanagisawa | Decision (Majority) | Rings - King of Kings 2000 Block A | 10/9/2000 | 2 | 5:00 | x | |
| Win | Antony Rea | TKO | UCC Hawaii - Eruption in Hawaii | 9/17/2002 | 1 | 2:46 | x | |
| Win | Yan Pellerin | Submission (Armbar) | UCC 10 - Battle for the Belts 2002 | 6/15/2002 | 1 | 3:23 | [3] | |
| Win | Marvin Eastman | Submission (Armbar) | WFA 1 - World Fighting Alliance 1 | 11/3/2001 | 1 | N/A | [4] | |
| Win | Dennis Reed | Submission (Strikes) | EC - Extreme Challenge Trials | 8/25/2001 | 1 | 1:38 | x | |
| Win | Chris Seifert | Submission (Strikes) | EC 41 - Extreme Challenge 41 | 7/13/2001 | 2 | 1:45 | x | |
| Win | Travis Fulton | TKO (Broken Hand) | Rings USA - Battle of Champions | 3/17/2001 | 1 | 5:00 | x | |
| No Contest | Aaron Brink | Accidental Injury | IFC WC 11 - Warriors Challenge 11 | 1/13/2001 | 1 | N/A | For IFC Light Heavyweight United States Championship. | [5] |
| Win | Dennis Reed | Submission (Armbar) | EC 35 - Extreme Challenge 35 | 6/29/2000 | 1 | 1:56 | x | |
| Win | Gary Myers | KO (Kick) | WEF 9 - World Class | 5/13/2000 | 3 | 0:59 | x | |
| Win | Rob Smith | TKO (Punches) | EC 31 - Extreme Challenge 31 | 3/24/2000 | 1 | 2:30 | x |
Biography
Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin was a math teacher at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati. He has a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati.
Rich Franklin and American fighter President Jeff Adler created The Keep It In The Ring Foundation to advocate non-violence and build character in youth. This is done through after school sports, martial arts, and life skills programs. They help young people learn about life so they can respect it.
Martial Arts Background
According to Franklin, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes. He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc., and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). Franklin is currently ranked as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel. Since losing his title to Anderson Silva, Franklin has started training under Matt "The Wizard" Hume.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Franklin had a record of 17 wins and 1 loss before his fight for the title, which he won. His sole loss was against Lyoto Machida by TKO in the second round. In the run up to the title match, he defeated such well-respected fighters as Evan Tanner, Jorge Rivera, Edwin Dewees, and Ken Shamrock. Before his fight with Shamrock, Franklin signed an unusually long 8-fight contract with the UFC. In 2005, he defeated Evan Tanner for a second time at UFC 53 to win the UFC middleweight championship. His victory led to his being a coach (along with welterweight champion Matt Hughes) on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter.
On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a competitor from season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round. On March 4, 2006, at UFC 58, Franklin defeated David Loiseau in a unanimous five round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left hand early on in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws, and Franklin was out of action for seven months.
Franklin lost his title on his return fight after being defeated by Brazilian Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. The fight was stopped at 2:49 of the first round after Franklin received a knee to the face. On October 19, 2006 Franklin underwent surgery due to the nasal fracture he received in his fight against Silva.
At UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, Franklin defeated Jason MacDonald by TKO due to MacDonald's corner throwing in the towel in the break between rounds two and three. Franklin had mounted MacDonald in the closing seconds of the second round, causing significant injury and swelling around MacDonald's left eye. MacDonald's corner advised ending the fight, and Franklin was declared the winner. After the fight Franklin called Anderson Silva to the Octagon, and said that he and Dana White had agreed to a fight for the title in Franklin's hometown, Cincinnati.
On June 16, 2007 at UFC 72 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Franklin defeated top middleweight contender Yushin Okami to be announced the official number one contender for Anderson Silva's middleweight championship. The bout was only Franklin's second overall fight that went the full distance (due to being a non-title fight, it was three rounds). All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Franklin.
On October 20, 2007, Franklin faced Anderson Silva in a rematch for the middleweight championship, losing by TKO (Strikes) in the second round. Franklin recently signed a new 6 fight contract with the UFC.
Franklin defeated Travis Lutter via TKO (Strikes) at 3:01 of Round 2 at UFC 83 on April 19, 2008. This was despite Lutter locking in a tight armbar. Franklin exhibited a high level armbar submission escape, made even more impressive because Lutter is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
On September 6, 2008 at UFC 88, Franklin made his return to the light heavyweight division by defeating Matt Hamill by TKO with a kick to the liver.
Personal Life
Franklin has a wife named Beth.
Rich Franklin's father, Richard J. Franklin, I. passed away on January 8, 2008 from a heart attack.
Franklin joined the Disabled American Veterans organization as a spokesperson and ambassador in late 2008.
Random Information
- His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura
- Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear.
- February 21, 2006 was officially named "Rich Franklin Day" in Cincinnati by the city's mayor.
- Rich has made his acting debut in a film called Cyborg Soldier where he plays an escaped super soldier and partners with Tiffani Thiessen.
