Marcin Held just turned 23 years old in January, yet with 23 professional fights — including four last year alone — there are times when he feels much older. Such as when he speaks to your average everyday 23-year-old, who is just nudging his toe out into the world.
If fighters age in dog years, so far the Polish jiu-jitsu ace is slowing the roll.
“Maybe I feel a little bit older but not because I’m tired,” he tells MMA Fighting. “Maybe when I look at other guys my age, at what they do versus what I do, I feel a little but older. I still feel really good. I don’t have any serious injuries, so everything is good.”
Everything is good, if a little obstacle-ridden. Held will fight Friday night against Alexander Sarnavskiy at Bellator 136 in Irvine, Calif. After winning the Bellator Season 10 lightweight tournament, he was next in line to fight for the title. At least, in theory — the now-defunct tournament structure was never a slam-dunk. With Dave Jansen fighting lightweight champion Will Brooks at the top of the card, Held will need to hold his standing for at least one more go round.
The prospect is actually sort of grim. Held will be stepping into the cage at the Bren Events Center to face a Russian who loses only 1/15th of the time (30-2) in what has ominously become known as a “stay busy fight.” Not that it’s a set-up. At least not in his mind.
In fact, he volunteered.
“After winning the tournament I was supposed to have that title fight, and I asked Bellator for another fight because Dave Jansen was first in line and I would have to wait too long until the championship fight,” he says. “So I asked for another fight, and they gave me this fight, and I think it’s a good test before the championship fight. If I want to be a champion I have to win this fight.”
Held could become the second MMA champion to come out of Poland in 2015. In March, Joanna Jędrzejczyk became the first ever Polish champion in the UFC when she defeated Carla Esparza for the strawweight title. Held says that Jędrzejczyk’s accomplishment is good for Poland, and he’d like to follow suit.
And right now the so-called “prodigy of Polish MMA” splits time training in his native country and at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisc. He’s a decorated grappler who has won 11 of his professional fights via submission. On occasion, he’ll pop somebody in the chops to show there’s a sleeper stand-up game to be considered.
“It is a nice feeling [to knock somebody out],” he says. “In a fight I am always focused to finish the fight. I never want to win by points, so I am always trying to finish. For me the easiest way is to finish the fight on the ground, so I try and do that. And I don’t want to risk too much to try something crazy in standing just because I want to knock somebody down. I want to finish the fight in the easiest way for me.”
Against Sarnavskiy, a kickboxer at root, he knows the drill. The Russian will want to stand and trade, but just like with Held, there’s peril in underestimating the rest of his game. Sarnavskiy has a long string of submission victories, including 11 submissions via rear-naked choke alone.
“He’s a very good striker,” Held says. “I will have to be careful standing, but I think my wrestling and my grappling are at a higher level. I don’t think he will have a huge advantage in the standing.”
And even at just 23 years old, you get the feeling Held knows this from experience.
Marcin Held just turned 23 years old in January, yet with 23 professional fights — including four last year alone — there are times when he feels much older. Such as when he speaks to your average everyday 23-year-old, who is just nudging his toe out into the world.
If fighters age in dog years, so far the Polish jiu-jitsu ace is slowing the roll.
“Maybe I feel a little bit older but not because I’m tired,” he tells MMA Fighting. “Maybe when I look at other guys my age, at what they do versus what I do, I feel a little but older. I still feel really good. I don’t have any serious injuries, so everything is good.”
Everything is good, if a little obstacle-ridden. Held will fight Friday night against Alexander Sarnavskiy at Bellator 136 in Irvine, Calif. After winning the Bellator Season 10 lightweight tournament, he was next in line to fight for the title. At least, in theory — the now-defunct tournament structure was never a slam-dunk. With Dave Jansen fighting lightweight champion Will Brooks at the top of the card, Held will need to hold his standing for at least one more go round.
The prospect is actually sort of grim. Held will be stepping into the cage at the Bren Events Center to face a Russian who loses only 1/15th of the time (30-2) in what has ominously become known as a “stay busy fight.” Not that it’s a set-up. At least not in his mind.
In fact, he volunteered.
“After winning the tournament I was supposed to have that title fight, and I asked Bellator for another fight because Dave Jansen was first in line and I would have to wait too long until the championship fight,” he says. “So I asked for another fight, and they gave me this fight, and I think it’s a good test before the championship fight. If I want to be a champion I have to win this fight.”
Held could become the second MMA champion to come out of Poland in 2015. In March, Joanna J?drzejczyk became the first ever Polish champion in the UFC when she defeated Carla Esparza for the strawweight title. Held says that J?drzejczyk’s accomplishment is good for Poland, and he’d like to follow suit.
And right now the so-called “prodigy of Polish MMA” splits time training in his native country and at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisc. He’s a decorated grappler who has won 11 of his professional fights via submission. On occasion, he’ll pop somebody in the chops to show there’s a sleeper stand-up game to be considered.
“It is a nice feeling [to knock somebody out],” he says. “In a fight I am always focused to finish the fight. I never want to win by points, so I am always trying to finish. For me the easiest way is to finish the fight on the ground, so I try and do that. And I don’t want to risk too much to try something crazy in standing just because I want to knock somebody down. I want to finish the fight in the easiest way for me.”
Against Sarnavskiy, a kickboxer at root, he knows the drill. The Russian will want to stand and trade, but just like with Held, there’s peril in underestimating the rest of his game. Sarnavskiy has a long string of submission victories, including 11 submissions via rear-naked choke alone.
“He’s a very good striker,” Held says. “I will have to be careful standing, but I think my wrestling and my grappling are at a higher level. I don’t think he will have a huge advantage in the standing.”
And even at just 23 years old, you get the feeling Held knows this from experience.
The fight between Al Iaquinta and Jorge Masvidal ended up being the kind of afternoon riddle that could make any concept of a bunny rabbit laying chocolate eggs come off as logical. Masvidal stormed Iaquinta early at UFC Fight Night 63, dropping him and opening a gash on his cheekbone that streamed bloody tears the rest of the fight. Then Masvidal took his foot off the gas a little bit, and hell began to slowly unravel. Iaquinta fought on, but not with tremendous urgency. He was thwarted on every takedown. The exchanges evened out. For as slick an operator as Masvidal is, he began (perhaps) to coast.
The fight was remarkable, unremarkable and just regular markable all at once.
Yet Iaquinta did just enough to convince two of the cageside judges that he won the fight in the end. The other, Douglas Crosby, saw it 30-27 for Masvidal. And here’s where it got real confusing, a little bit epic, and entirely raw. I thought Masvidal won the fight, 29-28. The crowd in Fairfax, Virginia, must have thought he won, too, and they booed the decision accordingly. Iaquinta, hearing these boos as FOX commentator Jon Anik held a hot microphone out for him, took exception.
“Are you guys booing me?” Raging Al boomed out. “You better not boo me.” And then he went into a momentary tirade laced with good Long Island profanities, singling out some particular somebody in the lower bowl with the audacity to wave a middle finger at him. Ray Longo patted Iaquinta’s back. Anik’s face changed like a man whose parlay just got sunk by a garbage time touchdown. And Twitter broke out in a smattering of applause, with the words “regrettable, regrettable, regrettable” showing up here and there.
Madness.
Iaquinta won and was mad. Masvidal lost and was smiling. The crowd was booing the decision, not Al. Al nonetheless didn’t like the Commonwealth’s take on things and let his emotions get the better of him. Two judges had it for Iaquinta, which was mildly surprising. The one judge, Crosby — who has a long-standing if under-publicized feud with Ray Longo’s camp, and should never have been assigned the fight — had it for Masvidal in a landslide, which was not. The reactions to Iaquinta’s reaction to the crowd’s reaction was a lot more action than what went on during the actual fight (which had plenty).
Only in the fight game can so much exist under the surface.
In the end, though, in a sport where two people are literally fighting for their livelihoods, you’d like it to make more sense. Just a little more transparency. Did Iaquinta really win? Maybe and maybe not, but it shouldn’t be up to Crosby to decide if there’s even a remote chance that he could be biased. In a sport where the judges are judged, how this could happen is in itself pretty unbelievable.
Then again, Iaquinta can’t even compete in his home state of New York legally. At least not yet. This sport has come a long way but it’s got a long way to go. There’s not a lot of gray matter in a word like professionalism, but there is in MMA. The Iaquinta-Masvidal fight, from the commission assignments down to Iaquinta scorching some earth on the microphone, proved it once again.
And as time goes on, it doesn’t get any easier to clap while smacking your forehead at the same time. It just doesn’t.
The fight between Al Iaquinta and Jorge Masvidal ended up being the kind of afternoon riddle that could make any concept of a bunny rabbit laying chocolate eggs come off as logical. Masvidal stormed Iaquinta early at UFC Fight Night 63, dropping him and opening a gash on his cheekbone that streamed bloody tears the rest of the fight. Then Masvidal took his foot off the gas a little bit, and hell began to slowly unravel. Iaquinta fought on, but not with tremendous urgency. He was thwarted on every takedown. The exchanges evened out. For as slick an operator as Masvidal is, he began (perhaps) to coast.
The fight was remarkable, unremarkable and just regular markable all at once.
Yet Iaquinta did just enough to convince two of the cageside judges that he won the fight in the end. The other, Douglas Crosby, saw it 30-27 for Masvidal. And here’s where it got real confusing, a little bit epic, and entirely raw. I thought Masvidal won the fight, 29-28. The crowd in Fairfax, Virginia, must have thought he won, too, and they booed the decision accordingly. Iaquinta, hearing these boos as FOX commentator Jon Anik held a hot microphone out for him, took exception.
“Are you guys booing me?” Raging Al boomed out. “You better not boo me.” And then he went into a momentary tirade laced with good Long Island profanities, singling out some particular somebody in the lower bowl with the audacity to wave a middle finger at him. Ray Longo patted Iaquinta’s back. Anik’s face changed like a man whose parlay just got sunk by a garbage time touchdown. And Twitter broke out in a smattering of applause, with the words “regrettable, regrettable, regrettable” showing up here and there.
Madness.
Iaquinta won and was mad. Masvidal lost and was smiling. The crowd was booing the decision, not Al. Al nonetheless didn’t like the Commonwealth’s take on things and let his emotions get the better of him. Two judges had it for Iaquinta, which was mildly surprising. The one judge, Crosby — who has a long-standing if under-publicized feud with Ray Longo’s camp, and should never have been assigned the fight — had it for Masvidal in a landslide, which was not. The reactions to Iaquinta’s reaction to the crowd’s reaction was a lot more action than what went on during the actual fight (which had plenty).
Only in the fight game can so much exist under the surface.
In the end, though, in a sport where two people are literally fighting for their livelihoods, you’d like it to make more sense. Just a little more transparency. Did Iaquinta really win? Maybe and maybe not, but it shouldn’t be up to Crosby to decide if there’s even a remote chance that he could be biased. In a sport where the judges are judged, how this could happen is in itself pretty unbelievable.
Then again, Iaquinta can’t even compete in his home state of New York legally. At least not yet. This sport has come a long way but it’s got a long way to go. There’s not a lot of gray matter in a word like professionalism, but there is in MMA. The Iaquinta-Masvidal fight, from the commission assignments down to Iaquinta scorching some earth on the microphone, proved it once again.
And as time goes on, it doesn’t get any easier to clap while smacking your forehead at the same time. It just doesn’t.
The UFC 189 World Tour, featuring Conor McGregor and other people, has sort of usurped all the headlines and storylines over the last couple of weeks. One of the casualties of that traveling attention grab, which has hit ports in Brazil, North America and Europe, has been UFC Fight Night 63, which takes place this Saturday afternoon in Fairfax, Virginia.
And it’s fitting, too, that McGregor’s long shadow should fall over the main eventers of that card, his fellow featherweights Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes. If ever there was an indication of the times, it’s how easily McGregor, who fights three months from now, can steal the spotlight from top five contenders in his division, who fight this weekend.
Not that Mendes is upset about which way the spotlights are aimed. He’s more concerned with Lamas. After all, if he doesn’t beat Lamas, he can’t punch McGregor (or the other guy, Jose Aldo) in the face anytime soon.
The Team Alpha Male fighter appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and talked about the UFC 189 fight and what it might mean for his future. For instance, having lost to Aldo twice already, wouldn’t it be better for his title chances if McGregor were to win the belt?
“I mean I think so, yeah, if he wins — which I highly doubt is going to happen — but if for whatever reason he were to win, and I win this fight against Ricardo, it’s definitely a great possibility I’m in there,” he told Ariel Helwani. “But I just don’t see him beating Aldo honestly.”
When asked if he would be pulling for McGregor, whom he has had an ongoing beef with, Mendes said not necessarily.
“No, here’s my situation — I feel like I’m sitting pretty no matter what happens,” he said. “I mean, Aldo is the only guy that’s beat me — he’s beat me twice now — and you know it sucks that that’s happened. There’s a lot of guys who don’t get to fight a guy three times after losing to him twice. But, I feel like because that last fight was so close, there’s a lot of fans — and the UFC — that would want to make that happen again. If I beat Ricardo, and Aldo wins, hopefully I get to get back in there and try to avenge those two losses. And if for whatever reason Conor wins, then I get to get in there and beat the crap out of him for the belt. I feel like either way, I’m sitting pretty.”
Mendes lost to Aldo back at UFC 142 in early 2012 via first-round KO (knee). But it was the second fight with Aldo that everybody has been talking about. In the rematch at UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Mendes lost in a back-and-forth fight on the scorecards. The fight not only garnered him and extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night, but it was considered by many to be the fight of 2014.
Having had that thrilling second fight, Mendes feels he’s not necessarily in a no man’s land if Aldo retains his belt in July. In his mind, that encounter was enough to justify a trilogy fight.
Of course, a lot of things need to happen for that to pan out. In Lamas, Mendes is facing a guy who has won six of seven fights, with his only loss coming against Aldo at UFC 169. And who knows if Aldo will get by McGregor. If he doesn’t, Mendes might have a chance to address some lingering issues he has with the Irishman, dating back to October of last year when BT Sport caught him off guard during a UFC 179 fight week interview.
Just a couple of days before his title challenge against Aldo, Mendes was blindsided during an interview by the presence of one Conor McGregor, who ridiculed him before a live audience. Mendes says all these months later that that episode still irks him a bit.
“I thought that whole thing was pretty much bullsh*t,” he said. “I don’t know who set that up, if it was the UFC or if it was those assholes over there. But that was pretty much bullsh*t. They didn’t tell me he was going to be on there. I’m sitting there in Brazil, the quality of the interview sucks, it’s breaking up and I can’t really hear what’s going on over there, can’t see anything, and it’s two days before I’m supposed was to fight for the title. No, I thought the whole thing was bullsh*t. I don’t know who set it up. I’d like to find out and I’d like to stomp somebody, but yeah, it was stupid man. I can’t believe they did that.
“It just sucked on my part, because I couldn’t hear what was going on because the crowd was so loud over there,” he said. “Obviously I can’t get anything across, and [Conor’s] probably sitting over there all jolly with his stupid little mustache. It was just kind of a stupid situation. That was something I’d like to do face to face, but at least staring across from him in the Octagon so he can run his mouth and I can whoop his ass after.”
The UFC 189 World Tour, featuring Conor McGregor and other people, has sort of usurped all the headlines and storylines over the last couple of weeks. One of the casualties of that traveling attention grab, which has hit ports in Brazil, North America and Europe, has been UFC Fight Night 63, which takes place this Saturday afternoon in Fairfax, Virginia.
And it’s fitting, too, that McGregor’s long shadow should fall over the main eventers of that card, his fellow featherweights Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes. If ever there was an indication of the times, it’s how easily McGregor, who fights three months from now, can steal the spotlight from top five contenders in his division, who fight this weekend.
Not that Mendes is upset about which way the spotlights are aimed. He’s more concerned with Lamas. After all, if he doesn’t beat Lamas, he can’t punch McGregor (or the other guy, Jose Aldo) in the face anytime soon.
The Team Alpha Male fighter appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and talked about the UFC 189 fight and what it might mean for his future. For instance, having lost to Aldo twice already, wouldn’t it be better for his title chances if McGregor were to win the belt?
“I mean I think so, yeah, if he wins — which I highly doubt is going to happen — but if for whatever reason he were to win, and I win this fight against Ricardo, it’s definitely a great possibility I’m in there,” he told Ariel Helwani. “But I just don’t see him beating Aldo honestly.”
When asked if he would be pulling for McGregor, whom he has had an ongoing beef with, Mendes said not necessarily.
“No, here’s my situation — I feel like I’m sitting pretty no matter what happens,” he said. “I mean, Aldo is the only guy that’s beat me — he’s beat me twice now — and you know it sucks that that’s happened. There’s a lot of guys who don’t get to fight a guy three times after losing to him twice. But, I feel like because that last fight was so close, there’s a lot of fans — and the UFC — that would want to make that happen again. If I beat Ricardo, and Aldo wins, hopefully I get to get back in there and try to avenge those two losses. And if for whatever reason Conor wins, then I get to get in there and beat the crap out of him for the belt. I feel like either way, I’m sitting pretty.”
Mendes lost to Aldo back at UFC 142 in early 2012 via first-round KO (knee). But it was the second fight with Aldo that everybody has been talking about. In the rematch at UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Mendes lost in a back-and-forth fight on the scorecards. The fight not only garnered him and extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night, but it was considered by many to be the fight of 2014.
Having had that thrilling second fight, Mendes feels he’s not necessarily in a no man’s land if Aldo retains his belt in July. In his mind, that encounter was enough to justify a trilogy fight.
Of course, a lot of things need to happen for that to pan out. In Lamas, Mendes is facing a guy who has won six of seven fights, with his only loss coming against Aldo at UFC 169. And who knows if Aldo will get by McGregor. If he doesn’t, Mendes might have a chance to address some lingering issues he has with the Irishman, dating back to October of last year when BT Sport caught him off guard during a UFC 179 fight week interview.
Just a couple of days before his title challenge against Aldo, Mendes was blindsided during an interview by the presence of one Conor McGregor, who ridiculed him before a live audience. Mendes says all these months later that that episode still irks him a bit.
“I thought that whole thing was pretty much bullsh*t,” he said. “I don’t know who set that up, if it was the UFC or if it was those assholes over there. But that was pretty much bullsh*t. They didn’t tell me he was going to be on there. I’m sitting there in Brazil, the quality of the interview sucks, it’s breaking up and I can’t really hear what’s going on over there, can’t see anything, and it’s two days before I’m supposed was to fight for the title. No, I thought the whole thing was bullsh*t. I don’t know who set it up. I’d like to find out and I’d like to stomp somebody, but yeah, it was stupid man. I can’t believe they did that.
“It just sucked on my part, because I couldn’t hear what was going on because the crowd was so loud over there,” he said. “Obviously I can’t get anything across, and [Conor’s] probably sitting over there all jolly with his stupid little mustache. It was just kind of a stupid situation. That was something I’d like to do face to face, but at least staring across from him in the Octagon so he can run his mouth and I can whoop his ass after.”
After snapping a four-fight losing skid against Antonio Silva in February — and doing it in resounding fashion — former heavyweight champion Frank Mir has his sights set on his next victim. And it’s not Brock Lesnar, as he’d originally hop…
After snapping a four-fight losing skid against Antonio Silva in February — and doing it in resounding fashion — former heavyweight champion Frank Mir has his sights set on his next victim. And it’s not Brock Lesnar, as he’d originally hoped.
According to a report on UFC Tonight, after much campaigning a heavyweight bout between the two-time champion Mir and the 29-year old colossus Duffee is in the works. Though no exact date has been set on the fight, it is being considered for sometime this summer.
Mir’s manager Malki Kawa told Ariel Helwani that he recognizes this isn’t an ideal opponent, but that Mir really wants to stay active, and uphold a broader goal of competing at least three times in 2015.
Heading into his UFC Fight Night 61 bout with “Bigfoot” Silva and having lost four straight fights, Mir (17-9) was faced with a do-or-die situation. Not only did he score a much-needed victory, but he knocked Silva out violently in the first round. The 35-year old Mir hadn’t won a fight in the Octagon since UFC 140 back in 2011.
Duffee (9-2), meanwhile, has reemerged as a conversational piece in the heavyweight division in his second stint with the UFC. After defeating Phil De Fries at UFC 155 via first-round TKO, he followed that up with a huge knockout of Anthony Hamilton at UFC 181 this past December.
Overall Duffee has won three fights in a row. He also remains a shareholder for the fastest knockout in UFC history, which he scored against Tim Hague at UFC 102 in 2009 (seven seconds). Of Duffee’s nine professional victories, eight have come via first-round KO or TKO. The other was a second round TKO against Assuerio Silva in 2008.
Forty-year old Rich Franklin isn’t retired, but he’s not not retired, either. The now Vice President of the Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship is spending time these day working on the other side of the ledger. He stays on the outside of the cage promoting fights. But he still trains like a fighter.
Though the former middleweight champion Franklin remains under contract with the UFC, it’s still up in the air as to whether he’ll get the urge to compete again. The last time “Ace” appeared in the UFC was in 2012, when he fought — and lost to — Cung Le in Macau.
Since that time he has become a bit of an entrepreneur, starting a raw juice company called ZeLin, and more recently, a brand called Armor Gel, a silver-based gel that helps treat MRSA and staph.
With so much going on in his life, it would appear that his days of fighting are over. Or, are they?
“It’s getting more and more difficult for me, if I want to take a fight again, it’s getting a little more difficult,” he said during a visit to the MMA Hour on Monday. “I’m further and further out of the cage, and I realize it. I’m further from the last time that I fought, and so coming back from that stuff is not easy. I’m not ready to say I’m ready to retire because I don’t want to end up being one of those people who said, ‘yeah I’m going to retire’ and then all of a sudden, six months from now is like, ‘I’m coming out of retirement.’ Like, when I say I’m going to retire, then I’m done. And I’m just not ready yet.”
Franklin gained fame in the UFC when he made the transition from being a math teacher in his native Ohio to becoming the 185-pound champion. He defeated Evan Tanner at UFC 53 to win the title, and defended the belt twice before losing it ultimately to Anderson Silva at UFC 64 in 2006.
In the UFC, Franklin has gone 14-6, with victories over Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Ken Shamrock and Nate Quarry. Since a controversial 2009 split decision loss to Dan Henderson in Ireland at UFC 93, Franklin has traded wins and losses. Before losing to Le in his last fight, he and Wanderlei Silva had a memorable battle at UFC 147 in Brazil, which he won via unanimous decision.
Franklin admits that walking away from the sport he’s excelled at for so long is tough.
“This morning, I just got back from the gym,” he said. “I did my strength and conditioning this morning as I normally do on Mondays — even when I’m getting ready for a fight — and I’m going back to the gym at 4 o’clock today to drill wrestling. And this is the way that I live, regardless of whether I fight again or not. I live like I’m basically still fighting professionally. So I’m not at a point where I’m completely ready to walk away from the sport yet, but I do understand that it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to take that last fight. While it’s not looking probable, it’s still possible.”
Asked why he would leave the door open rather than just move on to his other ventures, Franklin said it’s ingrained in him to compete.
“Love of competition, man, this is what I’ve done for the last 20 years of my life,” he said. “You got to realize, I wasn’t groomed in this sport. Like growing up, I wasn’t this prodigy athlete who knew he was going to be the next big thing professionally.
“Martial arts has always been a hobby of mine, it’s always been a part of my life. And fortunately it was just something I was good enough at to do professionally and I was able to pursue this as a career. I am one of those people in life who truly, truly has been blessed in doing the one thing that I’ve been passionate about my entire life. And that’s competition. Most people, they go to school and they major in whatever they major in, and they end up having some career, some profession in something. And some people enjoy their careers and some people not so much, but very few people in this world can really do the thing they are most passionate about doing in this world. I’ve been blessed to have been able to do that.”
Franklin said that at the age when some people undergo identity crises for not having accomplished what they want, it’s difficult to surrender such a large part of his livelihood and vitality.
“At the age in life where most guys are buying sports cars and getting dumb tattoos and dating women half their age, I happen to be at that point where I say, okay I’m ready to walk away from the one thing that I love the most,” he said. “That’s what keeps guys going, and keeps guys in the sport.”
“But make no mistake about it. I’m not so enthralled that I couldn’t listen to an intelligent coach tell me like, ‘hey, you know what, your time has passed you by and you should walk away from this sport.’ So, the day that I have a coach tell me that, that it’s your time to walk away, I’m smart enough to listen. When that comes out of physical necessity, yeah, I will definitely, definitely announce my retirement at that point. But until then I still have one foot in the door.”
Forty-year old Rich Franklin isn’t retired, but he’s not not retired, either. The now Vice President of the Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship is spending time these day working on the other side of the ledger. He stays on the outside of the cage promoting fights. But he still trains like a fighter.
Though the former middleweight champion Franklin remains under contract with the UFC, it’s still up in the air as to whether he’ll get the urge to compete again. The last time “Ace” appeared in the UFC was in 2012, when he fought — and lost to — Cung Le in Macau.
Since that time he has become a bit of an entrepreneur, starting a raw juice company called ZeLin, and more recently, a brand called Armor Gel, a silver-based gel that helps treat MRSA and staph.
With so much going on in his life, it would appear that his days of fighting are over. Or, are they?
“It’s getting more and more difficult for me, if I want to take a fight again, it’s getting a little more difficult,” he said during a visit to the MMA Hour on Monday. “I’m further and further out of the cage, and I realize it. I’m further from the last time that I fought, and so coming back from that stuff is not easy. I’m not ready to say I’m ready to retire because I don’t want to end up being one of those people who said, ‘yeah I’m going to retire’ and then all of a sudden, six months from now is like, ‘I’m coming out of retirement.’ Like, when I say I’m going to retire, then I’m done. And I’m just not ready yet.”
Franklin gained fame in the UFC when he made the transition from being a math teacher in his native Ohio to becoming the 185-pound champion. He defeated Evan Tanner at UFC 53 to win the title, and defended the belt twice before losing it ultimately to Anderson Silva at UFC 64 in 2006.
In the UFC, Franklin has gone 14-6, with victories over Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Ken Shamrock and Nate Quarry. Since a controversial 2009 split decision loss to Dan Henderson in Ireland at UFC 93, Franklin has traded wins and losses. Before losing to Le in his last fight, he and Wanderlei Silva had a memorable battle at UFC 147 in Brazil, which he won via unanimous decision.
Franklin admits that walking away from the sport he’s excelled at for so long is tough.
“This morning, I just got back from the gym,” he said. “I did my strength and conditioning this morning as I normally do on Mondays — even when I’m getting ready for a fight — and I’m going back to the gym at 4 o’clock today to drill wrestling. And this is the way that I live, regardless of whether I fight again or not. I live like I’m basically still fighting professionally. So I’m not at a point where I’m completely ready to walk away from the sport yet, but I do understand that it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to take that last fight. While it’s not looking probable, it’s still possible.”
Asked why he would leave the door open rather than just move on to his other ventures, Franklin said it’s ingrained in him to compete.
“Love of competition, man, this is what I’ve done for the last 20 years of my life,” he said. “You got to realize, I wasn’t groomed in this sport. Like growing up, I wasn’t this prodigy athlete who knew he was going to be the next big thing professionally.
“Martial arts has always been a hobby of mine, it’s always been a part of my life. And fortunately it was just something I was good enough at to do professionally and I was able to pursue this as a career. I am one of those people in life who truly, truly has been blessed in doing the one thing that I’ve been passionate about my entire life. And that’s competition. Most people, they go to school and they major in whatever they major in, and they end up having some career, some profession in something. And some people enjoy their careers and some people not so much, but very few people in this world can really do the thing they are most passionate about doing in this world. I’ve been blessed to have been able to do that.”
Franklin said that at the age when some people undergo identity crises for not having accomplished what they want, it’s difficult to surrender such a large part of his livelihood and vitality.
“At the age in life where most guys are buying sports cars and getting dumb tattoos and dating women half their age, I happen to be at that point where I say, okay I’m ready to walk away from the one thing that I love the most,” he said. “That’s what keeps guys going, and keeps guys in the sport.”
“But make no mistake about it. I’m not so enthralled that I couldn’t listen to an intelligent coach tell me like, ‘hey, you know what, your time has passed you by and you should walk away from this sport.’ So, the day that I have a coach tell me that, that it’s your time to walk away, I’m smart enough to listen. When that comes out of physical necessity, yeah, I will definitely, definitely announce my retirement at that point. But until then I still have one foot in the door.”
It was to be a showcase of Bellator’s top bantamweights, and the “Baddest Man on the Planet” turned into the maddest man on the planet.
In a rematch to their 2011 fight at Bellator 41, champion Joe Warren succumbed to challenger Marcos Galva…
It was to be a showcase of Bellator’s top bantamweights, and the “Baddest Man on the Planet” turned into the maddest man on the planet.
In a rematch to their 2011 fight at Bellator 41, champion Joe Warren succumbed to challenger Marcos Galvao in his first bantamweight title defense. As Galvao torqued Warren’s knee for a submission, Warren let out a scream, which promoted referee John McCarthy to stop the action. Warren protested immediately, but the fight was declared over, and Galvao became Bellator’s new 135-pound champion.
“I respect Joe Warren, I respect him a lot, he’s a nice guy,” Galvao said in the post-fight interview, partially through his translator. “He talks because he’s promoting fights. But he has to admit, it was a verbal submission. He didn’t tap, but it’s a verbal submission, so that’s the same.”
The 32-year old Galvao has now won four fights in a row. Warren, meanwhile, drops his first fight since a 2012 knockout at the hands of Pat Curran while still competing as a featherweight.
That headlining fight was overshadowed by the co-main event — a fight that was billed as a potential title eliminator at 135 pounds — between LC Davis and Hideo Tokoro. In what was a frenzied back-and-forth battle where the tables were turning throughout, it was the emotional Davis who got his hand raised. Davis did just enough to outpoint the ever-threatening veteran Tokoro.
He won a split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Since signing with Bellator, Davis has now gone 3-0.
Meanwhile, UFC veteran Francis Carmont made good in his Bellator debut against Guilherme Viana. Carmont got off to a methodical start, but staggered Viana in the second round with a big right hand. It looked like he had the Brazilian on the ropes, but Carmont opted to change levels and take Viana to the canvas, where he recovered enough to survive.
Viana rallied in the final round, threatening to sink a rear-naked choke for a couple of minutes, but Carmont held on for a unanimous decision. The judges had it 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. The victory ended a three-fight losing streak for Carmont (23-10).
To kick off the main card, Ryan Couture wasted no time in submitting MMA veteran Dakota Cochrane. Couture took Cochrane’s back and sunk a rear-naked choke in the first round. With the victory, Couture improves to 10-3, and has now made it four wins in a row.
