Former UFC middleweight champ Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin (28-6, 1NC) is on the sidelines recovering from surgery to repair some damage to his shoulder.
Having gone under the knife just one week ago, ‘Ace’ is already fired up and “hungry” to return to training for his next fight. The former champ told MMAjunkie.com that he’s hoping to make his return next summer.
“Now that I’m injured and can’t do things, it’s fired me up. When you’re stopped from doing something, that’s when you’re most hungry for it.”
“I’m looking at three to four months before fight training, but at that point, it’ll still be light training,” he said. “Optimistically, I’m looking at a fight in May or June. So let’s say sometime in the summer of next year.”
Franklin was last in action this past February, losing a unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126. The former 185 lb title holder has traded wins for losses over his six fights beginning with a win over Matt Hamill at UFC 88 and ending with the loss to Griffin. In that time frame he’s fought as a light heavyweight three times and taken two 195 lb catchweight bouts.