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Could it be the end of the road for Rich Franklin? The former math teacher turned fighter suffered a devastating knockout loss to Cung Le 2:17 into the first round earlier today at UFC on Fuel TV 6. Speculation has been running rampant on soc…
Could it be the end of the road for Rich Franklin? The former math teacher turned fighter suffered a devastating knockout loss to Cung Le 2:17 into the first round earlier today at UFC on Fuel TV 6.
Speculation has been running rampant on social media on what is next for the man called “Ace.” There are plenty of intriguing fights still out there for Franklin.
Let’s take a look and see what could be next for Franklin.
UFC on Fuel TV 6 had plenty of dull spots, but it was punctuated by several memorable scenes from the promotion’s first event in the People’s Republic of China.Not bad for a card with only two finishes in the entire night.But which moments were the bes…
UFC on Fuel TV 6 had plenty of dull spots, but it was punctuated by several memorable scenes from the promotion’s first event in the People’s Republic of China.
Not bad for a card with only two finishes in the entire night.
But which moments were the best of the UFC on Fuel TV broadcast? And most importantly, were any of them actually worth getting up for at 4:30 or 7:30 in the morning?
Yes. Even with the #RudeAwakening, these were the 14 best moments of the night.
Er, morning.
Wait, what time is it right now? Never mind, I’m probably just going back to bed as soon as this slideshow is over.
Chael Sonnen has said it in the past. When you are a professional mixed martial artist, your eyes should always be locked on winning the belt. That is a notion Rich Franklin subscribes to, and while he may be 38 years old and six years separated from t…
Chael Sonnen has said it in the past. When you are a professional mixed martial artist, your eyes should always be locked on winning the belt. That is a notion Rich Franklin subscribes to, and while he may be 38 years old and six years separated from the middleweight belt, his goal has always been about getting the UFC gold.
Earlier today, Franklin squared off with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le and now finds himself impossibly far from that goal.
The UFC’s matchmaking, whether intentional or not, has been a huge thorn in the side of any title aspirations Franklin may have had through the years. Since being pressured by UFC brass to leave behind the middleweight division in 2008, Franklin has been bouncing between weights and between fighting other title contenders and gimmicky opponents. During that stretch, he’s gone 3-3.
His losses, for the most part, come with asterisks next to them. He lost to Dan Henderson in 2009 via split decision in a very close fight. His 2011 bout with Forrest Griffin really should never have happened, given Griffin’s absurd size advantage. Vitor Belfort knocked him out in 2009, but Franklin looked uncharacteristically tentative and was caught with a glancing shot behind the ear, which led to a signature “Belfort Blitz”.
His wins, meanwhile, have all come from him stepping in on varying levels of short notice to fight other veterans, beating Chuck Liddell and twice out-pointing Wanderlei Silva. His bout with Cung Le was in this same niche.
While Franklin has not been fighting amazing opponents, he has shown that he remains a very formidable fighter. His second fight with Wanderlei Silva was a five-round war in which he showed very, very strong cardio for a middleweight (never even mind a 38-year-old middleweight). He has shown amazing heart, gutting out a badly-broken arm against Chuck Liddell en route to a knockout victory.
Cung Le, though, is a world-class kickboxer. He is not a heavy-handed wrestler like Cain Velasquez or Dan Henderson. He is not a “solid striker” like Michael Bisping or Brian Stann. He is not a “knockout artist” like Vitor Belfort.
Cung Le is a world-class kickboxer, and when he identified that Rich Franklin was not moving his head as he kicked, he capitalized with a perfect punch, knocking him out cold.
Now, the loser of the day’s main event is waiting for his plane back to Ohio, still without a winning streak since he beat Matt Hamill and Travis Lutter in 2008. He will be returning to the United States as a mid-tier fighter in a division that is, at this time, more competitive than ever, with its longtime top two fighters (Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen) both otherwise occupied.
Franklin’s next opponent? Unclear. However, there are few other wily 185-lb. veterans that would benefit from fighting him. Established middleweights Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami, Alan Belcher, Tim Boetsch and Michael Bisping all have fights booked. Jake Shields, who would be a great opponent on paper, is suspended at this time.
Fighting an up-and-comer like Tom Lawlor or Chris Camozzi just plain cannot sound appealing for the man who is the clear-cut No. 2 middleweight of all time, and who has fought the likes of Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva and Ken Shamrock. So what is Rich Franklin to do?
Unfortunately, the best answer for Franklin is to retire. It pains me to say this, as Franklin is likely in my top five favorite fighters.
The thing is, Franklin has always been a competitor with his eyes set on the top. Tragically for him, at age 38, with one of the longest injury histories imaginable, and in a hyper-competitive division, the summit is unquestionably out of reach at this point.
It would take at least a year-and-a-half for Franklin to return to title contention, and another year for him to actually get on a streak to warrant a title shot. Considering Franklin had just one bout each year in 2010 and 2011, it would be a tall order at this point to fight more than twice in that stretch of time, never mind win against top opponents.
Franklin still has the tools to win fights in the UFC, and is undeniably one of the best the promotion has ever put front and center. He would be favored over most of the promotion’s middleweights and many of its light heavyweights.
The thing is, winning fights has always been a means to the end of being a UFC champion for him. That isn’t going to happen now. Because of that, it’s time for Rich to hang up those brown and pink shorts and know that he is ending his career as one of the greatest to ever enter the Octagon, both as a person and as a fighter.
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The UFC’s first venture into the Chinese market had some ups and downs, but overall the top two fights delivered. Cung Le was able to defeat fellow veteran Rich Franklin in the first round while Thiago Silva got back into the win column by defeating St…
The UFC’s first venture into the Chinese market had some ups and downs, but overall the top two fights delivered. Cung Le was able to defeat fellow veteran Rich Franklin in the first round while Thiago Silva got back into the win column by defeating Stanislav Nedkov.
Dong Hyun Kim looked impressive against Paulo Thiago, Takanori Gomi picked up a split-decision win, and both Takeya Mizugaki and Jon Tuck picked up decision victories to begin the show.
The event featured a number of decision victories, so fighters didn’t have much competition for fight bonuses if they secured a finish.
Here’s a recap of who took home some extra cash with them on the flight home.
Cung Le came into his UFC on Fuel 6 fight with an injured foot, but it didn’t matter. The former Strikeforce Middleweight champ was able to stop former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin in just over two minutes. The end came so suddenly that many…
Cung Le came into his UFC on Fuel 6 fight with an injured foot, but it didn’t matter. The former Strikeforce Middleweight champ was able to stop former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin in just over two minutes. The end came so suddenly that many fans needed to do a double take after a little feeling-out process to begin the fight.
What Fans Will Remember About This Fight
Obviously, fans will remember the shocking end to the fight. Franklin is very durable, and many expected Le to win early with Franklin picking up steam as the fight went on. Instead, Le landed a solid punch that crumpled Franklin to the mat.
What We Learned About Rich Franklin
Unfortunately, we didn’t learn much from Franklin in this contest. I guess, if you wanted to, you could say that his chin is failing him as he ages, but when you consider that Franklin has only been finished by Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva inside the Octagon, that idea doesn’t sound as concrete.
Instead, I’m just going to chalk this up to Le landing a perfect shot on Franklin. I’m concerned about how Franklin went completely out and face-planted on the canvas, but it’s not like we had high expectations for him moving forward—even if he had won.
What We Learned About Cung Le
Le shocked the world by dropping the very tough Franklin inside the first round. Even more impressive was that Le did so with a punch and not his powerful kicks.
Le won’t be making a title run at this point in his career, but he can still be placed in some entertaining bouts against other veterans. I would’ve liked to see how Le’s chin handled being hit, but luckily for him, he didn’t have to worry about that.
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UFC Macao ended with a boom tonight, as veteran underdog Cung Le landed a perfectly executed counter over hand right to the button of Rich Franklin at 2:17 of the first round.It was a quick and decisive win for the 40-year-old fighter/actor, and as man…
UFC Macao ended with a boom tonight, as veteran underdog Cung Le landed a perfectly executed counter over hand right to the button of Rich Franklin at 2:17 of the first round.
It was a quick and decisive win for the 40-year-old fighter/actor, and as many predicted, the shorter the fight, the better it would be for Le, and it didn’t even last a half a round.
So what went right for Le in the two-minute tussle? (What didn’t go right?) Here are a couple of specific points that led to his victory.
It clearly looked like Franklin was cool to stick and move, use the leg kicks and get himself warmed up and into the fight as time went on in the first round. In the process, he got lazy. He repeated and telegraphed that same intro combo a few times. Le read this right away, and he took full advantage.
Once Le was able to read, recognize and make the decision to attack the Franklin approach, he chose his overhand right as the perfect counter weapon. The only question from there was if he would be able to land it and hurt Franklin in the process. Many times, you only get one crack at that big overhand counter, so you hope it does maximum damage in the process. You may only get that chance a few more times on the night at all.
Not only was Le able to execute the counter well and land it on Franklin’s head, but he was so tuned in and deadly accurate with it that he immediately shut Franklin’s lights out and sent him free falling face down to the canvas.
What went right for Le? In that moment, everything. He was able to read, counter and execute with perfect efficiency, all in a span of a few seconds, busting the China crowd into a frenzy and gaining a historic victory in the process.
Lucky punch, my ass.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca UFC.
Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.
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