Rich Franklin

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Rich Franklin
Statistics
Nickname Ace
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality Flag of United States American
Born October 5, 1974 (age 32)
Fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio
Town of birth Cincinnati, Ohio
Fighting style Freestyle
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 21
  By knockout 10
  By submission 9
Losses 2
Draws 0
No contests 1

Rich Jay Franklin (born October 5, 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a mixed martial arts fighter and former UFC Middleweight Champion.

Contents

[edit] 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. [1]

[edit] Martial arts background

According to Franklin, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes. Franklin prefers to finish his opponents by knockout, but is well rounded and possesses good grappling and submission skills. 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.

[edit] Mixed martial arts career

Rich 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 knockout in the second round. In the run up to the title match, he defeated such well-respected fighters as Evan Tanner, Jorge Rivera, and Ken Shamrock among others. In 2005, he defeated Evan Tanner for a second time at UFC 53 to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. His victory lead 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, 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 an 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. Rich lost his title on his return fight to MMA, after being defeated by Brazilian Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. Franklin was stopped with approximately 20 unanswered knees from the Thai-clinch followed by kicks and a knee to the face at 3:49 of the first round. On October 19 Franklin underwent surgery due to the nasal fracture he received in his fight against Silva. His post-op visit was on October 23.

At UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, Franklin defeated Jason "The Athlete" Macdonald by TKO due to MacDonald's corner throwing in the towel in the break between rounds 2 and 3. Franklin had mounted MacDonald in the closing seconds of the second round, causing signifcant 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 ring, and said that he and Dana White had agreed to a fight for the title in Rich's hometown. The timing of this match may be a while, due to other contractual obligations by Silva.

Franklin was signed to an unusually long 8-fight contract with the UFC, which he signed before his breakout fight against Ken Shamrock.[2]

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

21 Wins (10 KO's, 9 submissions), 2 Losses (2 KO), 0 Draws, 1 No Contest.
Date Result Opponent Event Method Round Time Notes
3/3/2007 Win Jason MacDonald UFC 68 - The Uprising TKO (corner stoppage) 2 5:00
10/14/2006 Loss Anderson Silva UFC 64 TKO (Strikes) 1 2:59 Lost UFC Middleweight Title
3/4/2006 Win David Loiseau UFC 58 Decision 5 5:00
11/19/2005 Win Nathan Quarry UFC 56 KO (Punch) 1 2:34
6/4/2005 Win Evan Tanner UFC 53 TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 4 3:25 Won UFC Middleweight Title
4/9/2005 Win Ken Shamrock UFC Ultimate Fighter Finale TKO (Strikes) 1 2:42
12/12/2004 Win Curtis Stout Superbrawl 38 Submission (Punches) 2 1:28
10/22/2004 Win Jorge Rivera UFC 50 Submission (Armbar) 3 4:28
7/14/2004 Win Ralph Dilon Alaska Fighting Championship Submission (Keylock) 1 N/A
4/16/2004 Win Leo Sylvest Superbrawl 35 Submission (Strikes) 1 1:13
12/31/2003 Loss Lyoto Machida Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003-Inoki Festival TKO (Strikes) 2 1:03
9/26/2003 Win Edwin Dewees UFC 44 TKO (Strikes) 1 3:35
7/19/2003 Win Roberto Ramirez Battleground 1-War Cry KO (Punch) 1 0:10
4/25/2003 Win Evan Tanner UFC 42 TKO (Punches) 1 2:40
9/17/2002 Win Antony Rea UCC Hawaii-Eruption in Hawaii TKO 1 2:46
6/15/2002 Win Yan Pellerin UCC 10-Battle for the Belts 2002 Submission (Armbar) 1 3:23
11/3/2001 Win Marvin Eastman World Fighting Alliance 1 Submission (Armbar) 1 N/A
8/25/2001 Win Dennis Reed Extreme Challenge Trials Submission (Strikes) 1 1:38
7/13/2001 Win Chris Seifert Extreme Challenge 41 Submission (Strikes) 2 1:45
3/17/2001 Win Travis Fulton RINGS USA-Battle of Champions TKO (Broken Hand) 1 5:00
1/13/2001 No Contest Aaron Brink IFC Warriors Challenge 11 No Contest (Accidental Injury) 1 N/A
6/29/2000 Win Dennis Reed Extreme Challenge 35 Submission (Armbar) 1 1:56
5/13/2000 Win Gary Myers WEF 9-World Class KO (Kick) 3 0:59
3/24/2000 Win Rob Smith Extreme Challenge 31 TKO (Punches) 1 2:30

[edit] Personal Life

Franklin has a wife named Beth.

[edit] Trivia

  • 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 Mayor of Cincinnati.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wheeler, Lonnie. "Ultimate workout drives Franklin", The Cincinnati Post, 2006-09-01. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
  2. ^ Crytzer, Brady (2005). Rich Franklin Looks to “Ace” His First Test for UFC Gold. Fightnews.com UFC News. Retrieved on August 27, 2006.

[edit] External links



Previous champion
Evan Tanner		 4th UFC Middleweight Champion

June 4, 2005 - October 14, 2006

 Next champion
Anderson Silva



The Ultimate Fighter - Season 2
Josh Burkman | Dan Christison | Luke Cummo | Marcus Davis | Rashad Evans | Melvin Guillard | Jorge Gurgel | Brad Imes | Keith Jardine | Eli Joslin | Rob MacDonald | Sammy Morgan | Tom Murphy | Seth Petruzelli | Kerry Schall | Kenny Stevens | Joe Stevenson | Anthony Torres | Jason Von Flue | Mike Whitehead

Coaches: Rich Franklin | Matt Hughes
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