Rich Franklin

MMAstatsbox|name=Rich Franklin

---

nick= Ace
height=6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
weight=205 lb (84 kg)
nationality= flagicon|USA American
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1974|month=10|day=5
died=
fightingfrom=Cincinnati, Ohio
hometown=Cincinnati, Ohio
fightteam=Team Extremecite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=392
title=Fight Finder: Rich Franklin
year=2007
accessdate=2007-08-15
publisher=Sherdog]
fightstyle= Freestyle fighting
wins=24
losses=3
draws=0
nocontest=1
ko=13
submissions=9
decision=2|

Rich Jay Franklin II [ [http://forums.mmanews.com/general-mma-forum/15384-rich-franklin-no-more-mr-nice-guy.html Rich Franklin No More Mr. Nice Guy - MMA News Forums ] ] (born October 5, 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion.

Biography

Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin was a math teacher at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati. [http://mmamania.com/2007/09/02/rich-franklin-teacher-fighter-author-and-now-tv-host/] He has a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. [cite news
first = Lonnie
last = Wheeler
author = Lonnie Wheeler
title = Ultimate workout drives Franklin
url = http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/SPT08/609010336/1035/SPT
work = The Cincinnati Post
publisher = E. W. Scripps Company
date = 2006-09-01
accessdate = 2006-09-07
archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070812133844/http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/SPT08/609010336/1035/SPT
archivedate = 2007-08-12]

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. [http://www.keepitinthering.org/]

Martial arts background

According to Franklin, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes. [http://mma-fighting.tv/Rich%20Franklin] He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc. [http://www.subfighter.com/news.php?id=1732] , and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel [http://www.ultimate-fighter.ca/ufc-fighter.php?id=2] , (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). [http://www.richfranklin.com/about.asp] Franklin is currently ranked as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel. [http://www.gracieva.com/weblog/2008/02/free_rich_ace_franklin_seminar.html] Since losing his title to Anderson Silva, Franklin has started training under Matt "The Wizard" Hume. [http://www.fighting-mma.com/mma-matchups/2008/ufc-88-sports-betting-rich-franklin-matt-hamill.php]

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". [http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f2/matt-hughes-interview-new-640865/]

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. [http://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2006/313/john_cena_3181.shtml]

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. [http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/5166/ufc-prevu-rich-franklin-rebound/]

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. [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2065/jason-macdonald-i-was-a-kind-of-intimidated-by-rich-franklin.mma] 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. [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2024/franklin-the-ufc-is-coming-to-cincinnati-for-silva-rematch.mma]

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.cite web
url=http://www.nokaut.com/?id=12&solo_news=987&lang=e&cur=eur
title=UFC 77 Comes Together
last=Bolduc
first=Justin
date=August 12, 2007
publisher= [http://www.nokaut.com Nokaut] ] Franklin recently signed a new 6 fight contract with the UFC.cite web
url=http://mmajunkie.com/2007/12/07/with-new-deal-rich-franklin-considers-ufc-82-fight-with-travis-lutter/
title= With New Deal, Rich Franklin Considers UFC 82 Fight with Travis Lutter
date=December 7, 2007
publisher= [http://www.mmajunkie.com MMA Junkie] ]

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. [http://www.mmauniverse.com/news/SS2838] Made even more impressive because Lutter is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. [http://mmacraze.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/comeback-tour-2008-franklin-vs-lutter/] [http://www.mmauniverse.com/news/SS2838]

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.

Franklin's next fight will be against former PRIDE Fighting Championships welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson at UFC 93 on January 17, 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. Franklin is in the unique position of being the first person to main event a UFC show in Northern Ireland at UFC 72 and the first person to main event a UFC show in the Republic of Ireland.

Mixed martial arts record

MMArecordbox
wins=24
losses=3
ko-wins=13
ko-losses=3
sub-wins=9
sub-losses=0
dec-wins=2
dec-losses=0
nc=1

Personal life

Franklin has a wife named Beth. [Stated on [http://www.richfranklin.com his official website] .] [cite news|url=http://www.cincypost.com/2003/09/25/ultimate09-25-2003.html|title=Ultimate Fighter|author=Marc Lancaster|first=Marc|last=Lancaster|work=The Cincinnati Post|publisher=E. W. Scripps Company|date=2003-09-25|quote=Franklin's wife, Beth, is an English teacher at Reading High School.|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070224120342/http://www.cincypost.com/2003/09/25/ultimate09-25-2003.html|archivedate=2003-09-25]

Rich Franklin's father, Richard J. Franklin Sr. passed away on January 8, 2008 from a heart attack. [cite web
url=http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=21792
title=Wednesday New Update
last=Meltzer
first=Dave
publisher=WrestlingObserver.com
date=January 9, 2008
accessdate=2008-01-12]

Trivia

* His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character [http://www.loveufc.com/about/rich-franklin/]
* Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear. [http://www.tv.com/rich-franklin/person/388816/biography.html]
* February 21, 2006 was officially named "Rich Franklin Day" in Cincinnati by the city's mayor. [ [http://www.richfranklin.com/news.asp?item=30 Rich Franklin.com ] ]
* Rich has made his acting debut in a film called Cyborg Solider where he plays an escaped super soldier and partners with tiffany amber thiessan

References

External links

* [http://www.richfranklin.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/americanfighter_ Team American Fighter official Myspace] [ [http://www.richfranklin.com/contact.asp Richfranklin.com: contact info]
*Sherdog|id=392|name=Rich Franklin