Rich Franklin Expects to Re-Sign With UFC This Week
Rich Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champ who returned to light heavyweight in 2008, informed Fanhouse over the weekend that he “expects to sign a contract by the end of the week” to continue fighting in the UFC after his current deal, which has just one fight remaining, is complete.
Franklin met one-on-one with UFC President Dana White in Las Vegas last week to negotiate an extension and it appears a new contract will be in place soon to keep Franklin in the UFC for the indefinite future and possibly for the remainder of his career.
Once the new contract is finalized, Franklin is expected to headline UFC 103 on September 19 in Dallas, possibly against a returning Tito Ortiz or against fellow 205-pound contender Luiz Cane, who recently expressed his interest in fighting “Ace”.
Since losing a rematch to current middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva in October 2007, Franklin (25-4) has won 3 of his last 4 bouts, losing only to Dan Henderson while picking up victories over Travis Lutter, Matt Hamill, and, most-recently in June, Wanderlei Silva.
For more Rich Franklin news check out MMAFrenzy.com’s Rich Franklin archive.
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Make the Franklin v Ortiz fight happen! But I see Franklin coming out on top of that matchup because Franklin’s stand-up is far superior and Ortiz’s shots havent looked all that great recently, maybe that back surgery will get that “pop” back into his wrestling.
I would also love to see that match-up, but Tito has said repeatedly that he wants a tune up fight before taking on anyone legit. A September bout with Franklin could be too soon and and too good an opponent for Ortiz’s first fight after back surgery.
Oh good. For a while there I thoguht he was considering War Gods…..
Fuc*ing WarGods
My friend from North of the border, I can’t believe you posted War Gods. Forget about that $hit and head over to Tim Horton’s for a cup of their great coffee and a bag of their killer donuts…
Man where do you think I go every morning.
Go Tim Hortons!!!!!! That’s ish is like liquid crack
Rich Franklin is a staple product of the UFC. I’m very surprised they would let contract negotitations get so far as to have their speculation discussed on the internet. That contract should have been signed last week when Dana and Rich met.
Maybe he’s negotiating with for his post fighting UFC career. I think he’s an asset to company outside of the Octagon (maybe more so than Chuck) and wants to secure his future beyond fighting.
Ortiz fight would see better but the Cane fight could be fireworks
Yeah, i think this deal should have been done a while ago. Rich franklin is like Matt Hughes, and Lidell, fighters who’ve been in the organization for hella long and you know will remain in the UFC till the end of their careers.
I’d like to see Tito vs Houston, and have Franklin end up fighting Cane. Thses fights, IMO make more sense. Both franklin and Cane are on w streaks and Tito and HOuston are coming off losses and long lay offs.
Wow, that’s a really good suggestion. I would love to see Houston vs. Tito. Great call jazzkok.
Thanks etherBunny.
I just think a match between houston and tito would be a good one for both fighters. As well as cane vs Franklin.
Franklin vs Ortiz sounds better for me just because im a Franklin fan and Tito Ortiz would be another good name under Franklins belt.
Well, franklin is not on a winning streak, but he’s 3-1 and cane hasn’t lost since the irvin fight.
Which was crap. He barely hit Irvin, and he was down for at least 2 mins. I know it was supposedly in the eye, but it was alove tap of a knee. Like come on look at some of the eye pokes weve seen where guys keep fighting. Irvin didnt even protest when the fight was stopped either he just kinda hung out and was like fu<k, where Scott Smith was like "i wanna fight i wanna fight i wanna fight". And it was shaping up to be a good fight to, with both guys rocking each other. I was just blown away. Similar to what Varner did actually.
Didn’t Varner have a detached retina from that knee. Yeah, I would quit, too.
Ok fair enough, but I still think Luiz love tapped him. Anyone else see that fight?
Seriously Cane is way too overated right now. why is he on so many top ten lists he hasnt beat anyone good other than cantwell and Sokoudjou. He is not top ten material yet.
i wouldn’t say cane is a “top conntender” just yet, but imo, he deserves a crack @ a “top” guy. It’s only because cane is impressive and shows potential (the way thiago silva did), that everyone wants to see him fight “top tier” opponents. And dude, let’s not get started on the “top ten” lists. We all know how that turns out.
People are saying “what has cane done to be ranked in the top ten or to get to fight franklin?”. Well let me ask a question. What has franklin done @ 205, to be above fighting cane? IMO, Cane has fought and beat tougher 205′ers than franklin has.
Agreed.
Are you kidding me. Franklin owned wanderlei, barely lost to henderson, beat hamill, not to mention he has beaten everyone else at middleweight not named anderson silva.
“owned” Wanderlei ehhhh not sure about that, but it was a good fight
Jazzkok, I understand what you’re saying, and in some respects I agree with it, but the UFC in general and Dana White in particular decided long ago that the business of MMA was more important that the sport of MMA. Just ask Brock Lesnar.
Guys come in all the time from different weight classes and different organizations and get fast-tracked, or allowed to “jump a few spots in line”, if you follow. Anderson Silva got a title shot after whack-a-mole’ing the semi-skilled Chris Leben, and now Silva is getting a match with one of the top LHW’s in the world in Forrest Griffin. AND HE’S NOT EVEN A LHW.
Ditto BJ Penn and GSP.
If you’re a WW contender you’ve got to be thinking, “hey, champ, howzabout defending your belt before doing a superfight with a pumped up 155er?”
Yes, Penn does have credentials at 170, but its not like he “eaned” or “deserved” a fight with GSP.
Is this practice right?
Absolutely not.
Has Dana White and the Fertitas decided it is right for their business?
Absolutely.
And we all go along with it because it’s all part of the show, sad to say.
It’s also working. As per Fortune Magazine, it’s going to work to the tune of over a quarter of a billion dollars for the UFC this year alone.
Its just this simple.
Franklin is a MMA “name”, a previous champion, and has fought some impressive men. If memory serves, at 205, both in and out of the UFC, or as a favor to the promotion catchweight 195 or near to it, Franklin has fought Ken Shamrock before he became the Sham, Lyoto Machida before he became the Dragon, Matt Hamill, Wanderlei Silva, and Dan Henderson. He’s beaten Hamill, Silva, and some would say Hendo, but thats a different thread.
And not to take you to task Jazzkok, but when I look at Cane’s resume I’m not overwhelmed by what he’s accomplished in this sport to date. Yes, he’s beaten some respectable names, and got himself DQ’ed against Irvin, who he probably coud have beaten cleanly.
But names like Irvin, Sokodjou, Lambert, and Cantwell don’t exactly match up with names like Wand, Hendo, Machida, and Shamrock back when that name still meant something to active MMA.
Now Jazzkok before you respond with, “yeah, but I said what’s Franklin done at 205, wisea$$”, lets get one thing perfectly crystal clear before this goes any further.
In MMA in general, and the UFC in particular, what a fighter has done in the cage, or ring, carries far more weight with the promoter, the matchmaker, and both the majority of causal and hardcore fans than what weight class he’s done it in. Cane’s 3-1 UFC record at LHW pales in comparison to Franklin’s 2-1 UFC LHW record in the eyes of the promotion and the majority of fans. And yes, I’m lumping in the Wand catchweight fight because that’s how Dana White wanted it. Everyone knows it was Franklin throwing the promotion a bone, and the promotion throwing Wand a bone. For all intents and purposes for this discussion it’s a LHW fight, the scale not withstanding, and should have been contested at 205.
That’s not to say that Cane’s time won’t come. Yes, he’s got a load of potential and is a real talent. Yes, he may deserve a fight with a top fighter, but Franklin has done the promotion enough solids. It’s someone else’s turn to take Cane out for a run in the cage and see if he’s the real deal or not. If I were Franklin and Dana White called me with that $hit about fighting Cane, I’d respectfully tell him to go call Keith Jardine and let the Dean of Mean determine Cane’s relative level.
Whether or not you’re a Luiz Cane supporter, or a Rich Franklin supporter, or neither, it doesn’t pay to not recognize how things actually are in the 2009 UFC. Thats what everyone has told me when I was trying to make the point about Brock Lesnar.
Fame is the name of the game, and Cane doesn’t have any. Sorry to say Jazzkok, but if I were Franklin, I wouldn’t take a fight with someone so much farther down the career foodchain than I am. Franklin’s looking for title fights. Cane is looking for fights where the MMA media gets his name right.
There’s a big difference…
So, question time for the collective.
Who was more responsible for the Franklin deal getting done so late, Franklin [or his management] or Dana White?
Arguments can be made for both, and I have to believe that maybe Dana was less than delighted when Franklin made comments that could have been construed as unfavorable towards coaching the US team in this past season of TUF.
Or maybe Franklin had his management grab a beer or two with some guys from say Strikeforce, or maybe a plate of sushi with the stateside DREAM rep, to test the waters and his market availability.
Possibly as the UFC grows by leaps and bounds, White might have felt that there isn’t room in a business sense for a MW competing in the LHW ranks that isn’t so flashy, so outspoken, and so unlikely to pitch a media pull-inducing meltdown when he loses. Or unbelievably, wins.
It’s not like White hasn’t let us know in the past that the business of MMA is of far more concern to him than the sport of MMA.
Maybe he feels that Franklin’s proverbial 15 minutes of fame are up?
On the surface you would think that Franklin would be happy in the UFC, seeing as how he’s employed and well-regarded in the world’s most powerful MMA promotion, but upon deeper inspection I find some lingering issues that may have contributed to the delay of the deal-making, or some possible disgruntlement on his part, or hesitancy on Dana White’s part.
FIRST, I have to believe that when he’s alone at night sipping a beer on his deck Franklin has to think to himself about how Dana White did him no favors by bringing in Anderson Silva from a rival organization, throwing him a relatively easy fight with TUFfie Chris Leben, and fast-tracking him into a title bout.
Silva’s skillset made a Franklin fight a nightmare for the champion at the time, and those “in the know” knew it. Which of course Silva proved with devastating clarity. Twice.
It seems odd to me that a promoter would specifically bring in a fighter to unseat his popular and well-respected champion. My company on occasion does some business with a local MMA promotion in Hawaii, and this man has been in the sport since the beginning. He’s often told me over a few cold Kona brews that a promoter has a responsibility to protect his champions and stars, or as he calls them, “earners”.
He’ll often comment, when asked about how the matter, on surprised he was that White booked Silva-Franklin so quickly, and in the process kicked Franklin to the curb. No build-up, no contender fight nothing. Just a KO of a [then] semi-skilled [at best] brawler from a relaity TV show, and straight into a title match the Spider went. Odd that was IMO.
Did Dana White assume that he would make more money with Anderson Silva than with Rich Franklin? Or did he think that Silva was somehow a better representative of the promotion, or the sport, than a man who barely speaks English?
People in the fight game knew well in adavnce that Silva was going to beat Franklin, just not as badly as he did. When a man is brought into the promotion seemingly specifically to beat you, like Silva was and Brock Lesnar was with Randy Couture, you can’t help but take it personally.
In the case of Lesnar, White can claim it was “strictly business”, and that Lesnar is good box office and thereby good for the UFC.
But I’m wondering, and maybe this is a Justipedia search, did the UFC really make that much more money with Anderson Silva being catapulted into a title fight, than they would have if Silva had maybe 2 more fights before getting a title bout, and Franklin has fought another title defense or two?
I’m no expert, but I don’t recall the MW cupboard being SO bare that an outside fighter had to be brought in and fast-tracked to the title. I’m also not 100% convinced that Anderson Silva is amongst the best p4p fighters in the world. He’s had lackluster defenses against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites, the latter not being his fault entirely, looked hard-pressed by Travis Lutter before he gassed and got submitted, or TKO’ed depending on how you see it, and only looked really crisp against Franklin [both times] and Nate Marquardt. Against Dan Henderson I thought it was more a case of Hendo looking like $hit than Silva looking like one of the best p4p fighters in the world.
The James Irvin fight is a non-factor here because this is a MW issue.
I’m not a Silva supporter, nor am I down on the man. He has amazing talent and skills, and has had some superior fights. I respect what he’s accomplished in the Cage, and how he handles himself outside of it.
He’s also had some pretty average, or some might say below average fights. I’m just not convinced he belongs in the same conversation with someone like GSP or Miguel Torres.
This is not a knock on the man, just an objective, relatively speaking, assessment of his place in the sport.
It may seem off-topic, but I reference it only to serve as a contrast to Rich Franklin, the man who’s MW career he ended prematurely, with a little helpful matchmaking from the front office.
Would Franklin have done any better against the same slate of challangers? Maybe not, but I don’t think he would have done any worse, either.
My point being that did the UFC REALLY gain that much more by fast-tracking Anderson Silva and thereby pushing Rich Franklin aside?
Also, please remember I’m laying this out from a Rich Franklin perspective. If I were the man, I would have some bitterness, for sure.
As a good sportsman I would keep it to myself, but as a man it would not sit well, nor should it.
As an MMA fan, I think that Silva would have inevitably beaten Franklin. Their styles are just too unfavorable for Franklin to overcome. I’m just making the case that money was most likely taken out of Franklin’s pocket by Silva’s fast-tracking, and thus Franklin might have a reason to be less than delighted with his employers.
This is also purely conjectural. I in no way, shape, or form am trying to disrespect Anderson Silva in any way. I’m just trying to find reason and rationale in the handling of Franklin’s contract with the UFC.
At this point its all really academic, because Franklin got crushed in the rematch, headlined several profitable PPVs, and Silva has gone on to numerous successful, if not always spectacular, title defenses.
SECOND, I have to believe that whenever Franklin stops and thinks about his “new” career as a LHW contender, he can’t help but get a little pi$$ed off that so shortly after leaving the MW ranks, or being Thai-boxed out of those ranks by the Spider, he suddenly finds himself again with the presence of Anderson Silva, now adventuring in the LHW division as Franklin is trying to get his footing in strange new territory.
Did Anderson Silva ASK for a LHW fight, or did Dana White propose it to Silva? Again, if it’s the latter, Franklin has some grounds for not thinking Dana White has his best interests at heart, and dragging his feet in negotiations. Franklin’s LHW “thunder” has been easily stolen so far by Silva’s adventuring with Irvin, and Forrest Griffin.
A bout with Tito Ortiz puts Franklin right back on the MMA radar and spotlight. A bout with Luiz Cane does not.
If I were Franklin, it would seem like the UFC is placing the Spider in place to “co<kblock" me at every turn, if you follow. Did Franklin back into Dana's Ferrari with his TUF H2, or sloppily bang his favorite Vegas trick and not pay her or something?
Joking, of course, but I think you all get my drift.
It's one thing if Silva wanted to try a fight at LHW, or if the UFC asked him to as "aa favor" as the MW ranks sorted themsleves out, but now Silva is in a fight that Franklin should arguably [maybe] be in, with Forrest Griffin. If Silva in fact has no desire to challange for the LHW title, and in the process face and get killed by his friend Lyoto Machida, then, and remember, this is all from Franklin's perspective, why the fu<k is he in a bout with one of the top LHW's on the planet?
It's not like the UFC wouldn't have made any less money by having Franklin and Griffin square off, and have Silva "come out and play" with Demian Maia.
You don't need to be a matchmaking genius to figure this stuff out, Joe Silva.
FINALLY, there is always the issue of money.
Maybe Franklin and White simply couldn't come to terms. maybe Franklin felt the promotion "owed" him something for taking a catchweight fight with Wand, which he could have gotten killed in. After all, lets face it, we're talking about the Axe Murderer here. Or maybe Franklin felt he should receive some sort of special consideration after basically being asked to backburner his title aspirations in favor of putting on "entertaining fights" for the fans, being in effect the promotion's "go to" guy in a PPV pinch, or worse yet, being not-so-subtly nudged into the thankless role of LHW gatekeeper.
If I were Franklin I think I'd rather sign with another promotion than being a gatekeeper, but thats just me.
I guess the argument could be made that Franklin should be grateful he is where he is, and is on good graces with the UFC. He's had his MW bridge burned behind him by the Spider, and his LHW road ahead of him is stocked with world-beaters like Rampage, Griffin, and of course Machida.
And just as an FYI, I don't consider myself a diehard Rich Franklin supporter. Just like with Anderson Silva, I respect what Franklin has accomplished inside the cage, and how he carries himself and conducts his affairs outside of the cage. The only time I can recall actually rooting against Franklin was when he fought Dan Henderson, who I am a supporter of.
No agenda here, just a confused MMA fan trying to figure out what the UFC is going to do with a talent like Rich Franklin. His contract signing is almost an afterthought, and they stuck him out in a raft at sea with this UFC 103 deal without naming an opponent for him.
Hopefully the Tito return will solve some of Franklin's "lost in the shuffle" issues, and allow us all to better gauge Franklin's level in the LHW ranks…
TO be honest dude, i don’t really have the time to read all the stuff your write. I just saw my name and assumed you were responding. My point here is that cane vs franklin makes perfect sense period. Wether it be a main event, or for marketing purposes, pre lims, main card whatever. this fight can, and should happen. I don’t think anyone on here needs a “this is a business” lecture. No offense.
I think i read somewhere that franklin owned wanderlei…wow, and thiago alves gave gsp a challenge…
LOL Jazzkok-
If you haven’t read my stuff then you’re not getting the point, or having any frame of refernce for a discussion.
And if no one here at the frenzy needs a “this is a business” lecture, then we sure as heck don’t need stuff like, “I want my guy to have a main event PPV shot at Franklin because…”
No offense.
This fight in all likelihood won’t happen, because at this time its not right for the sport or the business, Cane’s supporters opinions notwithstanding.
Is that short and to the point for you Jazzkok?
And dude, you know this is all in fun, I have no beef with you. A lot of what you write is on-point, and I agree that guys like Cane get left out in the cold because of the folding green mentality.
Yo Jchol, dude i didn’t mean anything by my comment. I usually read everyone’s comments, including yours, this time i just didn’t have the time to do so. What i meant about the “business lecture”, is that imo, a lot of people have argued that topic enough and I for one, want to nip it in the bud. Dude, no worries you’ve got the passion of the frenzy and I can dig it.
a.silva beat james irving (sp?) on a fight night card in like 36 sec.