Matt Hamill has been booked to fight former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 88 on September 6th in Atlanta in a light heavyweight showdown, according to MMA Rated.
Hamill, a deaf, Division III national wrestling champion, gained exposure during his stint on season three of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. Hamill sustained an unfortunate injury while competing on the show which ultimately prevented him from entering the semi-finals. The UFC opted to see what Hamill could do in front of some bigger crowds, and “The Hammer” went on to win three straight bouts inside the octagon. While Hamill most recently picked apart Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 13, his record maintains one blemish from a very controversial 2007 bout with Michael Bisping.
Hamill is known for his strength, wrestling pedigree and heart, but we shall see if that is enough to stop a former middleweight champion.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell takes on Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 88 “Breakthrough”. Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares, Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida, and Tim Boetsch vs. James Lee are also rumored for pay-per-view event.
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Now this is an exciting fight that I didn’t see coming! I like both of these fighters. If Hamill wins that is huge for him and his career as well as what could be the beginning of the end for Ace. This will be a good fight. I hope Ace is lifting hard and eating those Flinstone vitamins! 205 is no joke!
I really hope Rich wins, but I just think Matt’s going to be to big, to strong, and to physical for him. My heart is with Rich, but something tells me that Hamill will win and his stock will rise big time!!
It makes me feel bad but I wanna see Hamill’s face smashed in for some reason. He has heart and all that but to me he seems a little too full of himself, which I know is terrible to say cause he’s deaf, but still.
how is he full of himself?? I like the guy…hes dedicated and good! it sucks one of these guys has to lose…I like em both..
I like both of them but I see Rich winning by knock out
krav138 i agree but i think hammill is going to get a decision
im pumped for this one that is so tough to call im leaning towards rich but its a coin toss
hamill shall win a decision
I think this one is going to be a good one. They are both great guys. I wouldn’t say that Matt is full of himself.
He fights in cages for a living, he is allowed to be a little confident don’t you think?
I still think he was robbed against Bisping.
I could see Hamill winning by GnP
I’m with u on that one Arnold Darkshner. He comes across very arrogant to me. He’s got a world of talent but he is “full of himself”. If he wasn’t deaf a lot more people would agree. Either way I still enjoy his matches though. Very aggressive style. This could be a great match up.
I also am leaning towards Rich in this one. Re: arrogance of Darkshner, hey in this game everyone has to have a high level of confidence. I just hope it doesn’t wind up like boxing with the Mayweather types.
http://www.fromthecage.com
Tim Boetsch is back. I like that guy. I hope he wins his bout against James Lee.
I think Rich will win, because of his underrated BJJ skills.
rich is going to win this by KO/TKO all that hammill has got is takedown and lay on top for the match a bit like jesse taylor from tuf, but rich has got good takedown defence from what i remember i can defo see franklin winning via knockout
this is something I am interested in, Go Matty !!!
How predictable…. Dana again protects Franklin again by throwing him another softball (another reality tv loser)who is tailor made for his style. Hamill is slow, goes forward, cannot submit and cannot take you out in the clinch with a knee or elbow. Franklin’s only strength is dirty boxing / clinching against the cage and has only mediocre boxing and ground game. Fighting a deaf Okami…. Dana totally protected him against Nate the Great, Kampmann, and Henderson all who would take him out… Bring on Bisping/Franklin for ratings, Yay!!!
man will u put a downer on everything haha if u won a million you’d prob moan about the check being in blue writeing instead of black, this is a good fight i think rich will win but im not a big fan of matt but i no hes a good fighter who can cause problems for most people, just because rich is not fighting the siva doesn’t mean dana is babying him
You fools sound like women! Wears da Kimbo?
ment to say silva not “siva” haha
Vote who has the harder debut at 205 Anderson or Franklin? My vote is Franklin.
oh hell ya rich is gettin the short end of the debut stick… feed silva to a higher end wrestler with decent GnP skills and he’d be done fairly quick in the LHW div.
they shoulda switched the opponents… then we can see if rich’s chin is supect, and if silva can handle a decent wrestler on the ground…
E-ROC you stole the words from my mouth i know that rich will win the standup and matt will take him down for his troubles but rich has awesome jits that you never get to see because he prefers to brawl……
real quick i just thought of this its seems to me where people have the best luck against silva is on the ground why do you think rich never tried for a takedown instead of hanging out in the thai clinch
back to the fight i do like both of them it makes it hard to choose but i will have to go for rich also rich does well at 205 he is a big strong guy thats why he dominated in 185 cause come fight day he looked like a 205 look at his old fights he fought and destroyed ken shamrock before his 40 birthday lol. i think he will be tough to beat at that weight. he choose to drop cause he could not because competition was too hard he knew that he would get to a title sooner at 185 that way.
tim boetch i hope he destroys his opponet cause the guy is a beast which i must say i didnt expect so many kicks from him but he is versitile as well he has that raw power like houston alexander just not as wild i say screw rashad in the main event i am looking forward to the undercard adn sorry chuck but your opponet sucks….. however there is a ood thing to come from the main event rashad will get his first loss which makes me happy… all joking aside i hope rashad puts on a show at least
Good points Champagne!
I’ll go Franklin by ko/tko because I wasn’t too impressed with Hamill’s head movement against Boetsch he just kept coming forward getting hit with some solid shots but was able to take him down and pound him out ’cause Boetsch gassed…Rich has the power to drop him and will.
Big Rapper,
i wanna fight Kimbo. I’ll meet him in back of a 7-11 and throw him in a dumpster where he belongs…
Will,
Didn’t Kimbo come out of a dumpster in the first place! hahaha
Hamill by G&P for me
This will be a real test for ace.
Lutter dominated the 1st round at UFC 83 and gassed out thats why he lost.
I dont see Matt gassing in this fight i think he will finnish ace in the 2nd.
Dont worry Brett Rogers will put Kimbo back in the trash come october
yeah, no more Kimbo after Brett… thank god
Not unless Miragliotta is reffing then kimbo might land a couple shot’s and that’s the fight because ELITE XC’s golden boy couldn’t possibly lose could he? Elite XC is so much like pro wrestling it’s sad…CBS needs to boot the shaw’s because they have way too much of a personal relationship w/ kimbo to let him lose and that is f’n weak!!!
true. true
the UFC MUST realize that bisping is just hype. this is the second fighter from season three to go up against a former middlewieght champion while bisping is fighting guys like elvis sinosic and jason day. hamill by GnP or decision!
of course. he is extremely popular and important for the international fan base. have to shield him for a while until they get a couple of more brits who can fight and have half a personality…
stop hating bisping, you’ll see when he smashes leben
first off, will people stop saying that lutter only lost the fight with silva because he gassed. yes he was dominant on the ground in the first round but silva came back roaring at the end of the round and carried out the beating in round two. people said he wouldnt be able to handle marquard’s ground skills and he owned him. same was said with henderson with his great wrestling and powerful strikes but again in round two he came back at him and completely owned him.
second, good fight, franlin vs. hammil. two of cincy’s good guys going at it. franklin has this one but both fighters are good people and good fighters
Bad matchup for Rich….but I think he pulls it off
I think Franklin has a harder debut at 205 that silva…. I do think that both of them will win though
yes, Bisping will smash Leben unfortunately… big fan of The Krippler
I will be happy when Bisping is put in his place He has had an easy road so far, except when he lost to Hamill..
every1 hates bisping on this site but c’mon look who leben has fought the only real half decent opposition have beaten him. Patrick Cote was robbed of that decision aswell
Yeah, that Hamill fight was a bummer….
but he got the victory so wether you think he won or not he still got the W
i am with you petego. bisping is a great fighter NOW!!! i hated him at 205 he seemed like he eeked out dec and just wasnt dominate enough even when he tko people. but at middle weight is where he belongs
Leben beat Swick, Sakara, and tell me that Terry Martin fight wasn’t killer?
i agree 185 is where he belongs. I also agree with will the terry martin fight was good. Leben has good standup and can knock pretty much anyone out i just think he is slighty one dimensional and he might struggle on his back
Yeah, Bisping looked great at 185. I want to see him and Henderson or Nate for validation
Yea but if you look at his last fights, hes become alot more well rounded…hes not just sum punk kid anymore…hes actually gettin technical with his striking and he comes in with better cardio every fight. plus hes got that KO power…bisping better be careful or he might just get caught
hendo and marquadt would tear thru bisping…
yeah hendo’s got to get through palhares first and he looked good against salaverry. Marquadt v bisping and get thales leites to fight kampmann he should never have beaten marquadt bad decison from herb dean
yea I guess those points really f*cked him over….that was tight when he slammed leites on his head haha
hendo has looked terrible since coming back to the ufc i think he would be a good matchup for bisping. leben still come walking forward look at his fight with terry martin. That was one of the most untechnical fights ive ever seen
Piledriver!
Yea true…but sumtimes thats what it takes to win the fight…seemd to work out for him atleast. Leben has improved so much tho over the years…he wasn’t shit on the first ultimate fighter…now I’d say hes top 10 MW…
id agree with that he is a dangerous fighter will be a good matchup cant wait to see it
Ace all the way not even a guess it will be good tho but a TKO for sure! Everyone on The hammer will lose on the UFC FAN-
Hendo is a tough match up for bisping, I think bisping would have better luck with Marquet.
I think Franklin is a smarter fighter and though under sized his experience and movement will get him a stopage over Hamil.
Tru Dat
Wow shitty matchup for franklin not a good first fight at 205
No need to be easy cuz he can pull it off Hammer not even close to the same skill but it will be great 205 match. Franklin will put on a lot of good fights at 205 He would have smashed tito!
Hendo would crush Bisping
i dont believe that bisping is ready for hendo but hamill its been awhile since we have seen hamill well at least early 08 but its always exciting to see what a fighter brings back to the table they are ever improving in this sport
I’d love to see Hendo vs Bisping. That is the true test Bisping needs to win over some more fans. Regardless of what happens with Leben I hope Bisping’s next opponent is Marquardt, Hendo or Franklin. If he beats any of those three, he definitely deserves more respect and he should be able to win over many more fans. It’s time for Bisping to fight one of those three in the USA not England.
henderson would ko bisping in the first round bising cant take henderson down and i dont see him being able to stand with him
Henderson Bisbing would be a test. Henderson by decision.
Just a reminder Rich has already faught at 205, he got the belt shortly after dropping to 185. I think taking this fight was a bad mistake for Hamill. I think most Hamill fans are from Cincinnati, now he takes a fight against the pride of Cincinnati. All his fans are going to be pulling for his opponant.
Interesting matchup this, without me personally seeing Franklin fight at 205 I find it difficult to predict an outcome
KOuch – Definitely. I reckon that those are absolutely the possible match ups!
Needs to be tested!
That also depends if Rich stays at 205…
Why does Hamill got to fight a former champ while Michael Bisping gets all the easy fight?
The UFC is turning into boxing where the Champ is not necessary the best fighter.
Michael Bisping,
What other former MW champs are there for bisping to fight? Tanner? Henderson is a former champ but would crush his skull in…don’t underestimate Leben he might just make Bisping go sleepy time!
185 will get better after September 10(hopefully).
we’ll see how good hendo really is when he gets submitted by rousimar palhares
Filho! FILHO! FILHO!
Through Friends I met Matt in May at UFC 84….I must say he is a stand out guy. Between dinner, and the after parties…he was a great host and kind to anyone that wanted a picture etc. I think this is going to be a great fight…Rich has had the spotlight for some time…I think it is time for some new blood and Matt deserves every bit of it….
any way you look at it..two great fighters!!!