Rich Franklin: Will Coach For Money
Speaking to MMATraining.com , former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin dispelled rumors that he had been tapped as a possible coach for season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter: US vs. UK. Franklin made it pretty clear that he had no desire to serve as a TUF coach yet again, but would always consider it for the all mighty dollar:
“There’s been rumors and supposedly news that I’m going to be the coach of the next season (of TUF) with a victory over Dan (Henderson), but the UFC hasn’t actually approached me about that or not. I know that they spoke to Dan several months ago about him being a coach, and that was probably well before this fight was planned. But as for me, they haven’t talked to me about it. I actually tried putting a phone call in to Dana himself to ask him about it, and he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. So, I can’t confirm or deny that rumor at this point … I never say never, but it’s not really something that I’m particularly interested in doing again. But with the right incentive, anything can look appealing.”
So does this mean that Dan Henderson will coach the U.S. team regardless of whether or not he beats Franklin in their upcoming light heavyweight bout? It would certainly be a tougher sell to the audience if that were the case, but Franklin seems genuinely burnt out on the coaching idea and Henderson’s personality (which borders on pompous if you know your history) could indeed make for much fresher and more entertaining programming.
Is it actually possible that the UFC is banking on Henderson this time around and not on their once golden boy Franklin? I thought I’d never see the day.
Tags: Rich Franklin
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Bring Lawler back to the UFC by making him a TUF coach. I feel Lawler as a coach is a great way for Lawler to be re-introduced to the fans…..who are unfamiliar with him…..
it wouldn’t suprise me is nate marquardt was the usa coach, if dan wins then i think he’d want another shot at silva rather then coach tuf, franklin is one of my fav fighters so im not bashing him wen i say if he doesn’t have the passion to coach people, that cant be to good for the show or the fighters on the show, nate would make more sence to me just because him an bisping would make a good fight, better then franklin or dan cos the count wouldn’t be as much as an “underdog”.
so they are fighting at lightheavy?
KOuch,
I like the way you think my friend. That is one hell of an idea. Just think, after the show Robbie can show the world just how overated Bisping really is.
I for one can’t wait for the UFC to sign some of the Elite Xseeya talent. Jake Shields, Ninja, Radach, Lawler, Alverez, Diaz. man just imagine the possible matchups we could have. EXCITING.
One UFC Diaz is one too many.
I like the idea of Lawler being coach. Like my midget-loving friend said, Hell of a way to re-introduce him to the UFC audience.
im sure most people no who lawler is and im sure most people remember nick diaz knocking his ass out then him loseing to the late even tanner via sub then not hearing about him until he showed up in elite, ide love him to be coach give the count a easy match after
Yah lawler was a wrecking ball there for a while, then diaz put a bit of a delay on that. Well hopefully he comes back and coaches, I would love to see him and the count duke it out, great match for a stand up war. Unless the count plans on making it another decision ;P.
KOuch, good idea my friend
JohnBoy, isn’t Nate Canadian??
Rich doesn’t want to float inbetween 185/205 he and the UFC decided that he would fight @ 205 because he can’t beat Anderson Silva, sooo Hendo is coming up to fight Rich
I can’t wait for these two to fight..
Lawler already has experieince coaching on the show, he was an assistant for Hughes.
timcat, why must you return to bashing my boy Bisping??? I’m starting to get a complex. What will it take for him to not be over-rated???
A win over a legit contender would do it for me.
no FR i belive he is from the good old u.s of a lol people need to stop jumpin on the lawler band wagon hes not that good, if he was he would of stayed in the ufc, no way in hell is he guna be a coach on tuf, maybe bring him in and make him fight kendle grove
It would be a good way to introduce Lawlor to fans who aren’t familiar with him, but it really needs to be a true UFC MW representative.
There’s no sense in having Franklin win at LHW (where he wants to be now), just to be the opposing coach to Bisping for a fight a MW. He already said the weight fluctation was a problem when fighting at LHW, so he should remain at LHW and focus on bulking up if he wants to be a true representative of that division.
But I guess the same applies to Henderson too. If he wants to rematch Silva, then he needs win fights at MW. It wouldn’t matter to me if he lost to Franklin, he could still be the coach and fight against Bisping.
I can’t stand to here Marquardt talk, but maybe he would make a good coach. I think Quarry would be a good option too, just not sure he is a true represntative on the level that Bisping is to England.
This is a smart move by Franklin because he’ll be making more money fighting then wasting his time on the show.
Don’t really agree with Lawler being a coach at all, if being in a championship primetime television fight twice wasn’t good enough to get his name out, then why have him on cable for two or three months.
@JohnBoy, my bad kid I had myself really dumb moment F~it
You would think as en ex-math teacher and with a masters in education that Rich’s coaching skills would be better. I didnt think he did all that well in this reguard his first time around and that they should put someone with more charisma in there. Lawler is more of a people person plus a finale match-up between him and Bisping would be awesome.
Surfingk5,
I am not bashing Bisping, Just stating the obvious. I really think he is overated, that is just my opinion. Don’t get all worked up about it. We agree on some things, we disagree on this one, it’s ok.
The best opp that bisbing has fought was hamil (who we all know won the fight) and franklin made easy work of him. Lawler would be a great idea for coach and I believe he would crush bisbing as well.
timcat
Too late, I’m all worked up. lol
You still didn’t answer my question. What will it take for him to not be over rated?
rudeone,
re: “the best opp that bisbing has fought was hamil”
So what you’re saying is that Matt Hammil is better than Rashad Evans?
I think Lawler could be good potentially as a coach, but I think he needs to 1. Sign with the UFC first, then 2. have a fight in the UFC against maybe a Nate Quarry or something like that, just to see how he really matches up against UFC fighters.
I will say that to be at that level they are all great fighters however bisbing and evans go to decision 9 out of 10 times. Evans did ko liddell but when all you do is stand and bang there is always a chance of being ko’ed. Hamil did however have his way with bisbing and to say bisbing could stand with franklin or henderson is a bold statement. Again not saying he lacks talent but he isn’t ready for henderson/franklin.
Surfingk5,
It would probably take him beating a Franklin or Henderson for me to truly belive the hype this guy has. In all actuality the one good fighter he faced, he lost to. I just think his smug attitude is getting in my way of liking the guy. Let him beat Okami, Marquardt, or someone good then I will jump on board, till then well I stand by my opinion.
I think Okami, Marquardt is reasonable. Franklin or Henderson???That’s a tall order for anyone.
The Hamil fight was a joke. I’ll give you that. Bisping even admitted that. But, as we’ve seen in the past fighters have bad fights and still win. I don’t think he get’s enough credit for his fight with Rashad and Leben.
LEBEN is the best he’s faught. I don’t see how that can be argued until Rashad has his title fight. Rashad hasn’t been down that road yet. At this point Leben is the best fighter he’s faught.
Anymore, with the exception of Silve of course. Most of these fights can go either way.
rudeone,
I’m with you that Bisping is not as good as some people seem to think he is. My only disagreement with you was over Hammil being the best opponent he’s faced. I personally think that Rashad is better than Hammil. I may even agree with timcat that Leben was the best opponent Bisping has fought, based on how well Leben fought in that fight, and his last few before that versus Rashad’s performance in the Bisping fight, and other fights before that, and Hammil’s performance before and after the Bisping fight.
Bisbing would get raped by silva.. end of story. No chance raped. Michida would rape him too.. RAPE him.. if we’re talking middleweight.. Henderson would make and him look like a ****.. seriously.. who has the guy beat that’s noteworthy.. really.. ever ?
He’s the biggest overhyped POS geared strictly towards garnering UK interest. Who can blame Dana for doing it tho.. he’s the only decent UKL fighter out there whos name could even be put in a sentence with words like “contender” and “title fight” without making me laugh in the face of whoever says it.
Bisbing is just waiting around until he fights someone hard and gets raped.
Kris, can we set up actual registration on this site to keep out the trolls, or at least only let in the truly dedicated?
These drive-by trollings are getting tiresome. You see someone run through, hit 5 or 6 posts, then they never come back. It’s amateur. Have some dedication, people.
I’ve been reading this site for years.. since it was ufcdaily.com.. GG tho.. I’ve been watching MMA since UFC 1… but only feel the need to post every now and then.. or when the sites I regularly are banned from work
Just becuase I have 4 or 5 posts dosn’t make that statement any less true.. bisping is completely overhyped and has never fought a fight either:
A) worth his time if he’s actually any good
or
B) At a high enough level for us to really see if he is any good
He’s untested and the UFC dosn’t seem willing to give him a good test for whatever reason.
You can cry about trolls and blah blah gimme a tissue baby or just suck it up and respond to my post if you care. Communities don’t grow without new people.. and just because new (posters) may not say something you don’t like you cry to the admins and ask them to get moderated out.. real mature bro.. lawls.
**sorry to get off topic away from MMA, I did not take this conversation in this direction**