Rivalries: Rich Franklin

Though he was ultimately overshadowed by the feats of an eight-legged freak, Rich Franklin put together an outstanding career that stands the test of time in terms of quality and longevity.

The onetime Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder compiled a 29-7 record during his 13-plus years as an active competitor, testing his skills and holding his own with a number of all-time greats. A former high school math teacher, Franklin made his professional mixed martial arts debut with a 21-second knockout on June 19, 1999, arrived in the UFC for the first time a little less than four years later and became a staple of the Las Vegas-based organization in 2004. He was inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame on July 5, 2019, some four years after he announced his retirement.

As Franklin’s exploits inside the cage drift further and further into the past, a look at a few of the rivalries that helped shape his journey:

Evan Tanner

“Ace” laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown when he prompted a doctor stoppage against Tanner in the fourth round of their UFC 53 rematch on June 4, 2005 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The end came 3:25 into Round 4. Franklin—who had stopped Tanner with punches in their first encounter some two years prior—withstood a first-round knockdown, unleashed power punches from both hands, incorporated knee strikes at close range and utilized an effective sprawl to stay out of his counterpart’s desired space. He turned the tide permanently with a dominant Round 3, where he had Tanner reeling with a counter left hook and cut off his bid for a takedown under threat of a guillotine choke. The champion emerged for the fourth round bleeding from multiple facial lacerations, his right eye nearly swollen shut. His situation only deteriorated from there. Franklin struck in combination, rattled him with a head kick and continued to assault the Texan with bursts of knees. Referee Herb Dean paused the action and asked the cageside physician to examine Tanner, resulting in the stoppage and making Franklin the fourth middleweight champion in UFC history.

Anderson Silva

Franklin had possession of the middleweight championship, owned a 22-1 record and had never lost at 185 pounds when he met “The Spider” in the UFC 64 main event on Oct. 14, 2006 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Only a handful of MMA insiders saw the juggernaut that was headed his way. Silva was still an unknown commodity for casual fans, but those who had followed his career were well aware of the scorched-earth weaponry he possessed in his wiry frame. The Brazilian muay Thai machine was spectacular, established his superiority early and picked apart Franklin with violent precision. Once they clinched two minutes in, Silva applied his vice-like collar tie and raked the Cincinnati native with repeated knees to the body. Franklin’s ribs went from bright pink to deep red, as he became hopelessly entangled in the Brazilian’s destructive web. Silva continued to pepper the body, until he fired one of his knees upstairs and crushed Franklin’s nose. The defending champion’s legs buckled, as he stumbled backward, got sucked into the clinch again and absorbed another knee to the face. Franklin was done 2:59 into Round 1, and Silva had touched off a run of divisional dominance that had never before been seen inside the Octagon. They met again a little more than a year later at UFC 77, where Franklin once again succumbed to knee strikes, this time in the second round.

Dan Henderson

The former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder eked out a contentious split decision against Franklin in the UFC 93 headliner on Jan. 17, 2009 at the O2 Arena in Dublin. Judges Chris Lee and Tim Vannata struck 29-28 scorecards for Henderson, while Chris Watts saw it 30-27 for Franklin. It was a seesaw affair to be certain. Henderson outstruck “Ace” by narrow margins in the first and second rounds and perhaps more importantly piled up control time with a stout clinch and multiple takedowns. Franklin turned a corner despite being taken down again in Round 3, where he ripped knees to the body, loaded up on power punches to the head and changed speeds with jabs and low kicks. Their confrontation unfolded in an era where non-title fights were still sanctioned for three rounds. Had Franklin enjoyed a fourth and fifth round with which to work, the outcome might have been different. Instead, it went in the books as the sixth split decision victory of Henderson’s remarkable career.

Wanderlei Silva

The University of Cincinnati graduate marched into Silva’s backyard and left the cage with a second victory over the mixed martial arts legend. A late replacement for the injured Vitor Belfort, Franklin weathered a vintage second-round flurry from “The Axe Murderer” and earned a unanimous decision in the UFC 147 main event on June 23, 2012 at Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. All three judges scored it 48-46 for Franklin, giving the former middleweight champion four of the five rounds. He controlled much of the 25-minute battle with stout jabs, straight left hands and thudding body kicks. However, he found himself in the middle of one of Silva’s notorious blitzkriegs in the second round. The former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder leveled Franklin with a straight right hand and then swarmed on him with a savage barrage of ground strikes. Somehow, Franklin kept himself conscious, survived and extended the fight for another round. At the outset of Round 3, it became clear Silva had indeed emptied his chamber. He threw nothing of note offensively, allowing Franklin to regain his senses and reclaim control of the match. The American mixed in a trip takedown and some heavy ground-and-pound late in the period in what was his most effective sequence of the fight. Perhaps sensing he was behind on the scorecards, Silva threw caution to the wind with time winding down in the fifth round. Franklin, in his first appearance in more than a year, dodged his efforts and dropped him to a knee with a clean left hook in the final 10 seconds. It gave him a 2-0 edge in their head-to-head series, as he had also taken a unanimous verdict from Silva at UFC 99 in June 2009.