Rich Franklin announced his retirement earlier this week in a self-written article at ThePlayersTribune.com. While busy in his role as Vice President of Singapore-based promotion ONE Championship, the 40-year-old has not competed since 2012 when he was memorably knocked out by Cung Le in Macau, China. “Ace” reigned as the UFC’s 185lb champion for over a year from June 4, 2005, when he defeated the late great Evan Tanner to take the crown. Franklin was dethroned on October 14, 2006, when Brazilian Anderson Silva snatched victory in devastating fashion to begin his own legendary title reign. Franklin had defeated Tanner once before, on his UFC debut in 2003, but his breakthrough performance came at the Ultimate Fighter Season 1 Finale in 2005 where the 19-1 up and comer swept aside Ken Shamrock in the opening round via TKO. Kicking off his professional debut in 1999, Franklin massed a career spanning 29 wins, 7 losses, and 1 no-contest. Some of his most notable victories came against the likes of Tanner, Shamrock, Nate Quarry, Yushin Okami, Matt Hamill, Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell. Boasting a well rounded skillset, Franklin produced a long standing highlight reel of knockout stoppages, the most iconic being a first round KO of Nate Quarry to mark his first middleweight title defence in 2005, and his KO victory over former light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in 2010. Franklin knocked out Liddell with 5 seconds to go in the opening round, despite having his arm broken earlier in the bout when blocking a high kick. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Franklin’s professional MMA tenure is the role he played in rectifying the negative stereotype of Mixed Martial Arts athletes. In an era before the UFC had won over a mainstream audience, and years before its ground breaking deal with FOX, Franklin was on top as the promotion’s middleweight champion. This was a time when the sport was eager to shed the “cage fighter” stereotype of uncivilised brawlers. Franklin played his part in shattering this perception, not only due to being a noted Jim Carrey lookalike, but in great part due to his well documented career as a high school maths teacher in his home town of Cincinnati, Ohio. Franklin had also achieved bachelor’s degree in mathematics, plus a master’s degree in education. Upon hearing the news of Franklin’s retirement, UFC President Dana White reflected on the former champion’s legacy in a video on UFC.com. “When Mixed Martial Arts was misunderstood, Rich Franklin was a great example of what a Mixed Martial Artist really was.” ]]>
Rich Franklin and his contribution to the perception of Mixed Martial Arts
