Issue 004
June 2005
Rich Franklin stepped into the Octagon for the biggest fight of his life. He was set to face a legend, Ken Shamrock, in front of the largest audience ever to watch a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout in the history of the sport in the United States.
When the maths was all done, more than 2.6 million people tuned in to watch ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ finale, the final episode of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) hit reality series, which Franklin and Shamrock headlined. But true to the intelligence that has carried him this far, Franklin didn’t let it faze him. “Once I got in that cage and the door was shut and it was just the two of us in there… those were the only two people that existed,” he remarked after the fight.
Most fight fans knew that, as long as he was able to keep his nerves in check, Franklin possessed the skills necessary to defeat Shamrock, who is 11 years his senior. But not many thought he would only need a little less than three minutes to do it. And fewer still would have believed that it would be Franklin raining down blows from Ken Shamrock’s guard to finish the fight.
But so it was. And just that fast, Franklin became an overnight success. In the blink of an eye, he would be remembered by more American viewers than even the UFC’s first ever champion Royce Gracie or the man he had just defeated, Ken Shamrock.
Humble Beginnings
Though he wasn’t actually the UFC’s first choice as an opponent for Shamrock — they couldn’t come to an agreement with their first choice, Tito Ortiz — Franklin is far from a Cinderella story. It has taken years of fighting and a lifetime of experience for him to arrive at this stage of his career.
An athlete during his school years, Franklin took to martial arts after school to help satisfy his competitive nature. As he continued to train and grow as a martial artist, always wanting to push himself farther, he began fighting in MMA. That was about six years ago, he’s been fighting ever since.
Contrary to the stereotypical stigma that is attached to most fighters, whether they are mixed martial artists or boxers, Franklin is an extremely intelligent individual. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and also a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Not to mention that he also has a razor sharp wit reminiscent of the celebrity Jim Carry, who his facial features are also often compared to — minus the goofy facial expressions of the rubber-faced actor of course.
Before his fight career started to develop to where he felt the need to make the leap to training full time, Franklin was a high school math teacher. But even now that the fight purses are starting to grow, he still works a couple of nights a week with an at-risk youth program and has maintained his teaching certification.
Making The Grade
At one time Franklin used to train in a tool shed in the back yard where it was freezing in winter and blazing hot in the summer. In fact, that shed was in the back yard of his training partner and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ participant, Josh Rafferty. They moved out all of the gardening equipment and tools and carpeted the floor to create a makeshift mini training centre. Once he decided to commit to a career in fighting, he knew that he needed to start training in a more organised manner with a true fight team. So in 2001 he started training a few times a year with Pat Miletich’s team.
Things were going well as he continued to progress, but Franklin knew that he still needed to maintain his training at a higher level. That was when he met Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel and things really started to take off for him. With a blossoming team of his own that included Gurgel, Rafferty and veteran fighter Kerry Schall, and with solid management from Monte Cox, Franklin was really starting to hit his stride.
Always a smart fighter, he has developed into one of the new breed of mixed martial artists. He doesn’t come from a solid base in competitive boxing or wrestling; Franklin works to develop all facets of his game equally. He lifts weights, does cardio and plyometrics, works on his grappling and submission skills, drills takedowns and perfects his striking — from Muay Thai to boxing. Day in and day out, week after week, he drills anything and everything that has to do with progressing his fight career. Franklin is proficient in all areas and he has finally been given the opportunities to prove it.
Passing The Test
At UFC 42 Franklin was given a true test of his skills. To the surprise of many observers that hadn’t really heard of him, he passed with flying colours. With three times the experience of Franklin, Evan Tanner was largely favoured to shut down the UFC rookie. After all, he was on a four-fight win streak that included victories over Homer Moore, Elvis Sinosic, and Chris Haseman. But it was Franklin that quickly established himself in the Octagon by taking the fight to Tanner and finishing him off with a devastating flurry of strikes in little more than two minutes.
He followed that up with another impressive performance at UFC 44. Despite nursing a pulled groin muscle, Franklin stepped in with Edwin Dewees. Obviously not wanting to fight from his back on the ground, Franklin got taken down once, immediately worked the fight back to the feet and proceeded to make quick work of Dewees finishing him off in the first round.
He then made the trek to Japan to fight on Antonio Inoki’s New Year’s Show. After 13 wins in a row Franklin’s luck took a turn in the other direction, a 180-degree turn as a matter of fact. Squaring off against Ryoto Machida, he found himself on the wrong end of a knockout punch for the first time in his career.
Not to be deterred, Franklin quickly turned that loss into a blip on the radar. He reeled off four straight wins including a brutal three-round war with Jorge Rivera in his new classification as a middleweight.
The two kept the fight on their feet for nearly the entire time and gave it everything they could to knock the other out. But in the end it was Franklin’s conditioning that kept him fresh and put Rivera on the defensive. As Rivera seemed to wane in the closing moments of the fight, when they finally hit the ground in the third round Franklin slapped on a fight-finishing armbar with half a minute left for the win.
Then came the fight with Shamrock, another huge test that would set the course of his career. As mentioned, despite moving back up to light heavyweight, he again stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. By pounding Shamrock into the mat Franklin took control of his future. The win landed him a title fight. Once again making the move down to middleweight, Franklin is now set to challenge Evan Tanner for the UFC belt in Atlantic City.
The Final Exam
Even though he has already defeated Tanner once before, Franklin keeps things in perspective. He knows that past performance is no guarantee of future returns. He knows where he currently sits in the scheme of the UFC’s middleweight class. “Well, I guess I’d have to rank myself number two right now, since Evan Tanner has the belt,” says Franklin, “but I plan on changing that.”
Tanner may have something to say about that though. With a 31-4 record, he has bounced back from adversity before and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. After years of plugging away, he finally won the middleweight belt in his last fight against David Terrell. And with this being his first time as a champion at this level, it’s no stretch to say that he’s not going to want to give that belt up.
But Franklin has a lot of factors weighing heavily in his favour as well. He’s riding the surge of confidence that can only come from defeating a man deemed a legend. His skills are starting to give off a highly polished sheen that only comes from experience; in 19 fights his record sits at 18 wins to one loss. And the ace card, he has defeated Tanner before. Obviously that’s not a guarantee, but for a fighter with Franklin’s intelligence and work ethic — and one who doesn’t assume that he will win just because he has before — a prior victory is anything but negative.
At this stage in his career, as he is coming into his own, the timing couldn’t be more perfect for a Franklin win. After all, what better way to follow up a victory over a legend than by becoming a champion?
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