Rich Franklin
Statistics
Nickname	Ace
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	American
Born	October 5 1974 (1974--) (age 33)
Fighting out of	Cincinnati, Ohio
Town of birth	Cincinnati, Ohio
Team/Association	Team Extreme[1]
Fighting style	Freestyle
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	22
By knockout	11
By submission	9
Losses	3
Draws	0
No contests	1

Rich Jay Franklin (born October 5, 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion.

Biography

Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin was a math teacher at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati. He has a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. ^[2]

Martial arts background

According to Franklin, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes.^{[citation needed]} Franklin prefers to finish his opponents by knockout, but is well rounded and possesses good grappling and submission skills. He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc., and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). Franklin is currently ranked as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel.^{[citation needed]}

Mixed martial arts career

Franklin had a record of 17 wins and 1 loss before his fight for the title, which he won. His sole loss was against Lyoto Machida by TKO in the second round. In the run up to the title match, he defeated such well-respected fighters as Evan Tanner, Jorge Rivera, Edwin Dewees, and Ken Shamrock. Before his fight with Shamrock, Franklin signed an unusually long 8-fight contact. In 2005, he defeated Evan Tanner for a second time at UFC 53 to win the UFC middleweight championship. His victory lead to his being a coach (along with welterweight champion Matt Hughes) on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter.

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a competitor from season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round. On March 4, 2006, at UFC 58, Franklin defeated David Loiseau in a unanimous five round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left hand early on in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws, and Franklin was out of action for seven months.

Franklin lost his title on his return fight after being defeated by Brazilian Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. Franklin was stopped with approximately 20 unanswered knees from the Muay Thai-clinch followed by kicks and a knee to the face at 2:49 of the first round. On October 19, 2006 Franklin underwent surgery due to the nasal fracture he received in his fight against Silva.

At UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, Franklin defeated Jason MacDonald by TKO due to MacDonald's corner throwing in the towel in the break between rounds two and three. Franklin had mounted MacDonald in the closing seconds of the second round, causing significant injury and swelling around MacDonald's left eye. MacDonald's corner advised ending the fight, and Franklin was declared the winner. After the fight Franklin called Anderson Silva to the ring, and said that he and Dana White had agreed to a fight for the title in Franklin's hometown, Cincinnati.

On June 16, 2007 at UFC 72 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Franklin defeated top middleweight contender Yushin Okami to be announced the official number one contender for Anderson Silva's middleweight championship. The bout was only Franklin's second overall fight that went the full distance (due to being a non-title fight, it was three rounds). All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Franklin.

On October 20, 2007, Franklin faced Anderson Silva in a rematch for the middleweight championship, losing by TKO in the second round .^[3]

Mixed martial arts record

Total		Wins	Losses
25 matches	(T)Knockout	11	3
Submission	9	0
Decision	2	0
DQ	0	0
Draw	0
No Contest	1

Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Notes
10/20/2007	Loss	Anderson Silva	UFC 77: Hostile Territory	TKO (Knee)	2	1:07
6/16/2007	Win	Yushin Okami	UFC 72: Victory	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
3/3/2007	Win	Jason MacDonald	UFC 68: The Uprising	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	2	5:00
10/14/2006	Loss	Anderson Silva	UFC 64: Unstoppable	TKO (Strikes)	1	2:59	Lost UFC middleweight championship
3/4/2006	Win	David Loiseau	UFC 58: USA vs. Canada	Decision (Unanimous)	5	5:00	Defended UFC middleweight championship
11/19/2005	Win	Nathan Quarry	UFC 56: Full Force	KO (Punch)	1	2:34	Defended UFC middleweight championship
6/4/2005	Win	Evan Tanner	UFC 53: Heavy Hitters	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	4	3:25	Won UFC middleweight championship
4/9/2005	Win	Ken Shamrock	The Ultimate Fighter Finale	TKO (Strikes)	1	2:42
12/12/2004	Win	Curtis Stout	Superbrawl 38	Submission (Punches)	2	1:28
10/22/2004	Win	Jorge Rivera	UFC 50: The War of '04	Submission (Armbar)	3	4:28
7/14/2004	Win	Ralph Dilon	Alaska Fighting Championship	Submission (Keylock)	1	?
4/16/2004	Win	Leo Sylvest	Superbrawl 35	Submission (Strikes)	1	1:13
12/31/2003	Loss	Lyoto Machida	Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003-Inoki Festival	TKO (Strikes)	2	1:03
9/26/2003	Win	Edwin Dewees	UFC 44: Undisputed	TKO (Strikes)	1	3:35
7/19/2003	Win	Roberto Ramirez	Battleground 1: War Cry	KO (Punch)	1	0:10
4/25/2003	Win	Evan Tanner	UFC 42: Sudden Impact	TKO (Punches)	1	2:40
9/17/2002	Win	Antony Rea	UCC Hawaii: Eruption in Hawaii	TKO	1	2:46
6/15/2002	Win	Yan Pellerin	UCC 10: Battle for the Belts 2002	Submission (Armbar)	1	3:23
11/3/2001	Win	Marvin Eastman	World Fighting Alliance 1	Submission (Armbar)	1	?
8/25/2001	Win	Dennis Reed	Extreme Challenge Trials	Submission (Strikes)	1	1:38
7/13/2001	Win	Chris Seifert	Extreme Challenge 41	Submission (Strikes)	2	1:45
3/17/2001	Win	Travis Fulton	RINGS USA: Battle of Champions	TKO (Broken Hand)	1	5:00
1/13/2001	NC	Aaron Brink	IFC: Warriors Challenge 11	No Contest (Accidental Injury)	1	?
6/29/2000	Win	Dennis Reed	Extreme Challenge 35	Submission (Armbar)	1	1:56
5/13/2000	Win	Gary Myers	WEF 9: World Class	KO (Kick)	3	0:59
3/24/2000	Win	Rob Smith	Extreme Challenge 31	TKO (Punches)	1	2:30

Personal life

Franklin has a wife named Beth.^{[4] [5]}

Franklin is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ultimate Fighting

Trivia

• His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura^{[citation needed]}
• Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear.
• February 21, 2006 was officially named "Rich Franklin Day" in Cincinnati by the city's mayor.^[6]

References

1. ^ Fight Finder: Rich Franklin. Sherdog (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
2. ^ Wheeler, Lonnie. "Ultimate workout drives Franklin", The Cincinnati Post, 2006-09-01. Retrieved on 2006-09-07. 
3. ^ Bolduc, Justin (August 12, 2007). UFC 77 Comes Together. Nokaut.
4. ^ [Stated on his Official Website http://www.richfranklin.com]
5. ^ Franklin's wife, Beth, is an English teacher at Reading High School.
6. ^ http://www.richfranklin.com/news.asp?item=30

External links

• Official website
• Professional MMA record for Rich Franklin from Sherdog

Previous champion Evan Tanner

4th UFC Middleweight Champion June 4, 2005 - October 14, 2006

Next champion Anderson Silva

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 2
Josh Burkman | Dan Christison | Luke Cummo | Marcus Davis | Rashad Evans | Melvin Guillard | Jorge Gurgel | Brad Imes | Keith Jardine | Eli Joslin | Rob MacDonald | Sammy Morgan | Tom Murphy | Seth Petruzelli | Kerry Schall | Kenny Stevens | Joe Stevenson | Anthony Torres | Jason Von Flue | Mike Whitehead Coaches: Rich Franklin | Matt Hughes

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