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Rich Franklin Considering Move to Light Heavyweight
By CagE | May 1, 2008
In a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Rich “Ace” Franklin’s manager Monty Cox stated that their is a good possibility that Rich Franklin will make the move up to the UFC Light Heavyweight division.
The move makes sense, Franklin has beaten every fighter worth beating below him, yet will likely never get back his Middleweight belt as long as Anderson Silva holds it.
Monty Cox:
“Rich has to make a decision…We’ve certainly considered going to 205 and seeing how he does up there.”
“He’s fought almost everybody in the 185-pound division…There are some guys that he could fight, but if he beats them it knocks them out of title contention. And nobody is looking to see Rich and Anderson Silva 3 right now, including me.”
“It’s one of those deals where he’s such a big star, which helps. He’s loved everywhere he goes, a big ovation in Canada and all that. But he’s not helping the 185-pound division right now by beating everybody up in it…We’ve talked about going to 205 and how would he match up with some of those guys, with a Forrest Griffin or a Keith Jardine. I think there’re some really good fights. There’s a whole bunch of 205’s that I think would be interesting.”
Topics: Interview, News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) |
May 1st, 2008 at 5:39 am
I think Ace could make an immediate impact in the 205 division. There could be a ton of great promotion fights there that a lot of people would like to see. We all know he can’t defeat the Spider at 185 so why the hell not!
May 1st, 2008 at 5:56 am
I agree.. The only fight for him at 185 is Henderson (and maybe to a lesser degree Bisping) I wouldn’t particulary like to see Hendo v Rich cos I like em’ both…
Rich has always been a big middleweight, and match ups against Tito, Evans, Jardine, Griffin all sound good…
I can’t see Franklin being in the top 10 though - he’s gonna get his ass kicked a lot by the top guys (Chuck, Shogun, Wandi, Machida (again), Rampage etc
May 1st, 2008 at 6:05 am
He should stay at 185 to fight Bisping (gatekeeper status for Franklin, Bisping will get a title shot after that fight).
May 1st, 2008 at 6:05 am
If he wins that is haha.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:07 am
Franklin is way too strong for Bisbing……..make the move now or fight hendo first. Then move win or lose from there.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:24 am
Well, seems logical because there is no way that he is going to beat da spider so to light h4avy we go, maybe need to do like a pride gran prix or something at light heavy, there are just to many good fighters in that class already. we need some of the lights to go up to heavy, because that is the weakest division in the UFC.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:22 am
franklin did fight light heavy and still had only one lost in it anf he beat some really good light heavys so i know he could make the top 10 in LWH but there is already so many good fighter in that weight..
May 1st, 2008 at 7:23 am
hendo vs franklin needs to happen and bisping vs franklin ha franklin would kill bisping but i think more lwh need to try to cut down to mddle cause who is next for silva??
May 1st, 2008 at 8:50 am
Well he is a big middleweight when he gets in the ring. I’m just thinking there is another Silva in LHW who knows his knees (Wanderlei) - that’s a problem for Ace.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:41 am
yeah i dont think rich could be silva but i would like to see rich vs (chuck,jardine with was on his team of TUF and machad again
May 1st, 2008 at 11:06 am
i hope franklin will fight hendo before he moves up in weight.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I think Franklin needs to stick it out in MW because I think Anderson Silva is going to get bored quick and do something drastic like challenge at other weights or quit the UFC to get a big payday in boxing.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I think Anderson Silva will actually get beaten real soon. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s an amazing fighter, but he’s bound to get caught, and we for all we know, he could have a weak chin.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:12 pm
That’s sad.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Yeah I can see that. He might end up pulling a GSP and get too confident then slip up.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am
Oh my god, this is exciting. I think there would be so many excellent fights in store if Franklin made this move. I also think he would do pretty damn well.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
awsome go 205 and whoop it up franklin.