Rich Franklin: Another bout with Anderson Silva should take place before I retire – UFC news
Rich Franklin, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, recently in an interview, commented that he wishes to have one more skirmish with Anderson Silva adding that much time has passed and it would be a great entertainment
not only for him but also for the fans.
Rich is scheduled to bout Cung Le in a non-title bout co-headlining UFC 148 pay-per-view which will take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena situated in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7, 2012.
The event is scheduled to be headlined by the epic light heavyweight clash between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz.
Rich, also known as the ‘Ace’, is famous for his dual encounters with Anderson Silva, the current middleweight champion. Interestingly, it was Silva who annihilated Franklin in the first engagement by his lethal knees and deprived Rich of his middleweight
gold.
Franklin, 37, did not sit idle and came out again challenging Anderson for his gold after becoming the number one contender. The second skirmish kicked off and the result was the same the only difference was that this time Rich collected a brutally broken
and twisted nose from Silva.
Rich has been in a total 35 bouts and came out victorious in 28. The American Ace is famous for his knockout win style but is also a lethal opponent when it comes to ground game of submission. Franklin tries his level best to collect a win whether by submission
or by knockout.
The former champion has collected 15 of his wins by KO and a whopping 10 by making the opponent submit. At the moment, Rich is undergoing a pretty dismal phase of his career. He has collected four defeats in his last 10 bouts and is also coming from a unanimous
decision loss to Forrest Griffin.
Rich’s skirmish against Cung will be after the lapse of almost 14 to 15 months as the former champion was recuperating from a labrum injury. During the recent short interview, Rich openly shared his thoughts of having another head-on collision with the current
champion Anderson Silva.
Rich commented, “After this injury, I was talking to Monte Cox and I said, ‘what would the UFC think about me moving back down to 185?’ I think at this point in time, in their minds, if I was able to put a title run together, even if they did do another
rematch between Anderson (Silva) and I, there’s been enough time at this point there would be interest in the fight, and I guess that's what the interest is now. ... Hopefully, this is where I’ll finish my career.”
Franklin has opened the offer though indirectly yet his brawl with Le and if he wins it will enhance his chances to get a title shot at Silva, the current champion and his archrival.
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