IF Rich Franklin retires now how will he be remembered? Should he try to fight at a lower weight?
He has lost only to the most elite Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and early in his career, Lyoto Machida. But has he had a career defining win? Ken Shamrock was probably the biggest name he beat but Shamrock was past his prime and has lost his following 4 fights .
Public Comments
- Sadly, Rich Franklin is stuck in two divisions (MW and LHW) where the champions are just vastly superior to him. His name will come up in the history books, but he won't be remembered as an iconic UFC figure. He can't fight at a lower weight- 205 is a comfortable weight for him, and he gets slaughtered by Silva every time at 185. Oh, and don't give me that excuse about the loss to Machida being early in Franklin's career. It was Machida's second pro fight, I believe.
- NOOOOOOOOO
- he's going up in weight to LHW i think he's still has a chance to make a run for a title but he won't beat machida, and he wont beat anderson silva. i think he's going to beat wanderlei because wanderlei is sorta out of his prime but we'll see what happens.,
- He'll probably be remembered as a great fighter and the second-best MW in the world in his prime. It's a bit like how Joe Frazier's remembered. I'm a Frazier fan, and if Ali and Foreman hadn't been alive in his era, he'd be considered the greatest boxer of the 60's-70's. The same would apply to Franklin, at this point. His move up in weight has put him the the shark tank of the LHW division; going back down to MW would make him just one more guy who can't beat Anderson Silva. His only alternative right now is to take a pay cut to compete in other organizations, where he stands a great chance of beating most other MW and many LHW fighters.
