R. Franklin (photo) at the UFC 147 weigh-in, in Belo Horizonte. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
One of the biggest names in Ultimate in the last decade is about to hang up his gloves. In an interview with the North American channel “AXS”, Rich Franklin, former champion of the middleweight division, announced that he will only have one more fight before ending his MMA career. Franklin cited his advanced age and lack of conditions to fight for the belt again as the main reasons that motivated him to make such a decision.
“I'm 39 years old, I'll be 40 next year, and I'm getting old for an MMA fighter. And I know it's already too late to seek a title shot. That's why I started to question myself as to why I keep fighting if I'm not going to compete for titles anymore. That's the way it is, and I've always known it. I lost my last fight, and that cemented my idea of having just one more fight before retiring. This defeat completely took away the possibility of trying for a new title fight, as being in a position to do so would take a few years, and that is time that I no longer have. I would just like to fight someone who makes sense, obviously”, said the fighter.
Today, Rich Franklin has a record of 29 wins, seven losses and one fight without result. “Ace”, as he is known due to his resemblance to actor Jim Carrey (player of the character “Ace Ventura”, in cinemas), was middleweight champion between June 2005 and October 2006, when he was defeated by the Brazilian Anderson Silva. A year later, the American had his rematch against Spider, but ended up being knocked out again. Franklin is coming off a loss to Cung le, in November last year, at UFC Macau. Before that, in Belo Horizonte, he had won Wanderlei Silva, after replacing Vitor belfort in what would be the duel of TUF Brasil 1 coaches.
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