Former UFC champion arrested at Los Angeles airport

R. Franklin (photo) was UFC champion until the beginning of A. Silva's reign. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

Living in a moment of maximum alert against terrorism, the police authorities of the main Western countries have intensified surveillance at their borders and, mainly, at airports, aiming to prevent criminals from entering their territories. This Tuesday (17), however, an action of this type by the North American police ended up arresting none other than former UFC champion Rich Franklin.

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It was all, of course, just a misunderstanding. Franklin did not commit any crime and does not pose any threat to national security, but he ended up being confused with a criminal who has the same name and surname as the former fighter. Detained for around 15 minutes in a cell at Los Angeles international airport, Rich, who was returning from Singapore where he works as an executive at the ONE FC event, explained that mistaken identity is not unprecedented, but reported in detail his experience at the airport LAX.

“Apparently, there is a criminal who has the same first and last name as me and possibly the same date of birth. I've never had any problems leaving the country, but every time I come back, and this started about 10 years ago, they always pull me aside and ask a series of questions to verify my identity. But, generally, they release me after that”, Franklin told the North American channel “FOX Sports”. “They put an I found that strange, because it wasn't 10:15 in the morning. Long story short, right there at immigration, the officer came out of his booth and handcuffed me with my hands behind my back,” she continued.

Franklin also revealed what was the biggest embarrassment resulting from the confusion. “The worst part was that when I was on the plane, some fans recognized me and asked for photos. Then they saw me pass by in handcuffs. All the fans who were on my flight saw me in handcuffs. At that moment I was already very angry. I wanted all my stuff back. I came back from Asia because I was giving a talk to the military over the weekend. That's why I'm here. This is absurd!” he concluded.

Without fighting professionally since 2012, Rich Franklin recently announced his retirement from MMA with a record of 29 wins, seven losses and one fight without result. Ace, as he is known, thanks to his resemblance to actor Jim Carrey, became known to the Brazilian public for being a victim of Anderson Silva twice, when the Brazilian won the middleweight belt and defended it for the second time about a year later. Furthermore, Franklin also faced and was defeated by Lyoto Machida e Vitor belfort. The only Brazilian he beat was Wanderlei Silva, who lost twice to the North American.

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