Rich Franklin: ‘Can’t get no respect’
Rich Franklin has lost to four men in his career: Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, and Dan Henderson. The…
Rich Franklin has lost to four men in his career: Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, and Dan Henderson. The loss to Dan Henderson, in my view, was one of the worst decisions of 2009, but we’ll leave that for another day. Rich Franklin is intelligent, well-spoken, highly skilled, and exactly the type of spokesman that MMA’s diehard fans should respect.
So why don’t they? Because he’s the UFC’s “company man.”
Distaste for Franklin can be traced back to the UFC’s firing of Matt Lindland. For whatever reason, a number of fans latched onto the idea that the UFC terminated Lindland to protect Franklin. The charge is absurd, but for whatever reason a lot of fans subconsciously blamed Franklin. Fans who dislike Dana and the UFC see Rich as some sort of extension of the company, and refuse to give him the respect he deserves.
All week I read that the real question going into UFC 115 was whether Rich Franklin could avoid Chuck’s right hand for 15 minutes, as if he would melt upon impact. There’s a meme that goes around that Rich Franklin can be “broken.” Lurking behind that assertion is the idea that he does not have a strong will to fight. That he’s some pretty boy, hoisted to a position of prominence by sneaky promoters trying to make a quick buck. If you just press him, he’ll fold.
Recent history strongly suggests otherwise.