I just checked the UFC website and it says liddell vs. Franklin. But Dana confirmed on his twitter the other day it would be tito for sure. WTF. TLC?
Supposedly something happened with Tito during taping of TUF and Franklin had to replace him. Junkie said today that it will be Liddell/Franklin for sure.
From what i heard Tito was telling the fight results and was caught fucking Jenna outside the TUF locker room.
I heard Tito got pissed at Chuck because Chuck asked all of his team "who had taken more shots to the face? Tito or Jenna?" :atu:
Why Ortiz married that woman, I'll never know. Ok, she's worth like $80 million or whatever but Ortiz has enough money of his own I'm sure. He had a regular girlfriend whom he dropped for Jenna Jameson of all people.
Rich Franklin is garbage now and always has been. He is slightly above average at best. LOL at Chuck clowning Tito.
I'd put Franklin truthfully above average. Around B- He can beat a lot of guys out there as he's proven in the past but those Silva losses damaged him. Regardless, he's no legend.
I'm taking it to the other end of the spectrum (as opposed to calling him a "legend") by calling him garbage. To me, Franklin is garbage and I do not think he is a good fighter at all. He's like an older Clay Guida with 2-3 decent wins and a pay per view headlining spot.
Hanzy has it about right IMO, I would call him a very good B fighter. As soon as he is put in with an A fighter he gets beat but for the most part he dominates B level fighters.
Rich Franklin was on top of his division when the UFC exploded, so for that reason he will always be considered a legend, regardless of how good he is or isn't. Just like Couture, Liddell and Hughes, he's one of the faces who has to be considered one of the top fighters of his time, no matter how brief that time was, or if fighters today are better than him. Fighters like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Royce Gracie are most certainly legends, even though if they started today with the same skillsets they had in their day they more than likely would not come close to reaching the success they did in their day. The sport of MMA is evolving at a rapid pace and the fighters are becoming better and more well rounded. In 5 years we'll probably be talking about how GSP, Fedor and Anderson Silva couldn't compete with the fighters of the day. TFK
well put, except the end. guys with the reflexes and athletic ability of gsp, silva, fedor ae the tye of fighters who would excel in any era IMO. but besides that you are right. the progression is leaning away from muay thai and bjj and towards boxing and wrestling imo. as it does this however it becomes less and less "realistic" to easy with those gloves, greased bodies, and no clothes (gay? ) to posture up in guard... making it an offensive rather than neutral position.
Let's also be clear that Rich Franklin has had almost 30 fights at Middleweight and has only lost to Anderson Silva. That ain't too shabby. Considering the fact that most consider Silva the top P4P guy in the world (at least until UFC 112), Franklin is or was an elite 185 pound fighter. I would also say, if not for Silva, Franklin might still be the champ at 185 pounds and be considered in the same light as Penn or GSP. A legend? That is such a subjective word, and I like TFK's explanation. But Franklin is definitely not garbage.
I can't accept a "Legend" in his prime while champion losing brutally to another man without any ability to fight back. And losing brutally TWICE!
Anderson is a B+/A- fighter but he outclassed Franklin like Franklin was a D fighter. Franklin is slightly above average at best. 185 is a crap division and has been for a long time. That's why a C+ fighter like Franklin even won the belt.
I think that is pretty much what Trplsec is saying. Not a legend, but definitely a very good fighter, not garbage by any means. this goes into another topic, but it really irritates me when guys call fighters that have made it to a major org garbage. Go watch a local pro mma fight in Bakersfield CA, or Loredo TX, or Witchita KS. You will get to see garbage at its finest on display. If you have enough skill that you are fighting in Dream, Sengoku, UFC, SF, MFC, Bellator, and many others I am not mentioning you are not a garbage fighter. You might not be world class, not even close to garbage. Anyone who thinks Rich Franklin is a bum or garbage, you really have no idea.
How's about garbage in comparison to the fighters that are competing at this time? Get a time machine, bring prime Franklin to the UFC today and he gets blasted out, even in the shitty 185 division.
Really? So a prime Franklin couldn't compete with Marquardt, Sonnen or Maia? Please... Franklin was easily as good, if not better, than each of those guys. Hell, I'd make him even money in a fight with them tomorrow let alone in his prime.
Yeah, Franklin may or may not qualify as a legend depending on your definition. But, unless you really don't watch much MMA, you cannot call the guy garbage. As I said, he lost to only Silva in almost 30 fights at 185. What does that make guys like Shamrock, Quary, Lutter, MacDonald, Okami, Tanner, or Rivera? Franklin beat each of them and stopped all but Okami.. An average fighter couldn't do that.
