Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin (23-3) is possibly packing on 20 pounds for a light heavyweight clash against Matt Hamill (4-1) at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on September 6, according to MMARated.com.
This news arrives on the heels of the recent announcement that UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva would compete against James Irvin at 205 pounds on July 19, testing the waters for a possible move up the division for the Brazilian to chase several big money showdowns.
“Ace” is among the best 185-pound fighters in the world. The only problem is that he can’t defeat the “Spider” — he’s lost twice in the past two years in devastating fashion. Perhaps this decision on his part will afford him the opportunity to also take some big fights and earn another title shot at 205 pounds if not 185.
Franklin — who is considered big for the division — has competed at light heavyweight inside the Octagon before, bashing Ken Shamrock in the inaugural The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Finale back in 2005.
That high profile win earned him a middleweight title shot against then champion, Evan Tanner. Franklin won that fight, as well as five of his next seven. However, it’s the two losses during that span to Silva that have perhaps prompted this latest move.
In fact, Franklin has admitted in the past the right now a third fight against Silva just would not be all that interesting for the fans. And he’s right.
There’s no telling if this move is permanent or not, but it makes sense at this time.
Hamill is a very large and aggressive light heavyweight, winning four out of five fights since his graduation from TUF back in 2006. “The Hammer” has tremendous wrestling ability and improving stand up.
He demonstrated those advances in his most recent win against Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 13, taking out “The Barbarian” via technical knockout.
Interesting match up here with Franklin to say the least, who also happens to be an Ohio native like Hamill. To check out the rest of the rumored UFC 88 card click here.
65 Comments »
This really isn’t exciting at all.
Honestly, I dont believe that this fight will be booked!
I think Hammil and Franklin will bot appear on this card, but I believe they will fight other people.
I wouldnt mind seeing Hammil vs. Franklin, I just dont believe it will happen! I wouldnt mind being wrong about this 1
i had a feeling franklin would move back to 205 seeing how he is pretty much stuck at #2 behind silva at 185, this would be a real hard fight to watch though because i really like both fighters
Why not have Franklin fight Wanderlei, Machida, Silva, or even Shogun? The Chuck vs. Rashad fight is already disappointing enough.
I feel the same way. I like Franklin but not that thrilled about the matchup. Not that Matt is a bad fighter it’s just not that exciting. I like the Rich vs Shogun idea though!!!!
Why would they throw him to the wolves right away? Anderson moves up to 205 and gets Irvin and you want Rich to fight the top of the food chain. Hamill is no pushover and is a nice fight for Rich’s first at 205 for some time.
because this isn’t boxing where good fighters need 5 tune up fight before they actually fight someone good! Franklin beats anybody else besides Anderson, that makes him second best… Why have a tune up, for what? And some of you guys are not giving Irvin enough credit. Anderson is fighting a solid 205… Irvin is no joke!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? Irvin you think is going to stand against Silva and get torn apart. Franklin is so much better than Irvin its not even funny so then with that said you should be complaining about this fight too. Anyway Franklin isn’t nearly as explosive as he was before he went up against Silva so are good fight with a guy who technically is undefeated is not such a bad fight to start with in the LHW division. Sure Franklins going to kill Hamill but its a good fight to find out if Franklin will be any kind of competitor at that weight class.
Franklins going to kill Hamill, really? Have we been watching the same Matt Hammill because the last Hamill fight I saw Matt Hamill took some devastating knees and still finished the fight. Rich Frankling isn’t just going to walk through Matt Hamill like he has so many other people. It would be a good fight IMO.
Rich Franklin needs to stay away from anyone that has ever stepped foot in a chute Box gym…..thats why!
x
Indeed.
Poor rich, Anderson kicks him out of the mw division so he has no choice but to go back to lhw, but now silva has gone up to lhw aswell haha Rich will never be champion in any division as long as Silva is around. Still theres a ton of good fights for Rich at lhw, and he would easily despose of Hamill.
theres still a ton of good fights for rich at MIDDLEWEIGHT too. hendo, leben, marquardt, bisping, cote, leites, mcfedries, almeida, all of those would be solid match ups instead of him fighting lutter of all people. besides, lhw is too crowded without having rich follow anderson everywhere.
Franklin has some good matchups at 205 but I don’t think he will do that well. The LHW division is loaded with phenomenal strikers but how good is Ace’s chin? We’ve seen what he had to offer against Anderson Silva and could you imagine Wanderlei vs. Rich? It would be a violent KO with Rich on the receiving end. I’m going to go out on a limb and forecast that Rich will never get a 205 title shot as long as Rampage, Chuck, Wanderlei, and Silva are knocking heads off. Sorry Franklin fans but this is suicide for Ace!
It is tough for Rich. He is a good fighter who deserves to be in the UFC, but where and with who. It has to be frustrating @ 185, but he’ll do better there than 205. I like Rich, but can’t see him becoming champ at LHW.
Can you see him becoming champ at middleweight? Sorry Rich, but the anwser is no. He should stay and cntinue to fight, but he can’t be a champion in the UFC.
Send Rich to the WEC to be champ. He’ll stop all the posers frome trying to get into the UFC. He’d reign as champ there in the same fashion that Silva does in the UFC.
In that case, the UFC MW division would only consist of 2 fighters, Anderson and Henderson.
I only want to see Okami and Hendo fight Silva and if they both lose who else really deserves a fight? Who could even get past Franklin, Okami, or Hendo in that division? If anyone says Bisbing they’ll be in for a suprise when he gets KO’d by Leben
there is no way that Leben will EVER KO Bisping. Leben is just a brawler who is clearly out classed in every category by Bisping. The only reason that the guy still has a contract is because he puts on an exciting show by brawling it out and sometimes landing that 1 lucky puch that could win a fight for him.
I like both fighters. But my hearts going with hamill. i wouldnt count him out of this fight.
im pretty excited for this fight.
i argeed but i think rich should go to wweight . anderson is going to light hevay weight after middle weight . plus i want to rich vs hughes , ficth , gsp , thiago alves
There is no way in hell rich could drop to Welterweight. He walks around at 220. He can’t physically make the cut to welterweight.
He can’t make welterweight. 185 is tough enough for him to make. He’d end up looking like Christian Bale in the Machinist if he cut to 170.
Good Reference Rob
He would have to lose a leg to go to welterweight. He is probably the largest per height x mass in the middleweight division.
frankiln vs hamill is interesting. franklin hasnt fought at 205 in a while and as far as hamill goes, him strong like bull. 88 is already starting to get a little better. like everyone else i wanted to see hendo/franklin, but joe silva is slightly retarded. thats probably how he got his job, due to some technicality where the ufc has to keep so many tards employed. (damn im mean).
They can’t afford either of those two to have another loss. That fight may happen downthe road, but the timing was way off for the UFC. They just couldn’t have either of them lose.
*Franklin and Henderson to be more clear.
Let Franklin prove he can hang in the LHW division and then a more powerful striking fight will be displayed when Franklin and Hendo face off at LHW. Watch and either way what would happen if Franklin beat Hendo at MW? Another title shot? Exactly it doesn’t make much sense for Franklin to fight at MW cause he’s beaten everyone but Hendo so there are not any good fights left for him.
I had a feeling this would be the fight for Rich. I think Rich wins via TKO. But its hard to not love Hamill.
I don’t think he could make 170, he cuts to get to 185, he would have to cut into muscle mass to get to 170. not a good idea
Rich is going nowhere in this division. Lyoto was just starting his career when he destroyed Rich - DESTROYED. He has a couple of big money possibilities, especially if he beats Hammil and Forest loses to Rampage - I see them possibly fighting late this year early next year. Outside of that, not sure who he fights. Not Rampage, Not Lyoto, most likely not Wandy. Maybe Jardine? Maybe Chuck? Definetely Forest if he is not the champ.
I don’t think he really destroyed Franklin in the first fight. I also don’t think he’d beat Franklin in the second fight. Franklin is the kind of guy Machida has to look out for because he’s overly aggressive and will push Machida to make mistakes.
WHOA. Rich would win this fight though.
intresting match up.
LOL, Lutter was killing him on the ground before he gassed. Hamill has brutal takedowns and great boxing. He is also strong as an ox and relentless. I think he would tool Rich.
Great boxing? If great boxing is you getting punched in the face with your hands below your nipples, then yeah, Hamill is an excellent boxer. (a hint of sarcasm if you can’t tell).
why not hendo vs. franklin??? if hendo won, which he probably would, immediate rematch with silva. a franklin loss could even be more of a reason to go back to 205. if franklin did win, then they could both go up to 205. i would like to see hendo vs. chuck. a couple 38 yr. old legends finally fighting like they should’ve 10 years ago
I think they’re throwning Rich a can for his first fight at 205. I like Matt, but I really don’t think this is a competitive fight.
i like this match, hamill is strong as hell, predictin: hammill wins decision in a war.
Franklin wont beat anyone decent at 205. Seriously even Jardine would beat Franklin. In fact i wouldnt mind watching that. But yeah hes boned either way. You cant expect him to seriously having Success going into the Hardest most stacked division in the ufc and argueably in mma.
I think they should have given him Stephan Bonner. It makes for a better fight. Undoubtably they are bringing Hammil in as an underdog, but couldn’t they have brought in a more exciting fighter to match up with Rich. Not that Matt Hammil isn’t a good fighter or an exciting fighter, I just think the match up makes for a boring fight. I really give Hammil a chance in this fight. If he can repeatidly take Rich down like he has past opponents he can win this fight. Rich will likely come out the victor, but don’t count Hammil out. Seriously, who has stopped this guy? He beat down all his opponents before Bisbing, and should have beaten him aswell if he hadn’t gotten robbed. And since then he has demolished Tim Boetch. Franklin will definatley be his toughest challange to date, but no one has found any anwsers for him yet.
Everyone looks at Rich as a Chuck Liddell type fighter. I’m letting you know now that even if Hammil gets Franklin down he’ll regret it because Franklin has an underrated ground game.
This is a bad matchup for Rich. Hamill is tough as nails, bigger, and a much better wrestler than anyone else Rich has fought. Almost like fighting a bigger Henderson but with less exp.
I think Matt Hammill will beat up Rick Franklin. This guy is STRONG. Hasn’t really lost to anyone. He was robbed of the win with Bisping. Good Luck to Hammill. I like Franklin too.
See the problem is that these are 2 likeable fighters which doesnt really make it that exciting. But I think Hammill deserves it more.
cb dollaway vs jesse talyor at ufc fight night 14 booked
Where do you see this posted?
google jesse taylor find wikipedia and there you go
What the hell are they thinking??? Rich /Hendo is a far more interesting matchup and i really cant believe the majority of comments on this thread. Hamill is way to powerful for Rich. Rich is going to be on his back for about 12 of 15 minutes and i definetly dont see him getting matt in a submission (or do any of the wild prognosticators think he can take matt down???). Besides, Hamill is about ready for a real contender at 205. He has the most effortless takedowns in MMA. I think Anderson is getting the much better match up in J. Irvin. They should swith opponents and at least it would be more entertaining.
This is exactly what I was thinking. I was about to post it when I decided I better read the posts to make sure I wasn’t repeating anybody.
Will Matt have to learn to box?
No more Frankenstein…please.
i think franklin marquardt has to happen
This is going to be really interesting. Franklin was the one who officiated and raised the hand of Matt Hamill’s one of earlier fights before he was casted into Ultimate Fighter 3. From what I’ve read, they’re good friends being that they’re both from Ohio. Heck, they even trained together before.
I think this one will go the distance. My heart is with Hamill but as the past has shown, Franklin is an agile and able fighter. Hamill via split decision!!
i really think rich is better fighter and now he is brown belt in jiu jitsu i think even if he is his back he can submit hamill this will be interesting rich has the better stand up no doubt… the fight franklin/hendo i been waiting a long time for that one and it seem like is never gonna happen cmon ufc give the fans the fights we want to see cuz i think i am not the only
Matt has been training in BJJ as well. So, we’ll see how he does in this area, but he seems to prefer swinging on the stand.
Anderson is coming, you cannot hide!
so thats franklin and silva both ran off from Bisping imo! Bisping will be champ and it going to be against Henderson for the title .
Tony, you’re a tard. Bisping doesnt have what it takes to be in the top 5. You’ll all see very soon.
Now, for this rich/hamill deal..Hamill is a tough tough guy. He’s freakishly strong with crazy takedowns. Wrestling is top notch with this guy. His hands have gotten better. I don’t see Rich going through Hamill. He may win, but Rich wont destroy Hamill. Not like Anderson did to Rich at least.
Anderson isn’t going away!!!
He’s the man!!!
Hamill is a top notch Wretler and very strong.. I think Franklin will have his hands full…
Masters… we’ll find out about Bisping fairly soon.. I personaly think he could end up MW champ (if Anderson silva gives up the belt and moves up to 205 along with Dan Henderson)… otherwise he’s gonna lose to them two at MW.
I think Bisping will improve at MW and beat the other top tier guys like Marquardt, Okami etc,…
I guess we’ll see… in the mean time - My money is not on a Leban Win
i am from cincy and very familiar with both franklin and hamill’s style. hamill has tremendous power and is more durable than franklin. if they stay standing i will give franklin a shot, but on the ground…trouble…big time. matt has freaky stength man…natural stength you can’t build in a gym. i don’t think rich can take that power for three rounds. he needs to find matt’s chin quick and hard..and perhaps several times. anyone that thinks rich franklin is going to walk through matt hamill with ease is simply wrong. there is a reason rich has put himself through hell cutting to 185 so many times. 205 is a different world, and matt’s only loss was complete bs for sure. he threw bisping around like a rag doll, and he is improving with each battle. i believe mr. franklin has got his hands full. as for bisping…who cares?
To all you Rich Franklin haters out there:
He also tapped out a favoable of fighters….and knocked them out!
1) He has only lost to 2…….I repeat 2 people in his career.
2) Those “2″ people are very respected fighters (Anderson Silva Lyoto Machida)
3) Disrespect his ground game…Lutter is supposed to be a Black Belt… Check out his fights a while back; Submissions! Most of them.
4) Submission of Jorge Rivera with 10 seconds left in the fight.
5) Cardio not a problem…
6) BTW that Jorge Rivera fight was a war; still had the cardio to put him out.
7) Didn’t Jorge Rivera knock out Whoever his name is? Spider who? Only Spider I know is the future of this sport….Anderson “Da Spider” Silva. He’s from Hawaii…Kendall Grove!
9) He’s also a good guy that’s good for the sport….but go ahead and DAWG one of the people that keeps it going.
Good Job Guys!!!!
franklin destroyed matt haha