Rich Franklin ready for middleweight return against Michael Bisping following UFC 93 and TUF 9
By: Jesse Holland
Props: AOL Fanhouse
Quoteworthy:
“I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about [TUF 9]. Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for. I guess they would more than likely — whoever, between Dan and I wins — they’d do that fight at 185 pounds. How that makes sense to me I’m not sure, but I take it one fight at a time. So if the UFC comes to me and says, ‘We’re doing the Bisping fight at 185 pounds,’ then it is what it is.”
-A reluctant but agreeable Rich Franklin confirmed today that the winner of his light heavyweight battle with Dan Henderson at UFC 93 will be asked to oppose TUF 3 winner Michael “The Count” Bisping on the ninth season of the UFC and SpikeTV reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.” Franklin recently moved back to light heavyweight after going 0-2 against current middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. While a return to TUF might go a long way in attracting casual viewers, it sounds like “Ace” would rather be somewhere a little more lucrative at this stage of his career. All of this is of course moot if Franklin is unable to defeat “Hollywood”.
106 Comments »
I’ll make it easy for you Rich….you’re getting beat by Dan so it doesn’t really matter.
Never mind eh?
Either way, Bisbing gets his first loss.
He lost to Rashad….
lol, I just looked on fight finder, it says he beat Hamil! I didn’t agree with the decision. but a win is a win. My wife had him winning that fight by nullifying takedowns! Who am I to say it was a bad call? I also had the rampage/forrest fight a draw, but forrest got the win!
did you guys miss me today? I watched pineapple express (really bored me) and am getting ready to get back to work tomorrow!
you should be working out kevin, not watching pothead movies! its the new year homie, shame on you!
I have been bro. been doing 2 miles every day, and actually going to start lifting again next week! I need to, you’re right on! Maybe I needed a joint or something, the movie started off funny (for like 15 minutes) and then was awful!
I liked the neckbrace drug dealer guy.
lol i loved that movie… “thug life”
I fell asleep watching it. Will try again today.
when I fall asleep watching a movie, I know it sucks! I fell asleep 3 days in a row trying to get through the last lord of the rings!
It will be his second loss, first was from Rashad. But I agree he will lose to either one. The UFC has protected Bisping to long now trying to make him the UK’s golden boy. He is a B rated fighter.
Actually in most fans opinion, it would be his third. Hamell won that fight
the hamil fight was just as close as the rashad one.
Very good point. And that is what I’m talking about how the UFC wants to protect him to make him the UK golden boy.
the hamil decision was just as close as the rashad fight. closer than forrest and chuck managed anyway.
I always said Hamell beat Bisbing. And Bisbing is WAY over-rated. He may be a top 5 at 185, and not even in the top 10 at 205. This is a step down for Franklin.
you do realize he fights at 185 and he and franklin both beat Hammill! anyone at 185 is a “step down” from hendo! I guess I’m trying to figure out your point…better yet, anyone is a step down from anderson silva! I don’t get this simply because he just moved to 205 and has nothing to prove at 185, since he can’t beat silva, so why would he even be considered for this? Make anderson silva the other coach!!!
They can’t do that. Who wants to see Silva vs. Bisping? If they did that I would tell Bisping to just tap the mat at the start of the fight and save himself the ass raping. haha
for the love of god get over the hamill bisping fight!!!! its getting boring now.. i was there and it coulda gone either way… just drop it pleassssssssssseeeeeeeee!!!
Dam right, i agree with whoever posted it earlier, the Rashad fight was just as close as the Hamill fight and in both Bisping was getting stronger as the fight wore on.
Everyone is so quick to rubbish Bisping as a B level fighter and overrated, all those people answer me this…
Who has been Rashads hardest fight??
Oh yeah it was Bisping, at 205. He dropped a razor thin decision to the top 205′er in the world give him his dues.
He beat Leben convincingly when he was juicing and made Jason Day look like a complete beginner.
I am not a Bisping nut hugger but just get pissed at the hate for the sake of hating coming from the blogging boards.
Oh and just so you know he has got a shot at either Hendo or Franklin. He is an underdog granted but he could work a decision out of either, fact.
Great post. I completely agree. He is one of the smartest fighters in the UFC. Not the most exciting, but I would be a smart fighter if that was my profession too.
AMEN
jeez what a moaner!
That fight was so boring I completely forgot about it! Holy crap. You are absolutely right. =) Oh well, it’ll be his first time to be stopped anyway. Bisbing gets a dose of reality. Ace and Hendo both have what it takes to KO the Count. Sure Leben has power (and a chin) but that’s it.
TUF show just makes a mess of everything.
This is gonna be a school yard brawl with Franklin exposing Henderson and making Henderson go 1-4 in the UFC. This will put Henderson on the bandwagon of fighters that include Wanderlai Silva & Big Nog: pride fighters that have their glory days behind them
You need to be anonymous with a comment like that.
Dan is a legend and has fought the top of the food chain fighters for years and to be competing at the top of his game at 38 is amazing and I sure hope he doesn’t retire any time soon.
What are you talking about, he is currently 1-2 in the UFC and his losses were to Rampage and Anderson…no shame in that. He fought a very difficult fight to have to go against the ground wizard palhares and came out with flying colours. Dan will have a belt again I hope and even if he doesn’t he will be a very big threat to anyone who has to face him.
Damn people need to learn respect on this site.
WAR HENDO!!!!!
You claim respect on this site and you show none..the fact you’re a fan doesn’t give you a reason to insult other ppl that blog on this site.
I am fan of both fighters but truth be told, Henderson can’t be champion again and this fight with franklin will expose this fact.
If you are a fan of both fighters then you know a little about Hendo. I like Franklin, but he is going to lose and Heno will be champ again without a doubt.
*1 in his last 4 fights including this one with Rich ..And actually his overall record with the UFC is 3-2
I could care less whether you respect me or not and if you take what I said as an insult you probably misinterpreted what I said. I am talking about having respect for Dan considering some of the great fights he has had and what he has achieved in this sport not to mention all the awesome fights he still has left in him.
I have always been a big Dan fan for a long time so I always want him to win and that doesn’t mean I want everyone to agree with me but hearing what you said made me think that you were unaware of who you were talking about. There is a reason this guy has HEADLINED 3 cards out of the 4 fights he has had and that is because he is such an exciting fighter and dont say its because 2 of those were title defenses cos even if they weren’t they would still have to be the headlining bout for those cards.
DAN IS THE MAN and whether he wins or not Im pretty sure Rich knows he is going to have to be on his A-game to win this fight cos I think Dan has a lot of ways to win this fight when Rich only has the the possibility of getting the better of the stand for 3 rounds and getting the judges decision cos he aint gonna be the first to knock him out!
Very protective of Big Dan aren’t you?
Just a little bit yeah…lol
Well everyone has their favourites and Dan happens to be one of mine.
Plus with so many people already on BJ’s nuts (BTW GSP will win!) I thought I’d go for Dan instead!!
Plus he is part English so I gotta an extra reason be to be a loyal supporter of ‘HOLLYWOOD’.
Does anybody even KNOW of anybody that actually thinks Bisbing has a chance agaisnt any one of those two?
And I call Dan a favorite but lets remember if this stays a striking battle I think Rich has a slight advantage. However Rich you’d better be working on your wrestling/wrestling defense, this is Dan Henderson wit greco, ain’t no Matt Hamill freestlye
I know that he has a decent chance. There has been much crazier things happen bro
don’t ever say that. i will hunt you down.
dan IS my favorite fighter.
We got 2 fighters who have fought the majority of their matches at 185 lbs, fighting at 205 lbs. Winner of this bout moves back down to 185 lbs to fight Bisping. Why not just fight at 185 to start off with. It is especially unfair to Rich Franklin if he does win. He still has a lot of fight in him and can make some noise at 205 lbs. If he does beat Hendo and he does beat Bisping, what then? He’s not going to fight Da Spider for a 3rd time and he just eliminated a potential contender for da spider. And Franklin will move back to 205 lbs. It makes absolutely no sense.
Agreed
No doubt… Don’t forget that we will also have to wait 8 months to see the outcome of the situation. Lame…
With so many people moving between 205/185, the whole thing gets strange. It makes as much sense as having Bisping move back up to 205 to fight Franklin, promising him a title shot with Silva if he wins (which he wouldn’t) and then having Silva move up to 205 the day before their fight and cancelling on Bisping.
interesting that hes come out and said they dont get paid well for the extensive work they put in for the show!!
6weeks solid, i know they get cars n stuff but youd think theyd get paid well, after all the ufc must make a fortune from the show!!
rich doesn’t want to coach, drop weight to 185 or go after title at MW and I for one agree with him…just doesn’t make sense
I agree, i dont think he’d be a very good coach anyway- didn’t he say something really dumb in the first or second season where liddel and couture where the coaches… lol anyway personally i rathat have him stay at 205, no sence in him being 205 coming down fighting bisping and then going back up same for henderson. PERSONALLY i rather it be bisping vs nate. instead of bring fighters down then back up. just give it to nate he already is a great teacher at his school this will just give him more fans that he needs and he’s a beast at 185 3rd best middle weight in the ufc.
It’s gonna suck too because Rich is gonna take this this fight. I guess we would have a TUF season down the stretch between Ace and the Count…which isn’t that bad.
This is a tough fight because I like both Franklin and Hendo, but like wAyNe said, regardless of the outcome, it’s a bad day for Bisping.
Please keep Rich off the show and out of the MW division, even if A Silva is moving up to LHW. I really really dont want to see him and Gurgel on the show together. I like rich but keep him off TUF, and we have already seen him as a coach and a guest coach (where he did nothing).
That’s right, I forgot about that. He suggested to one fighter to go down on one knee at the start of a fight to avoid being kicked in the head. “Just try it out,” he said.
LOL…I forgot about that…I believe he suggested that to Matt Serra.
when he was a guest on the show wasn’t that season 5 or was it 4? he coached on 2 with hughes right?
franklin should not move to 185 again. I rather see him fight top contenders at 205. some exciting fights could happen
I would actually rather see Rich stay at 185 and have Anderson move up. There is nothing left for Silva to accomplish at 185 - his fights arent even competitive any more. Or maybe he doesnt want to move up because Machida is at 205??
Anderson is the only fighter that can beat Rich at 185..If he moves up or retires, Rich is gonna be champion again.
NO.
af you couldn’t be more wrong. dan is gonna stomp rich early.
I don’t know about that jonsey. I agree Hendo is going to win, but I see this one going to distance.
What happened to Rich fighting Chuck? I think it should be Hendo on the show win or lose, and Rich fighting Chuck.
I think they are waiting until after this card to see who chuck is fighting, if shogun wins and is undamaged then those 2 will fight. If not then they are going to try to put him against the loser of the rich v dan fight. All this depending on injuries and suspensions.
Hendo 2nd round pound out.
I hope Dan Ko’s Rich’s Gay ass. Then Walks over and Ko’s His Butt buddy Gurgel!
A rather honest quote from Rich - refreshing.
Now, I hate The Count but to be fair, I do think he is alot quicker at MW and is improving each time out in the octagon. He will be fighting Rich or Dan at MW and this is to his advantage. It will be helpful, but not enough. He should be beaten cleanly by either… Rich on the feet or Dan on the ground.
And I’m gonna enjoy every second of it.
What really sucks is the winner of this fight will not fight for another 8 months while they film and air the show. This is getting really annoying, but at least they are not holding up the belts this time.
Rich comes off as a friggin baby. Just stfu and do what Dana tells you. I’m pretty sure his family can come with him whenever he wants and they can stay where ever he wants. Also, I seem to remember Dana giving a pretty nice present to each coach at the end of the show.
That is the stupidest shit i’ve EVER read.
1st off: The UFC ASKED Franklin to move up to 205
and he did it. On top of having to pack on weight to compete with the heavier 205ers.
Now the UFC is asking him to possibly fight at the weight were they told him he SHOULDN’T be fighting at because of Anderson Silva.
So what you said is completely idiotic. Rich is right, it doesn’t make sense. Either they want him at 185 or 205 they can’t keep having this guy jump weight classes. It’s stupid.
Yeah but maybe Rich doesn’t want another Hummer.
Everyone likes a hummer…oh, the car…my bad.
I think Rich also mentioned being on the show does not pay very well so… take it for what it is, he would rather fight than babysit. Can’t blame him for that.
Adam T., ‘TRUE’ Franklin is complaining, but I think he backed up his loyalties by saying he’d do it…. in a way he’s also voicing his opinion of the grip Dana & UFC holds on him and stating he’s not going to risk going down like Jon Fitch for questioning Dana’s decision. I think Franklin’s earned the right to voice his opinion here n’ there once in awhile. Plain n’ simple… he doesn’t get the move to 185lbs while he’s trying to build muscle to fight at 205lbs… lot’s of twists n’ turns that he doesn’t understand… I don’t blame him.
No, actually they can’t. They keep the show participants confined so that results don’t leak out.
lol his family prolly has other shit to do than dana’s reality tv show… like school for his kids, ect.
Dan and rich should just stay at 205
Maia called out bisping
That should happen
Or nate already said he’d coach
That seems like an interesting fight for bisping
Nasty Nate Marquardt should be the coach if Henderson loses. Franklin is too interesting at 205.
Agreed.
Marquardt has a terribly boring personality. Who the fu*k would want to watch that show? Not to mention that he will get smashed by Gouveia in his next fight and sent back to the bottom.
BTW, nice screen names… Are you 2 realted?
Are you trying to say related or retarded? LOL
he combined the 2.. i personally wouldnt mind seeing nate marquardt coach on TUF he would have greg jackson as a guest coach and probably rashad and jardine.. probably GSP too,
dan henderson will pound rich out one way or another, then go on to fight bisping and destroy him, then dana will say “hey chuck needs a fight at 205 we need you to go up” and dan will do that, then go back down to 185
its so stupid it probably would happen
Oops… Related. I guess I am retarted.
The coaches get tons of TV time and Marquardt is so boring that no one would watch. But it would be nice to see Greg Jackson do what he does best.
moving back and forth between weight classes isn’t very fair to Rich. he is a big guy and has to keep his weight down to fight at middleweight. if they would just let him fight at lightheavy he could bulk up and be more competitive. the adding and cutting weight can’t be healty.
I really think Maia, or Marquardt should have been the opposing coach on TUF. First off I don’t think Rich wants the fight with Bisbing beceause it makes no sence. And he definatly doesn’t want to coach TUF again. And I think a fight between Bisbing and Marquardt/Maia would be far more interesting than a fight with Franklin. I’m on the fence about Henderson too.
the saying is “i couldn’t care less.” when you say “i could care less” you imply that there is actually a certain amount of care that could be lessened. i’m sorry to be that guy but it irks me.
thank you for that
no charge
I think Hendo vs. Rich is an awesome mathup! And I think either of them will hurt Bisping’s feelings!
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franklin ftw here his striking will get the win prob tko im guessing
rich wont have to worry about a thing hendo will win this match and he can continue his career at 205
Rich seems disinterested or less-than-excited about both the TUF show and returning to MW to fight Bisping. After Rich fights Hendo, and provided he wins, he needs to get more motivated than he is right now. Franklin is a better fighter than Bisping, but Bisping will win if Franklin isn’t into the whole thing or gets bored.
Franklin should beat Hendo, by the way. Hendo is older and in decline.
Am I the only one on the planet that would like to see Hendo versus A. Silva II??? Hendo clearly won the first round of that fight, so it was not a total blow out. I give Silva all the credit in the world and he clearly won, but Hendo would have as much of a chance as anyone at 185 of finally catching Silva.
No one is talking about this or seems even remotely interested. If Hendo beats Franklin, please Dana give him another shot at A Silva.
-a paying customer who would pay extra for that fight if it would help.
oh no its been discussed and your not the only one theres tons of us that would like to see that fight.
yeah man I love seeing Dan get his ass beat
Here is whats gonna happen ppl. Rich is gonna beat Hendo, then hell move back to 185 for TUF. By the time the fight happens between Bisping and Rich, A Silva will have retired and the MW belt will be vacant. They will fight for the vacant belt and bisping is gonna win it( not that i want him to. Because it makes business sense…why would Dana want Rich to fight anderson again??? He doesnt! Rich doesnt either. The only way Rich would be interested and motivated to fight hendo for the spot on TUF is to fight for a vacant belt ).
Yep I agree….anderson is going to retire soon.so rich will be fighting bisping for the belt.it sucks because,that means they won’t be on the ufc 100 card which is said to be stacked. Im not overlooking hendo either,its going to be a good fight,but rich will win and get his title back.WAR ACE.
Rich Bitch!
wow….what an excellent rhyme and intelligent response. tell me, if your employer gave you one task and then told you to do another and then told you to do the first one again wouldn’t you be a tad confused and annoyed? This is what the UFC is doing with Rich. Franklin and everyone else who pays any attention to MMA know that he can’t beat Silva, so why have him potentially be a set back to another contender?
I’ve expressed my love affair with Rich many times. So I thought I’d just say Rich Bitch! But hey, I find short rhymes offensive as well.
sorry if you took that the wrong way…i’ve got a very dry/sarcastic sense of humor. i’m not offended by your rhyme…just didn’t get why calling rich a bitch made sense in this case. it just makes no sense to me to have him keep switching weight classes.
a good dry delivery is hard to read via text, lol. Anyway, I agree. I’d like to Rich keep climbing LHW.
I don’t like Henderson. I never have. I think he is extremely overrated, and after seeing him win a bullshit split decision to Ninja I disliked him even more. He likes to hype himself up and then when he doesn’t deliver he makes a bunch of excuses. His fights aren’t super exciting for the most part. In his last fight Palhares was the only one that came even close to finishing the fight. He has KO power but just windmills punches in and his wrestling is good but I have seen him get out wrestled and his GnP is mediocre and his submissions are non existent. He is durable that’s all I can give him.
WAR ACE
You done done it now. They will get you for that comment. I’ll just say he beat some good guys in their prime and I’m a fan, but I always root for Rich.
really who did he beat in their prime? Wanderlei, Wanderlei was sick going into that fight and Wanderlei beat him earlier in his career. He beat Vitor Belfort, but if you have seen that fight Belfort looked god awful and Dan didnt do any damage at all.
He has lost to both Nogueiras (decisively) and Arona. The only good people he beat were Sobral(long time ago),Bustamante, and Big Nog (long time ago) and ALL those wins were by split decision.
Hey, I said “some” and you don’t have to convince me. I can’t say more than he’s a tough guy and a solid LHW.
So the whole of this site doesnt give Bisping a chance! just remember that when Bisping wins.
Ask Evans who gave him a tougher fight! Overprotected average Bisping in his wrong weight class! or two mma greats Forrest Griffin & Chuck Lidell?
When he fought Bisping Rashad’s striking was no where near where it is today. If the two were to meet up today I think Bisping would get KOd. I think Bisping gets underestimated, but I just dont see him being able to finish any top level MWs or outpoint Franklin if they were to meet up.
We will see what Bisping is made out of in this one, GO RICH!!!!!