Rich Franklin News

Cole Shelton - November 15, 2019

Rich Franklin retired from MMA following his knockout loss to Cung Lee in 2012. Yet, the now ONE Championship vice president says he still eyes one more fight, and that is a trilogy bout with Anderson Silva. Franklin and Silva fought at UFC 64 where Silva won by TKO to become the middleweight champion. The pair would collide again at UFC 77 where it was the same result. Although they are both now in their 40’s, Franklin being 45 and Silva being 44, the American believes the fight makes sense and knows it would be a different result.

Tom Taylor - November 14, 2019

Where in the world is Rich Franklin? Depending on when you ask that question, the answer might be Singapore, Mongolia, Australia, Myanmar, Pakistan — any far-flung corner of the planet you can imagine. As the President and host of ONE Warrior Series, the former UFC middleweight champion is almost always on the move.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

This July, amid the buzz of the UFC’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Rich Franklin will be inducted into the Pioneer Era wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. The former UFC middleweight champion, who now serves as the Vice President of ONE Championship and CEO of ONE Warrior Series in Singapore, learned of this incredible honor on a phone call with UFC President Dana White.

Jason Kindschy - April 20, 2019

Rich Franklin returns following the announcement that the former UFC middleweight champion will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for 2019. ‘Ace’ joins legendary athletes such as Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, and Bas Rutten in the HOF’s pioneer wing. Rightfully so as Franklin was ahead of the curve with his approach to training and a well-rounded arsenal displayed during his UFC tenure. However, Franklin’s contribution to MMA did not end with his retirement from competition in 2015. The Ohio native has been an integral part in the success of ONE Championship and his keen eye for talent has led to Rich at the helm of the promotions talent acquisition program, ONE Warrior Series. Rich talks shop regarding all things ONE Championship, the continued success and global expansion of the company. We’ll also take an in-depth look back on his combat career and discuss everything from Franklin’s proudest moments, to his hardest setbacks, and the legacy he hopes to leave. Ray Cooper III and Zane Kamaka are both top-of-the-food-chain in Hawaii’s MMA landscape, and now the two compete for supremacy in the opening round of the 2019 PFL season. Cooper of course making it to the final last season, leaving a path of destruction in his wake before coming up short against Magomed Magomedkerimov. Kamaka on the other hand is incredibly hungry to prove his worth and feed his family in this promotional debut against Cooper on May 9th in Long Island, New York. As if that’s not enough reason to watch them collide, Ray and Zane are actually cousins cut from the same cloth . You’ll hear why Ray specifically asked to fight Zane in the opening round, why Zane believes he’ll prove to be the superior fighter, and how the bad blood began between the two.

Tom Taylor - July 13, 2017

Over the last year or two, we’ve seen many aging legends of MMA return to the cage against younger, faster competition. The results of these fights have been varied, but the pre-fight outcries that the legend should be retiring instead of fighting are constant. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Rich Franklin – an MMA legend who has recently floated the possibility of a comeback – gave his take on when aging fighters should hang up the gloves. “I think you should hang ’em up when you get to a point where it’s detrimental to your wellbeing,” Franklin explained. “I used to speak to my coaches about that. My boxing coach, Rob, I used to be like ‘hey look man, you’re the most in tune with my speed and my reflexes and stuff like that. So let me know, be straight with me. If there comes a day where you’re like, ‘look bro, you’ve lost a step’, and it’s time to step down, tell me. We never had that conversation. Since I never had that conversation with a coach, in my mind, I still have what it takes to compete and do what I need to do. But every athlete is different. Some athletes, there body is more beat up, they’re a bit run down, they lose a step, their reflexes aren’t there. Whatever it may be, they’ve lost their chin… the list goes on and on. I think that each of those athletes needs to have somebody in their inner circle that can give an objective point of view and just be like ‘look man, it’s time.’ And they need to be able to listen to that person. But that’s on an athlete to athlete basis.”

Tom Taylor - July 13, 2017

Earlier this month, in an interview with MMAJunkie Radio, former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin suggested he might consider ending his retirement if the right bout was offered to him. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Franklin elaborated on these comments, explaining that while they were blown a little out of proportion, he could be coaxed back into the fold if he found a potential matchup exciting enough. “I’ve not given that a lot of thought,” he said of a possible comeback. “I was asked in an interview if the door was 100% shut. This is a self-defeating statement, but I try to be a never say never kind of guy. And so, the exact statement I made was ‘a return is not probable but it is possible.’ I could be enticed with the right opponent. I don’t know who that would be, I would have to sit down and think about who’s active and who would make sense and all that.”

bjpenndotcom - July 12, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio returns at 8PM ET/5PM PT with Ben Askren and Rich Franklin! 8:15PM ET- We kick things off with ONE FC Welterweight Champ and arguably the best grappler in MMA today, Ben Askren. “Funky” Ben is several weeks removed from his most recent title defense and we’ll getting the scoop on when he expects to be back in competition. As outspoken as they come, Ben will give us his take on some of MMA’s hot topics and big fights coming up. From working with Tyron Woodley leading up to UFC 214, to being the most dominant champion under the ONE FC banner, we’ll cover it all with Askren.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2017

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a long list of MMA legends return to the cage with varying results. We’ve seen comebacks from Tito Ortiz, Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and of course, our own BJ Penn. We’ve also heard legends like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes hint at comebacks. On a recent episode of MMAJunkie Radio, former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and current One Championship Vice President Rich Franklin weighed in on the possibility of his own return to the cage. While Franklin acknowledged such a thing is possible, he assured it would take a special kind of fight to get him excited enough to make a comeback.