Anchor's favorite fighter.
A former math teacher from Cincinnati Ohio, Franklin employs a highly unorthodox fighting style based on his backgrounds in mathematics and education. This unique approach to MMA lead Franklin to a highly impressive 20-1-1 record and a run with the UFC Middleweight title.
Then at UFC 64 Franklin faced off against Anderson Silva. The fight was a short brutal affair as Silva proceeded to put Franklin in the Muay-Thai Clinch, broke his nose, and then fucked his ass before a horrified Las Vegas Crowd.
Franklin has commendably come back from this viscous Humbling but has seemed somewhat sluggish in recent fights. At UFC 73 it was announced that Franklin would face the winner of Anderson Silva and former Pancrase champ Nathan Marquardt. After Silva easily disposed of Marquardt in the first round, the camera panned a look over to Rich Franklin who had a facial expression akin to a man who had just been diagnosed with cancer.
Franklin went on to lose to Silva again, then defeated a dieting Travis Lutter, and now finds his career in the same limbo as most of Evan Tanner's life.
Franklin will fight Matt Hamill at UFC 88, that fight will be at 205.