As of this morning, there’s one less math teacher actively competing in mixed martial arts; former champion turned juice magnate Richard Jay Franklin II announced his official retirement from MMA today.
The announcement was a long time coming; Franklin hasn’t competed since 2012, and his last outing saw him knocked out by a brutal right hand from Cung Le. A tough way to end his 13-year career, the Le loss was clear indication that Franklin’s chin was no longer on his side.
Instead of immediately announcing his departure from the sport after the loss, Franklin instead opted for the GSP route, saying he needed some time to himself before making any long-term decisions.
Three years later, Franklin has finally come to grips with a choice that he probably made much earlier. From the layman’s perspective, MMA must be one of the hardest sports to walk away from, what with the litany of athletes who have called it quits only to come back looking for another lump sum payday when they realize civilian life just isn’t cutting it.
Rich Franklin (probably) won’t be one of those guys. When he says he’s going to do something, he’s one of the few people who you can trust will stick to his word.
That’s part of the reason he was so endearing to fans. Though never outspoken or brash by any means, Franklin connected with viewers through his dogged tenacity. He never once tested positive for PED’s of any kind, nor did he engage in any of the outside shenanigans many of his contemporaries took part in.
Besides looking like Jim Carrey fighting in pink trunks, Franklin was a normal dude. He never really looked the part of UFC champion, and yet he held the belt when middleweight was one of the most competitive divisions Zuffa had.
It was unfortunate, though, that as soon as Franklin was hitting his stride, a certain Brazilian spider shattered his nose and took his belt. In fact, were it not for Anderson Silva, Franklin may have been The Man at 185lbs. for years to come.
And though he had a chance to reclaim the title in his hometown a year later, the second fight was even less competitive than the first.
That’s also why Franklin will be remembered fondly by fans; much like BJ Penn, Franklin never backed down from the best. Over the course of his career Franklin fought Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva (twice), Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva (twice), Lyoto Machida (at heavyweight, no less), and even Chuck Liddell. In fact, he delivered Liddell’s final knockout loss by using an arm that had been shattered by one of the Iceman’s kicks earlier in the fight.
In a weird metaphorical sense, that could be what fans will remember Franklin for. Just a guy who did the best he had with what he was given. Franklin was nothing if not a hard worker, his success outside of fighting is evidence of that. Aside from running a successful juice company, Franklin is also the VP of ONE FC.
People might not realize, but before Chris Weidman, Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin were the only two men to hold the middleweight belt within the last decade. And perhaps that’s all he’ll be remembered for, as the guy who lost the belt to Anderson Silva and never came more than smelling distance of it again.
But that’s not Franklin’s fault. He had no way of knowing a Brazilian striking dynamo was waiting for him while he was knocking Nate Quarry out cold, and neither did the fans. It was unlucky in that sense, that Franklin met Silva so early in his title reign.
Who knows what he could have accomplished if given more time in the sport, or if Silva had never made the trip from Curitiba to America. But either way, Franklin should be and will be remembered fondly by fans as evidence that you don’t need to have a gold belt in order to be a champion in life. Rich Franklin has earned his retirement, and I thank him for his service.
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