Article Written By: Dillon Nelson
Rich “Ace” Franklin, the once dominant force in the UFC middleweight division, has told inside MMA recently that he is on the verge of hanging up his gloves for good. He said he wants one more fight in the UFC, his “swan song” as he put it.
Franklin was once atop the UFC’s middleweight division winning the title back in June of 2005. That night he beat the late great Evan Tanner (who not too long after passed away). He held the title for two consecutive title defenses before the most dominant champion in UFC history Anderson “The Spider” Silva dethroned Franklin by KO.
Franklin did come back to face Silva for the title in 2007 but fell short once again losing by knockout. Franklin since then has stayed at the top of the lists in the middleweight division getting both wins and losses. Franklin after his last fight said, “I lost my fight to Cung Le, and that really kind if solidified my decision to make this my last fight coming up. I know that took me out of title contention, and so for me to actually get back in the title hunt again would take a couple years worth of work.”
Franklin is 39 years old coming up on 40 and his mixed martial arts career is coming to a close. “I’ll be 40 next year, and its getting to the point where it’s really too late to make another title run. So I started questioning what am I really fighting for if I cant make it to the title anymore? I know I’m not in title contention anymore, and I realize that, That’s how it is..” Franklin told Inside MMA.
Franklin has already begun his post-fight career launching into the juicing business. Franklin has always been heavy into nutrition and is very passionate about it. Franklin told MMAWeekly.com that “In some capacity I will be involved in MMA. I don’t know if I will end up commentating or analyzing. I don’t know how financially rewarding it will be, I don’t want to put all my egg’s in one basket so to speak. So I need to diversify my income.”
It’s still unclear as to who Franklin will fight in his final bout in the UFC but he said it will be someone who makes sense. All that matters to him is that its a great fight for the fans and for the end of his career. In all this it sounds as if Franklin is Satisfied with what his MMA career as held to this point and is content with how its ending.