Under the Microscope: Analyzing Middleweight Greats

Rich Franklin’s well-rounded skills carried him to the UFC penthouse. | Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

Rich Franklin

* Middleweight Record: 8-3
* Opponent Winning Percentage: .766
* Longest Winning Streak: 14
* Record in Major Middleweight Title Fights: 3-2
* Finish Percentage: 75
* Finished Percentage: 100
* Notable Victories: Evan Tanner, Nate Quarry, David Louiseau, Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami
* Career Accomplishments: UFC middleweight champion, with two successful title defenses; most significant strikes landed in a middleweight title bout (127)

CASE FOR: At a time when the sport was at a pivotal intersection, Franklin was the prototypical well-rounded, multifaceted mixed martial artist. The former high school teacher had slick, powerful striking that repelled superior grapplers and the wrestling and submission chops to give advanced strikers fits, making him a potent adversary in any phase of a fight. More than being a technical fighter, Franklin was also gritty and cerebral, a game planning thoroughbred who stuck to his guns when times were tough. Despite fighting against some of the statistically toughest opponents of anyone on this list, he still has one of the highest finish rates. From 2003 to the end of 2006, Franklin went undefeated in middleweight bouts, earning himself the UFC title and a pair of defenses, staking his claim as one of the earliest G.O.A.T. contenders in the division’s history. Even after relinquishing his belt, he remained a serious player in the middleweight ranks for years to come.

CASE AGAINST: The MMA intersection that Franklin’s career existed alongside was essentially a wreckage site, with “Ace” being the first at the scene to pick up the pieces. Simply put: Franklin was good, but his standing in the division was exaggerated by a painfully thin field. His peak saw him best fighters who went on to barely stay afloat in what is arguably the UFC’s historically weakest division. The numbers say Franklin had tough opponents, proving Mark Twain’s assertion that statistics are worse than damned lies: Yes, “Ace” fought against some stiff competition that buoy those numbers, but he mostly lost to those fighters. Of course, the real nail in the coffin to Franklin’s G.O.A.T. consideration is his two blowout losses to Anderson Silva, solidifying his spot as, at best, the penultimate fighter.

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