Is Rich Franklin a TOP 3 UFC MW of all time?

[nick jacoby]

Do you have him ranked in your top greatest UFC middleweights of all time?

 

[smooth assassin]

No

 

[SheepOrGoat]

Why do you ask? What about vitor Belfort

 

[EmbraceTheGrind]

Silva, Weidman, Izzy would be my votes

 

[KID Yamamoto]

No. I can name like 8 guys off the top of my head that are above him.

 

[AC1D1K]

He certainly is. Next!

 

[TheSpider]

Yes. 2 UFC title defenses and prime Franklin beats no cardio Weidman.

Rich arguably beat prime Hendo in a razor close split decision. The same Hendo that stiffened prime Bisping.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Maybe one of the more significant, but certainly not a top 3 best.

 

[AC1D1K]

Silva, Weidman, Izzy would be my votes

The wide? Thats rich

 

[EmbraceTheGrind]

The wide? Thats rich

Way better than Rich. Snapped Silva's streak , dominated silva in back to back fights.. then outclassed Machida who just outclassed Mousasi. He had the 2nd best title reign in UFC history @ MW.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Yes. 2 UFC title defenses and prime Franklin beats no cardio Weidman.

Rich arguably beat prime Hendo in a razor close split decision. The same Hendo that stiffened prime Bisping.

 

[Tairy Hesticles]

I don't have him ranked #3, but it wouldn't be crazy to put him there. IMO, you can put Franklin, Weidman, Bisping, Izzy, or Belfort in 2-3. Izzy will be a clear cut #2 by the end of 2021.

 

[TheSpider]

Way better than Rich. Snapped Silva's streak , dominated silva in back to back fights.. then outclassed Machida who just outclassed Mousasi. He had the 2nd best title reign in UFC history @ MW.

Weidman beat a 38 year old Silva (who had 40 fights in 17 years fighting).

For comparison, 35 year old Weidman has been KOd 5 times in 6 fights (19 fights in only 10 years fighting).

The prime Silva that destroyed prime Franklin twice KOs any version of Weidman within 2 rounds.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

I don't have him ranked #3, but it wouldn't be crazy to put him there. IMO, you can put Franklin, Weidman, Bisping, Izzy, or Belfort in 2-3. Izzy will be a clear cut #2 by the end of 2021.

Could well be. Costa is a tough fight, though. We'll see how Izzy rises to the occasion

 

[No Skill Gap]

Rich Franklin certainly doesn't get the respect he deserves. Sort of tough to call him top 3 all-time at MW though, but arguably he's there at 3.

It's sort of a Matt Hughes situation, except Hughes gets more credit and love. People here seem to think guys such as Jacare/Romero/Whittaker, Mr. Izzy one defense, Belfort, Weirdman, etc are all "better" than Franklin.

I think you could make the same argument about tons of guys being "better" than Matt Hughes as well, but he is universally considered the 2nd best WW behind GSP, or at minimum top 3-5 unless you're a lunatic. Yet would Hughes really beat Woodley or Usman? Or even Covington, Rory, Hendricks, primes etc.

Probably not, he probably loses to most of them if not all. You can't really compare eras cleanly. Hughes' prime was during a different age in MMA I'd say. It's like Liddell, Couture, Tito, etc. Tough to really rank them because they grew/trained without streamlined techniques or more modernized MMA.

Eh, I'd say he's like top 5 all-time based on a resume' and skill. Purely on skill/talent in a vacuum (again tough to say) he's probably not.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Weidman beat a 38 year old Silva (who had 40 fights in 17 years fighting).

For comparison, 35 year old Weidman has been KOd 5 times in 6 fights (19 fights in only 10 years fighting).

The prime Silva that destroyed prime Franklin twice KOs any version of Weidman within 2 rounds.

You just called 38 year old Henderson "prime" in this thread.

Oh, that's right. It doesn't apply to Silva.

All his losses were before his prime, or after, because Prime Silva can't lose, amirite?

 

[TheSpider]

You just called 38 year old Henderson "prime" in this thread.

Oh, that's right. It doesn't apply to Silva.

All his losses were before his prime, or after, because Prime Silva can't lose, amirite?

Prime Silva beats every MW and LHW ever except perhaps prime Jones.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Rich Franklin certainly doesn't get the respect he deserves. Sort of tough to call him top 3 all-time at MW though, but arguably he's there at 3.

It's sort of a Matt Hughes situation, except Hughes gets more credit and love. People here seem to think guys such as Jacare/Romero/Whittaker, Mr. Izzy one defense, Belfort, Weirdman, etc are all "better" than Franklin.

I think you could make the same argument about tons of guys being "better" than Matt Hughes as well, but he is universally considered the 2nd best WW behind GSP, or at minimum top 3-5 unless you're a lunatic. Yet would Hughes really beat Woodley or Usman? Or even Covington, Rory, Hendricks, primes etc.

Probably not, he probably loses to most of them if not all. You can't really compare eras cleanly. Hughes' prime was during a different age in MMA I'd say. It's like Liddell, Couture, Tito, etc. Tough to really rank them because they grew/trained without streamlined techniques or more modernized MMA.

So based on purely fighting skill/talent and not solely resume'? No, not at all.

I think Hughes is considered the second "greatest", not the second "best".

He wouldn't beat any of those WW you mentioned but he is a far greater legend and much bigger impact.

 

[mirko>anyone]

Prime Silva beats every MW and LHW ever except perhaps prime Jones.

"Perhaps Jones".

Lol. Bruh.

I respect your resilience.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Top 3 mw Nope