i was just watching some of his fights and i wonder what people's opinion of him as a fighter is? how will he be remembered do you think?
when i think of rich the first words that always pop into my mind are along the lines of well rounded hard working dedicated athlete
The guy is probably an ATG in his own right, although not as big as his contemporaries like Matt Hughes. Like said above, he's a hard-working fighter with very well-rounded skillset. However, I think he's not as durable as needed to be to be that big of a legend.
Tough, well rounded, dedicated guy who fought just about everyone from 185 to 205 Liddell, Anderson 2x, Okami, Hamill, Belfort, Wanderlei, Tanner 2x, Ken Shamrock, Machida, Forrest etc thats an impressive list of opponets. Was the 1st guy to truely dominate the Middleweight divison and did this at an important time in MMA's history back when they where just getting on Spike remember he main evented TUF 1 vs Shamrock and basically became a superstar in one night. Opened alot eyes to how MMA fighters train when he was the 1st guy to do UFC All Access and just his story of this Ohio Math teacher without any real base worked his ass off and because a Champion and carried himself throughout his entire career with dignity and class.
Breaking down Rich Franklin's skill set in the modern game , wouldn't do the man justice , he's an ATG As it stands today he will be ranked top 5 in the AT MW list , and looking at the current crop only Silva should sit above him for a few years yet Excellent well rounded champion , who should take a place in the HOF when all is said and done
