When Rich Franklin took on Anderson Silva, it signalled a changing of the guard.
While one man went on to achieve a massive undefeated streak, the other realised that he’d reached his peak.
The buildup
Few fights change the course of a fighter’s career as noticeably as this one. When these two men met for the first time at UFC64 the stakes were high and as subsequent events have shown, justifiably so.
Rich Franklin was the dominant champion at 185 pounds, having won the title by mauling Evan Tanner and then defending it successfully twice; first by KO’ing Nate Quarry and then beating David Louasou by lopsided decision.
Following the latter fight many analysts were scratching their heads as to who could credibly challenge Franklin for the belt, but consoled themselves with the fact that in the eight months the champion would be out due to knee surgery, and a new challenger would arise. They got their wish in the shape of Anderson Silva.
Anderson Silva was an intriguing enigma, a fighter who had displayed excellent striking skills but also a lack of understanding of the ground game early in his career and had also shown suspect takedown defence. Silva had next to no experience in the UFC, however the experience he did have looked ominous in his two-minute demolition of Chris Leben.
Leben (who was at that time regarded as a credible challenger at middleweight) did not land a punch throughout the whole bout and was handed the most one-sided beating in modern UFC history. Conventional wisdom indicated Franklin was unlikely to shoot for the takedown and most believed this would be a drawn out kickboxing match where the first man to make a mistake would lose. There was one factor everyone was overlooking: the Muay Thai clinch.
The fight
Both fighters came out slowly at the start of the first round, content to test the other at kicking range. What was evident immediately, though, was Silva’s leg kicks were faster and had more force than the American’s. However, at the 90-second point the range closed and Franklin looked to unload with his hands and as he did, Silva pulled him into the Thai clinch.
The commentators were initially oblivious to what was happening as Silva methodically kneed Franklin for the next minute, the champion visibly wilting as the last of 24 consecutive knees to the body went home.
Finally freeing himself of the Brazilian’s clutches, Franklin looked broken from the concerted body attack and unsteady on his feet. Silva, smelling blood, duly finished the job, knocking his man to the ground with a combination of strikes which forced referee John McCarthy to stop the fight. Anderson Silva had just beaten the best middleweight in the UFC and worse, he had made it look easy.
The aftermath
This fight was witness to the birth of the legend of Anderson Silva, a one man wrecking ball who would fight the best the middleweight division had to offer and remain undefeated for an astonishing seven years.
For Franklin, however, this represented the peak of his career, he would return two years later to challenge Silva in a rematch, only to be knocked out again, this time in Round 2.
Though clearly the second placed middleweight of that time Franklin would prove to be an able foil for Silva in the early part of the latter’s title reign. That is until a certain Chael Sonnan can along, thus proving the adage that for every great champion, there needs to be a great contender.
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