UFC Pioneer And Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin To Be Inducted In UFC Hall Of Fame
Rich Franklin 44, retired from MMA back in 2012 and currently working as an executive for ONE Championship promotion in Singapore. His name added to the 2019 class of the UFC Hall of Fame. The UFC broadcast team announced the news during Saturday’s UFC 236 PPV event from Atlanta.
'Ace' heads to the Hall.@RichFranklin, welcome to the #UFCHoF! pic.twitter.com/SxtFtFWtNt
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2019
Franklin will join fellow former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping on July 5 for the ceremony which will go down in Las Vegas during International Fight Week.
Franklin made his UFC debut back in 2003 and won the 185-pound title after defeating Evan Tanner in their rematch via knockout back in 2005.
Rich said UFC head honcho Dana white called him and said that he’s going to be inducted into the 2019 UFC Hall Of Fame (HOF). (h/t MMAFighting)
“That’s why I was a bit surprised when I got the call,” Franklin said. “I’m over here working. But there was never really animosity in me taking this job or anything like that. But you know how things go in your career — out of sight, out of mind. Like I said, I was a bit surprised about it.”
“To me, an award like this is just a physical manifestation of that impression that I leave on people,” Franklin said. “Most importantly, I’m happy that I left that kind of impression, that that’s the legacy of my career. If this award is what recognizes that, then yeah. It is important. But more important is the value it represents.”
Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin holds notable victories over the likes of Ken Shamrock, Wanderlei Silva (twice) and Chuck Liddell during his run in the UFC. However, he’s most known for pair of knockout title losses to Anderson Silva.
