Would a prime Rich Franklin be a top ten MW today?

Brad Tavares isn't a good fighter.
 
Top today 10 for sure.

Imagine how good he would have been if he spent the first years of his career training at a legit camp instead of in his fucking shed
 
Prime Rich is one of the most underrated fighters on this board. He got destroyed by Prime Anderson like everyone else, other than that he was always a fairly solid fighter especially at middleweight. He arguably beat Dan Henderson if I remember correctly, been awhile. He'd definitely be a top 5 guy, don't know if he'd beat guys like Yoel but I'd pick him against Rockhold.
 
Flboycanscrap2 said:
They don't fight anything alike besides they are both big for weight class and like to kick.

Prime Rich was a hell of a striker and pursuer of the finish. Good power and footwork. Great Cardio. Decent wrestling and ground game. More durable than people give him credit for.

Definitely top 10, maybe top 5 - He could out hustle a lot of current guys.
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This. He gets no love around here but Rich Franklin is one of the best MW fighters ever.
 
trevedian said:
Prime Rich Franklin would be a Top Ten MW... But he'd never make it past USADA...
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Explanation? We gave him hell for being so fanatical about what he would put into his body. I have trouble believing this.
 
I was a huge Franklin fan back in his 2003-2010 days. I could see some good fights in there like weidman, rockhold and possibly whittaker. the others in there would take him out fairly easily I'd think.
 
BjPenn2017 said:
Prime Rich is one of the most underrated fighters on this board. He got destroyed by Prime Anderson like everyone else, other than that he was always a fairly solid fighter especially at middleweight. He arguably beat Dan Henderson if I remember correctly, been awhile. He'd definitely be a top 5 guy, don't know if he'd beat guys like Yoel but I'd pick him against Rockhold.
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Pakman said:
This. He gets no love around here but Rich Franklin is one of the best MW fighters ever.
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Haj01 said:
I'd think he'd KO Salt Rockhold

And if you thinking about making jokes about number 9 and his lack of picture don't. I already tried it.
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Bend NvR Break said:
I can picture prime Franklin beating everyone. He's a bigger version of Whittaker.

Disrespectful. Franklin has a chin and much better boxing. I'll give the ground game and kicks to Luke. Prime Franklin though would box Luke's head off.
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C'mon guys, get real. He wasnt able to box a green Okami's head off, not even a bruise actually, and was mounted and threatened with guillotine and kimura clearly losing the last round of that fight. And that wasnt the Team Quest trained wrestler and pretty decent boxer Okami developed into years later.
Franklin could still beat many current UFC MWs, and maybe a guy as Tavares who is ranked, why not. But with Rockhold he would be facing biiig problems. This is MMA anything can happen, but pretty unlikely.
Rich is a pretty likeable guy though. And I would say is pretty well respected.
 
Fighters today are much more technical, but Rich has heavy hands, strong takedowns in the clinch,and great awareness on the feet to avoid dangerous exchanges and attack on his terms. I think he could eek his way into the top 10, but the best guys are just on a different level today.
 
Irael is the future .. just watch, his length and striking. He is gonna blast through everyone
 
Goon Dog said:
Explanation? We gave him hell for being so fanatical about what he would put into his body. I have trouble believing this.
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You are pretty naive to think that Rich or ANY of the UFC Champs pre-USADA weren't "Juicing". But whatever delusions help you make it through the day :)
 
I always thought that the UFC protected Bisping by having him not fight Rich

Rich went up in weight for some big paydays after getting ko'd by Vitor
 
I think the closest guy on that list to Franklin skillwise and attribute wise is probably David Branch. Main differences being in their stances and Branch being more of an offensive wrestler and Ace being better on the bottom on the ground imo. Even this comparison is a stretch but I think Ace would just in or just outside the top 5 imo.
 
UL said:
Luke is a much better version of Rich

he'd be top 10
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Luke and Franklin are nearly polar opposites in fighting styles. Luke relies on his kicks in the stand-up and prefers to go to the ground with BJJ. Rich is focused on letting his hands go and utilizes wrestling when a fight did go to the ground.
 
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