Rich Franklin vs Nick Diaz in their primes. Who wins?

[Kick Strickland]

I think it would be a fun fight and could go either way. I really enjoyed the Franklin/Wand fight and that meant nothing. I'd expect it to be similar as far as just seeing two guys you know will leave it all in the cage.

I don't think it would pay enough for Nick to take it, which should be crazy but props to Nick i guess for making himself that valuable a commodity, but if it did happen I would certainly watch.

^ i agree with all that. Except I think that fight would probably pay pretty damn well. Idk for sure though. But I think we would all watch the hell out of that fight.

And what's great about this being a retirement fight for Rich, is that even if Nick busts him up and ko's/tko's him...or subs him....I don't see Nick being able to hurt hurt Rich, like, bust him up badly the way Chuck/Wand/Hendo/Andy could. I don't want to see Rich take horrrendous ass whoopin in his last fight. But Nick has broken people's jaws though, so who knows? I want this fight now though, now that I'm thinking about it!

 

[Megatronlee]

Franklin anytime

 

[Tuf_guy]

Frank is too big

This.

I'm surprised it took awhile for someone to say it. Ace was a basically a 205er who could manage to cut to 185. Nick was basically a welter who could cut for awhile, and could go up to 185 if he chose... which is different from a guy (Franklin) who could easily fight at 205 and not be ousized.

Also, Nick wouldn't have a reach advantage, he couldn't put Franklin on his back to work subs, and realistically, I can't recall him ever working from the top much as his wrestling isn't so great. He also wouldn't sub Franklin from the bottom if Franklin took him down.
Ace had some heavy hands. And he was too strong and likely would want to clinch with Nick who would likely be outmuscled.
It's a bad matchup.
Remember that ultimately, we essentially are still talking about the guy who battled Joe Riggs and lost a decision... I was never an Ace fan, but I just can't see Nick pulling this off.

 

[Davemeddlehed]

We saw Anderson struggle against Nick, and we saw how easy Anderson handled Franklin twice. I know that's mmath, and I know Anderson's mind wasn't right in the Diaz fight, but still. I say even prime Franklin doesn't put Nick away, starts to slow down, and Nick takes this fight.

Who you got?

He "struggled" with Diaz the same way he "strugged" with Leites. Franklin treats Nick like he's Matt Hammill and works him from range.

 

[Phrozenspite]

franklin's weaknesses were being overpowered by bigger fighters, or being KO'd. neither of those are diaz's specialties

 

[BGDDYKWL]

We saw Anderson struggle against Nick, and we saw how easy Anderson handled Franklin twice. I know that's mmath, and I know Anderson's mind wasn't right in the Diaz fight, but still. I say even prime Franklin doesn't put Nick away, starts to slow down, and Nick takes this fight.

Who you got?

Franklin takes this anywhere, anytime. Anderson struggled with Nick? He was coming off a horrific injury and two devastating losses and he won 50-45. I wouldn't exactly call that struggling. Not to mention Anderson was in his prime versus Rich, and clearly not anymore.

 

[Source]

Is this a fucking joke? Anyone saying Nick should be IP banned forever.

Prime Rich would absolutely maul and destroy Nick.

I'm not opposed to this. Not because Nick couldn't win but for the fact it would make Sherdog a more enjoyable place.

 

[hadrian999]

Franklin, diego sanchez was able to out grapple diaz for gods sake

 

[Kick Strickland]

Franklin, diego sanchez was able to out grapple diaz for gods sake

Diaz also beat the brakes off Frank Shamrock. And I think Shamrock, even at that point, could have beaten Rich. OK maybe Shamrock wouldn't have beaten Rich, but I think he would've done better against Rich than he did against Nick.



Styles make fights. We ALL know that. And Rich has never fought anybody as fast as Nick, with as high an output as Nick has, or with the cardio Nick has, or as good jiu-jitsu as Nick has. It would be interesting. Rich has never been fast, and his cardio wasn't bad, but he does tend to slow down as the fight goes on, and telegraphs the hell out of his punches. Nick would end up boxing him up eventually in a 5 round fight, IF he could survive Rich's bombs in the early stages. I think he could. And a tired Rich would probably take Nick down...where I don't think a tired Rich could fend off the chain of submissions Nick would throw at him.

 

[catsforsale]

Franklin via decision I think.

 

[Paul Phoenix]

Franklin takes this anywhere, anytime. Anderson struggled with Nick? He was coming off a horrific injury and two devastating losses and he won 50-45. I wouldn't exactly call that struggling. Not to mention Anderson was in his prime versus Rich, and clearly not anymore.

Rewatch the fight, Nick easily took the first 2 rounds barely even trying, Anderson did struggle, he couldn't keep the pressure on he had like no gameplan for the fight, he barely landed shit - all the big combos and spinning shit he attempted all missed, you can witness this all on the replays in greater detail if it's hard to determine during the actual fight. He was unable to do to Nick what he did to other fighters in the past and had no answer to Nick and did minimal damage if barely any at all But yeah let's look to the most unreliable source in the world regarding MMA - the judges - as a source to give weight to an arguement. He struggled with Nick and really he lost that fight.

 

[Mr. Fresca]

Prime vs Prime it isn't even close. Franklin by dominarion.

 

[Bones245n4847]

Nick Diaz easily. Diaz went toe to toe with Anderson Silva. Both times Rich got in there with Silva, he was begging for the refs to end the fight.

 

[Kick Strickland]

Rewatch the fight, Nick easily took the first 2 rounds barely even trying, Anderson did struggle, he couldn't keep the pressure on he had like no gameplan for the fight, he barely landed shit - all the big combos and spinning shit he attempted all missed, you can witness this all on the replays in greater detail if it's hard to determine during the actual fight. He was unable to do to Nick what he did to other fighters in the past and had no answer to Nick and did minimal damage if barely any at all But yeah let's look to the most unreliable source in the world regarding MMA - the judges - as a source to give weight to an arguement. He struggled with Nick and really he lost that fight.

Exactly. Anderson has never liked opponents he can't back up, and Nick almost never backs up. Anderson did what most badasses do when they fight Nick Diaz....ran for his life. ok not really but he damn sure didn't want to get into a firefight with Nick, and that says a lot.

 

[lgp89]

Good fight. Nick wins though.

 

[MCS]

Part of why I made this thread is because I was thinking about the Rich vs Wand/Chuck/Anderson fights. No way do I ever see Nick Diaz being able to beat Chuck or Wand. No way ever. But Rich did fine against both those guys. But Anderson rearranged Rich's nose and made beating him look too easy...twice. And Anderson did not want to even engage Nick. When you can lay the fuck down and mimic taking a nap, mid fight, then you know your opponent does not truly want to fight. And Anderson wanted no part of a real "fight" with Nick Diaz. Nobody does.

I tend to think of Nick as the scrawny WW kid. But he's surprisingly big at MW. The Nick that fought Frank Shamrock has his way with Rich Franklin imo. But still never ever beats Wand or Chuck.

Rich is still bigger than Nick by a good bit I think. But he's a lot slower than Nick. He's never fought a guy that's as good at jiu-jitsu as Nick. And his cardio is not as good as Nick's. It'd be interesting.

Sakurai and Frank fought Nick when they were way over the hill, so was Chuck but Wand still beat Bisping and Stann after the fights with Rich.

Imo Rich will Ud Nick or maybe a late tko due to unanswered punches, i highly doubt that Ace could ko Nick.

Size would matter if Rich was a guy who held guys down via strong top control or sick grappling skills, or if he was tall and would Jones Nick from the outside. He does neither, but strikes from mid-range with wide hooks.

Rich is a smart fighter and Hume would lay out a boring gameplan via clinch press/sub defense victory (throw some baby leg kicks in there), but Rich's style isn't designed for that. He has inferior stand-up skills, doesn't have huge power for a durable guy like Nick to match the skill gap on the feet via sheer power and doesn't have the reach and style to use that reach to best Nick at mid or short range, and Rich doesn't fight from long range.

Franklin has solid BJJ, while Diaz has top notch BJJ for any division.

So what's left is holding Nick against the fence for the duration, and I don't see that happening. Anderson, GSP, Penn, Daley and Condit either chose to fight fire with fire and lost or avoided his range and/or took advantage of Nick's poor footwork and worked around his skills to win on points.

These are top notch fighters and they all needed to fight calculated to ride out the clock, or they lost.

 

[Minnja]

Franklin. He struggles against highly accurate powerful strikers or in the rare occasion he gets wrestle-fucked. He will not be getting wrestle-fucked by Diazn and will not succumb to Diaz's volume striking. I think he'd win a hard-fought fight utilizing a lot of clinch work and takedowns. I don't think Diaz would be able to stop the takedowns and Franklin has excellent sub defense.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Rewatch the fight, Nick easily took the first 2 rounds barely even trying, Anderson did struggle, he couldn't keep the pressure on he had like no gameplan for the fight, he barely landed shit - all the big combos and spinning shit he attempted all missed, you can witness this all on the replays in greater detail if it's hard to determine during the actual fight. He was unable to do to Nick what he did to other fighters in the past and had no answer to Nick and did minimal damage if barely any at all But yeah let's look to the most unreliable source in the world regarding MMA - the judges - as a source to give weight to an arguement. He struggled with Nick and really he lost that fight.

Anderson definitely didn't look his best in that fight, but we're never gonna see Anderson at his best again. Nick did not win that fight. He barely landed ANYTHING, and while Anderson certainly didn't dominate, he did light him up. The fight was not terribly close. It wasn't utter domination, but you could've only maybe given Nick one round.

 

[MitMcl]

I think prime Franklin tosses Nick around and wins a UD. I'm guessing half of the people in this thread don't even remember prime Franklin.

 

[613]

Rewatch the fight, Nick easily took the first 2 rounds barely even trying, Anderson did struggle, he couldn't keep the pressure on he had like no gameplan for the fight, he barely landed shit - all the big combos and spinning shit he attempted all missed, you can witness this all on the replays in greater detail if it's hard to determine during the actual fight. He was unable to do to Nick what he did to other fighters in the past and had no answer to Nick and did minimal damage if barely any at all But yeah let's look to the most unreliable source in the world regarding MMA - the judges - as a source to give weight to an arguement. He struggled with Nick and really he lost that fight.

You Nick fans are the worst fans in the world. Even worse the old Penn fas, because at least Penn accomplished something and beat great fighters. Nick never has!

Anderson was a shell of his former self and he still beat Nick rather easy. Rich would beat Nick too because Nick does not beat great fighters