Rich Franklin has a simple approach as he plans to take on Matt Hamill at UFC 88: Avoid takedowns. He elaborates:
Franklin says Hamill wants to wrestle and that he understands that he might end up on his back at some point, but he adds, "I'm a guy who likes to walk out to the center of the ring and throw punches and excite the fans."
I expect Franklin to beat Hamill, and I often think of Franklin as one of the more overlooked fighters in MMA, in the sense that no one ever mentions him as one of the truly elite fighters. (And yes, he was absent from my own Top 25 pound-for-pound rankings.)
But is that fair? Franklin has a career record of 23-3, and the three losses are to Anderson Silva twice and to Lyoto Machida. I expect Franklin to beat Hamill and remind MMA fans that he's one of the best in the business.
Franklin says Hamill wants to wrestle and that he understands that he might end up on his back at some point, but he adds, "I'm a guy who likes to walk out to the center of the ring and throw punches and excite the fans."
I expect Franklin to beat Hamill, and I often think of Franklin as one of the more overlooked fighters in MMA, in the sense that no one ever mentions him as one of the truly elite fighters. (And yes, he was absent from my own Top 25 pound-for-pound rankings.)
But is that fair? Franklin has a career record of 23-3, and the three losses are to Anderson Silva twice and to Lyoto Machida. I expect Franklin to beat Hamill and remind MMA fans that he's one of the best in the business.
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