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BENT: Previewing UFC 99 - Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin
Jun 10, 2009 - 2:53:26 PM BENT: Previewing UFC 99 - Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin

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No titles on the line, catchweight stipulations and two fighters that like to bang who are seemingly at the crossroads of their respective careers.

Sounds like a fight worth watching to me; and one which makes for a compelling main event, albeit not the most glamorous one. What we have is a unique test for Rich Franklin, and for Wanderlei Silva the test is to not only see if he can regain his old form at a lighter weight, but to see if the cumulative effects of previous knockouts will make him any more susceptible in this one.

Rich Franklin has enjoyed his most success and spent the most time fighting in the middleweight division, and here he will be taking on a man who enjoyed his most success fighting as a light heavyweight but also competed in the heavyweight ranks and now will be looking to move down and contend as a middleweight.

The stipulation for this bout is that it will be contested at 195 lbs. and it is likely that Franklin will be the bigger man come fight time than will be Wanderlei Silva. How this will come into play of course will not be known until the actual fight, but one would have to think that this should favor Franklin since he will be enjoying a size advantage over the once feared striker in Silva.

Wanderlei Silva was once the man who caused others to tremble in fear upon just having heard that they would be facing him. Of course, once the fight actually began it became much, much worse for them as Silva routinely dispatched of his foes with displays of horrific brutality and then celebrated his handiwork with a grin that a parent wears once his child takes his first step. Most monikers chosen by fighters are not necessarily an accurate representation of themselves or that which they do, but "The Axe Murderer" seems to suit Silva. Well, save for the fact that it appears he would need nothing more than his limbs in order to chop someone up into little pieces.

Boxing fans had highlight reels of Mike Tyson knocking the heads off of opponents and professional wrestling fans had their tapes of garish hardcore matches contested in rings surrounded by fire, and we had our footage of Wanderlei Silva doing grievous harm to those he fought in PRIDE. When a fan would ask about the most brutal knockouts or simply want to see what he thought he could not get from the UFC, it would often lead to someone introducing them to Silva.

Wanderlei never ceased to impress, and in his wake would leave a body of work which will ensure that even as he lays in a nursing home in his old age that no one will ever cross him. The pre-fight staredown that he has perfected will surely be put to use in every other aspect of his life, and I dare someone to not bring him an extra fruit cup with his lunch. One would only have to watch the footage of Silva as he stomped Yuki Kondo's head until it left a greasy spot on the mat in their fight at PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 for an example of what he could once do. Bookending his beatdown of Kondo were two prime examples of sadism at their best as he thoroughly smashed Quinton "Rampage" Jackson twice, first at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 and then once more at PRIDE 28.

Wanderlei Silva was more dangerous than a pissed off Karl Childers armed with a lawnmower blade, as he was truly deserving of Ken Shamrock's "World's Most Dangerous Man" title.

Of course, this is all in the past and here we are in 2009, and Wanderlei Silva is seemingly a punch drunk version of his former self, or at the very least as scary as maybe a disgruntled Zac Efron. Sure, Silva still has the staredown and he can bore holes through his opponent with his eyes, but once they touch gloves and begin fighting it as if the combination of unified rules, cumulative damage from concussions and age can make mortals of us all. Silva looked like a shell of his former self in getting throttled by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 92, and heading into this fight there are many questions surrounding him and much worry regarding his safety should he continue fighting.

Wanderlei Silva [artist Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]

Wanderlei Silva's career record stands at 32 wins against 9 defeats with 1 bout being ruled a draw along with 1 no contest. Over the course of his career, Silva has beaten the likes of Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ikuhisa Minowa, the aforementioned Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Kazuhiro Nakamura and most recently Keith Jardine. Those who can say they have bested Silva are Artur Mariano, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who as mentioned previously extracted his revenge last December.

It would appear that Wanderlei Silva is nearing the end of his career as he has gone 1-4 over his last five bouts and has suffered KO losses in three of those while absorbing a ton of damage in the fourth loss. If every fighter's head has a card, Silva has successfully had every hole punched and can ill afford to take any more damage, much less suffer yet another concussion. Silva's gym wars are the stuff of legend, and the number of concussions he may have suffered in training is sure to dwarf those he has received while fighting. He cannot afford to lose to Franklin, and if he does it would be recommended that he walk away from this game while he still has the ability to put one foot ahead of the other as he walks.

Rich Franklin, as we all know, is "Ace," and was named so due to his resemblance to Jim Carrey from the 'Ace Ventura' films. Franklin likes to play guitar while his buddy Jorge Gurgel bangs on the skins, and he was of course the former math teacher who quit helping others solve problems in order to cause them for his opponents inside of a cage. Franklin is the anti-Silva, in that little old ladies would want their granddaughters to meet Rich, whereas they wouldn't want to even dare cross Wanderlei anywhere. Rich is a likable guy and a damned fine fighter to boot. He just isn't the most marketable guy you could ever want to put in a main event.

This is not to say that Franklin has been anything but a success as a fighter. For a while he looked damned near untouchable while reigning over the UFC middleweight division. This was, of course, until he ran into a veritable buzzsaw named Anderson Silva, who took him down a notch and not only battered him once but twice for those who either didn't see the first or couldn't believe it had been done.

Franklin began his career as a light heavyweight, and this was where he enjoyed his first real exposure as he fought and subsequently scored a 1st round stoppage over Ken Shamrock in the main event of 'The Ultimate Fighter 1' finale. Most who were watching that initial broadcast had no clue at all who Franklin was, but once the dust had settled were sure that he was someone to watch since he had just handily beaten Shamrock. Obviously, Shamrock benefited from name recognition rather than his skills by this point, but this was deemed an upset nonetheless.

Rich Franklin would make the cut to middleweight following this prominent victory, and made the most of it by defeating the late Evan Tanner for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 53. He would successfully defend the title twice before losing it to Anderson Silva, and would once again fail when he tried to regain his crown in front of his home crowd at UFC 77. Franklin would fight once more at middleweight when he notched a TKO win over Travis Lutter at UFC 83, and from then on decided to try his hand at the light heavyweight division.

Franklin's first foray into the light heavyweight ranks was a successful one, as he made Matt Hamill look like a fool in their bout at UFC 88 last September. He was quickly brought down to size however, when he lost his next bout by way of a split decision to Dan Henderson in their main event bout at UFC 93. Franklin was facing Henderson for the rights to coach on this ninth season of 'The Ultimate Fighter,' and truth be told this was not exactly the most attractive prize to dangle at the end of a rope. Many scored this bout for Franklin, but I saw this one going to Henderson and feel the judges got it correct, although it still boggles my mind how one of the judges scored it 30-27 for Franklin.

He will be remaining in the light heavyweight division, and thankfully so for him as he probably has no desire to step in there with Anderson Silva again; but he now must face another Silva at 195 lbs. in the main event of UFC 99. There are no coaching gigs on the horizon and no championship belts to be won, but this bout is indeed a serviceable litmus test for Franklin as he looks to make his mark at 205.

Rich Franklin boasts a career record of 24 wins against only 4 defeats and one bout having been ruled a no contest. Of his 24 victories, 13 have come by way of KO and 9 by submission. Notable names Franklin has beaten include the likes of Evan Tanner, Edwin Dewees, Ken Shamrock, Nate Quarry, Yushin Okami and Matt Hamill. Those who hold wins over Franklin are Anderson Silva (twice) along with Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida. Only the best have beaten Franklin, and he is quite possibly the most unassuming superstar in this sport as his track record shows his dominance but his box office appeal is largely lacking.

Worse yet is that both PPV cards he has headlined this year in UFC 93 and this upcoming UFC 99 have been widely panned as not being as great as the others, or in the worst possible case have been deemed skippable in light of such shows as UFC 94 and UFC 100. Franklin's kryptonite inside the Octagon has been Anderson Silva, but so far he has seemingly been box office kryptonite himself, and for his sake he needs a career defining performance against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99 if he wishes to main event again. Franklin needs to beat the old Wanderlei Silva, and to do his best impression of the young "Axe Murderer" in doing so as he jockeys for position in the crowded light heavyweight division and fights for the favor of the buying public.

Bent's Prediction: Rich Franklin by way of 2nd Round TKO

I am an unabashed fan of Wanderlei Silva. That being said, it would be in his best interests to walk away from this fight and perhaps set the example for others such as Chuck Liddell to follow.

Yes, Silva was a deadly force but part of his attack was the innate ability to absorb tons of punishment and keep driving forward. Well, that ability no longer exists, and when you couple this relatively weak chin with abysmal defensive skills you have a recipe for tragedy, and a likelihood that "The Axe Murderer" will spend his twilight years as a slurring and punch drunk mess.

Rich Franklin has refined boxing skills compared to Wanderlei Silva's Don Quixote-like swings of fury, and this should allow "Ace" to pick his shots and set the tempo early on in the fight. Silva does possess a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but I still would have to favor Franklin if this fight does indeed hit the ground.

Rich Franklin will be the bigger, stronger and fresher fighter at UFC 99, and this combined with his precise punching will ensure that he emerges victorious and should allow him to stop Wanderlei Silva in the early stages of the second round.

I am giving Silva the benefit from years of having watched him wreak havoc on everyone, and as such have predicted he will survive the first round, but I truly do not see him escaping the first minute of the second round upon doing so. He will be stopped by Franklin at UFC 99, and hopefully will stop his career soon after before doing irreparable damage to himself and his legacy.