Rich Franklin

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Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin
Rich Jay Franklin (born October 5, 1974) is the Middleweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Prior to becoming a full time mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Franklin was a math teacher at Oak Hills High School. According to him, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes. Franklin went on to train formally in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and currently is ranked as a Brown Belt under Jorge Gurgel.

Franklin fights in the middleweight (185 lb) weight class of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, this fighter prefers to finish his opponents by knockout, but he is well rounded and possesses good grappling and submission skills as well. He has defeated Evan Tanner, Jorge Rivera, and Ken Shamrock among others in the UFC. He has a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc. He currently trains at facilities run by Jorge Gurgel, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 fitness).[1]

In 2005, Franklin served as a coach of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality television show produced by Spike TV.

He is currently the defending middleweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter from Season 1. Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round.

On March 4, 2006 at UFC 58, Franklin defeated David “The Crow” Loiseau in an unanimous five-round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left wrist early on in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws, and Franklin will be out of action for six to eight months.

February 21, 2006 was officially named Rich Franklin Day in Cincinnati by the Mayor of Cincinnati.

His nickname Ace comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey who has played the character Ace Ventura. Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear.