Franklin vs Silva - Defining Moments

Affliction · 05-30-2009, 04:38 PM

Sorry This is kinda long but a good read I thought.

Quote:

On Saturday, June 13th, at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, two of the most popular and exciting fighters of this era, Rich “Ace” Franklin and Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, will meet in the main event of UFC 99. To get ready for what should be a memorable battle, we’ve listed each fighter’s defining moments. If you missed these the first time, here they are again.

RICH FRANKLIN – SEVEN DEFINING MOMENTS

The Evan Tanner series
April 25, 2003 - UFC 42 - Result - Franklin TKO1
June 4, 2005 – UFC 53 - Result – Franklin TKO4
Lumped together as one moment in Franklin’s career, his two fights with Tanner were totally different, not only in how the same TKO result was achieved, but in what career stage Franklin was in at the time.

In their first bout, Franklin – then a light heavyweight - was unbeaten and three years into a career that had now brought him to the UFC Octagon. And while you could tell that his complete game hadn’t yet been fully developed, it was obvious from his accurate striking that he was on his way to the top. This accuracy kept Tanner off balance and left him relegated to lunging knees from long range and sloppy clinch attempts. By the midway point of the round, Franklin found his rhythm, buzzed Tanner and stopped him seconds later.

Two years later, they did it again, and this time Tanner’s middleweight title was on the line. The result was the same, but this time Franklin was forced to go four rounds and rise from a significant first round knockdown to win a fight characterized by a courageous stand from a battered and bloodied Tanner, who took a ton of punishment before the ringside physicians recommended a stoppage in round four.

Lyoto Machida
December 31, 2003 - Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003
Result – Machida TKO2
Franklin, fresh off two UFC wins, took a gamble by going to Japan to face the unbeaten Machida – he lost that gamble, getting stopped in the second round. From the opening bell, you got the impression that Franklin was in for a long night, especially when he fired off his first leg kick and got a straight left flush in the face for his trouble. Later in the opening round, he was knocked down by Machida, with perhaps only the ropes keeping him from being stopped, and he was just one step slower than the Brazilian, who finished in the second what he started in the first with a left punch followed by a right knee that spelled the end for Franklin. There would be no quick return to the UFC for the Cincinnati native, but when he did come back, it was as a middleweight, and he wouldn’t lose again for almost three years, spanning eight fights.

Jorge Rivera
October 22, 2004 – UFC 50
Result – Franklin WSub3
After the loss to Machida, Franklin won two bouts in local shows before being invited back to the Octagon, and when he came back, he did so as a middleweight against Rivera, who had some career rehab to do as well after an upset UFC loss to Lee Murray nine months earlier. Well, this was one of those fights where the stock of both guys goes up regardless of the result. Featuring good give and take and plenty of momentum shifts, the fight saw Rivera push Franklin hard throughout, stunning him with punches and knees and cutting him over his right eye while raising swelling under the left. Franklin pushed right back, and as he pulled away in the third round, he was able to swing into an armbar from the full mount that ended the bout with just 32 seconds left.

Ken Shamrock
April 9, 2005 – The Ultimate Fighter Finale
Result – Franklin TKO1
This was the big one, the fight that moved Franklin not only from prospect to contender, but from one of the pack into the realm of UFC stardom. Being in the main event of the first live UFC card on free cable helps out significantly, but stopping one of the game’s icons in Shamrock really pushed Franklin over the top. And while many just look at the result and figure it was a blowout, it’s important to point out that Franklin had to escape a pretty tight ankle lock by Shamrock before coming back to win, showing that Franklin’s game was starting to evolve to include submission defense as well as accurate striking and solid standup techniques. But most of the significance here has to do with Franklin emerging as one of the organization’s stars with one big win.

David Loiseau
March 4, 2006 – UFC 58
Result – Franklin W5
After winning the middleweight title against Tanner and defending it with a first round knockout of Nate Quarry, Franklin kept up his hectic schedule (it was his fourth fight in less than a year, a period that also saw him serve as a coach on season two of The Ultimate Fighter) with a title defense against dangerous Canadian David Loiseau. The scores of the five rounder make the fight look like ‘The Crow’ didn’t even show up – 50-42 twice and 50-43 – but the reality of the bout is that it was a war of attrition that not only showed Loiseau’s heart (and punch, as he dropped Franklin hard in the third), but Franklin’s as well, as he fought with a broken left hand, tendon damage to his ankle, slightly torn ligaments in his right hand, and a cut over his left eye for much of the 25 minute contest.

The Anderson Silva series
October 14, 2006 - UFC 64 - Result – Silva TKO1
October 20, 2007 – UFC 77 - Result – Silva TKO2
If you’re a Rich Franklin fan, these fights were ugly. If you’re a mixed martial arts fan with no rooting interest, these bouts show just how dynamic and devastating a fighter Silva is. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan describes Silva’s style as a “ballet of violence”, and it’s the perfect description of what ‘The Spider’ does in the Octagon. His first win over Franklin was shocking; not that he won, but in the manner in which he did it, dominating in the clinch before shattering Franklin’s nose with a knee and stopping him moments later. The second one saw Franklin a little more competitive, but the result was the same and was epitomized by a flurry of punches, kicks and knees from Silva that looked seemingly effortless as he defended the crown he took from Cincinnati’s finest. The bouts showed that all fighters are human, and that no matter how good you are, there’s someone out there who has your number.

Matt Hamill
September 6, 2008 – UFC 88
Result – Franklin TKO3
Take away the two losses to Silva, and Franklin is an impressive 4-1 with 3 TKO wins in the last two years. And considering that he beat Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami, Travis Lutter and Matt Hamill over that span of time makes that series of victories even more impressive. But it was in his return to 205 pounds against Hamill last September that he showed that he still had plenty left in the tank as he finally looked like the ‘old’ Rich Franklin in dismantling his foe and stopping him in three rounds.

WANDERLEI SILVA – SEVEN DEFINING MOMENTS

If you ask most longtime MMA fans (and competitors) who their favorite fighter is, if Wanderlei Silva isn’t at the top of the list, he’s at least in the top five. But what is it about “The Axe Murderer” that has garnered him a legion of fans around the world over the last 12 + years? Is it the staredowns, the loosening of his wrists before a fight? Nah, it’s all about the fights, and here are seven that made Silva the fighter he is today.

Mike Van Arsdale – August 23, 1998 – IVC 6
Result – Silva KO1
The bare knuckle IVC fights in Brazil were no joke, and when the 4-1 Silva met standout US wrestler Mike Van Arsdale (then 4-0, with 1 UFC victory) in 1998, it was a pretty big deal for hardcore fight fans. The bout was competitive early on, with Van Arsdale working well from inside Silva’s guard. But after Silva worked his way back to his feet, he pounced, nailing Van Arsdale with a knee that hurt him. As the American backpedaled, Silva threw him to the canvas and ended matters with a soccer kick to the head. For all intents and purposes, this was the birth of “The Axe Murderer”.

Tito Ortiz – April 14, 2000 – UFC 25
Result – Ortiz W5
Less than two months after beating Van Arsdale, Silva made his UFC debut and was blitzed in 44 seconds by “The Phenom”, Vitor Belfort. The loss propelled him to a six fight winning streak that included wins over Eugene Jackson, Daijiro Matsui and “Dirty” Bob Schrijber in such diverse organizations as the UFC, IVC, and PRIDE. In April of 2000, he was brought back to the UFC to fight Tito Ortiz for the 205-pound championship, and though the fight was far from memorable, it was the bout that forced Silva to re-evaluate his career and where he was heading with it. As he said in 2007, “My last fight in UFC in Japan with Tito, it was a very small show,” remembered Silva. “And after the fight with him I didn’t have an event. I didn’t go back to PRIDE, I didn’t fight anymore in UFC, and in my mind, I thought, ‘I’m finished.’ I changed from PRIDE to UFC, but I lost.”

Kazushi Sakuraba I – March 25, 2001 – PRIDE 13
Result – Silva TKO1
After the loss to Ortiz, Silva realized that he would never become a world champion as a part-time fighter. And after a 39 second win over Todd Medina in August of 2000, he returned to PRIDE full-time and began a reign of terror that saw him go on a 17 fight unbeaten streak with the only hiccups being a draw with Mirko Cro Cop and a no contest with Gilbert Yvel.

“In PRIDE, I went step by step,” he said in 2007. “In UFC, they gave me the big names to fight and there was a lot of pressure. And before, I was also working another job and training. I didn’t have the money only to train. Now I was a professional fighter.”

Silva made an immediate impression in his return with exciting wins over Guy Mezger and Dan Henderson. But it was his 98 second demolition of Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba that made the biggest impression. Sakuraba, with wins over four Gracies (Royce, Renzo, Royler, and Ryan) was at the top of his game, and he even sent Silva to a knee briefly with a right to the head. But Silva was just too big and strong for Sakuraba, and he ended the bout with a vicious display of kicks and knees. Silva would go on to dominate PRIDE. Sakuraba, who entered the bout with a 12-2-1, 1 NC record, has gone 12-8 with 1 NC in the 21 fights since that night.

Quinton Jackson II – October 31, 2004 – PRIDE 28
Result – Silva KO2
Many chalked up Silva’s first win over Jackson in 2003 to a favorable tournament draw that saw Silva

waltz to an easy win over virtual MMA rookie Hidehiko Yoshida before fighting Jackson that same night, while ‘Rampage’ had to get by UFC standout Chuck Liddell before getting Silva in the final. There would be no such excuses the second time around, and Jackson fought well in the first round of the bout. In the second though, it was all Silva, and after a punch rocked the American, a series of knees finished him off in emphatic fashion. But even a 2-0 record against Jackson hasn’t dulled the animosity Silva feels for his foe. Three years after the rematch, I asked Silva if there was still bad blood.

“No change, I don’t like him,” said Silva of Jackson. “I’m a professional, but for me, fighting with him is not business, it’s pleasure.”

Mark Hunt – December 31, 2004 – PRIDE Shockwave 2004
Result – Hunt W3
The fight wasn’t one for the time capsule, but as far as being the perfect display of what kind of warrior Silva is, you don’t need to look any further than this bout against 280-pound Mark Hunt. Silva took the bout with no reservations, despite the fact that he was being outweighed by over 70 pounds and was facing a fighter with a granite chin and fists to match. And in the end, it almost went Silva’s way, as he only lost his four year winning streak via split decision. Some fighters talk about fighting anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Silva does it.

“The guy who is serious and who fights with his heart is a warrior,” he said. “There are guys who fight only for the money or for the win or to take pictures, and I’m not like that. I like to fight, it’s my job, and I fight with my heart every time.”

Chuck Liddell – December 29, 2007 – UFC 79
Result – Liddell W3
It took years and numerous starts and stops for Silva to finally meet up with future UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddell, but when they did on the final show of 2007, they lived up to all expectations, battling it out tooth and nail for three rounds, with Liddell emerging victorious via unanimous decision. Regardless of the result, this was one of those fights where you just got a smile on your face every time both Silva and Liddell planted their feet and started exchanging blows. It made you proud to be a mixed martial arts fan.

Keith Jardine – May 24, 2008 – UFC 84
Result – Silva KO1
For some fighters, like Silva, wins and losses really don’t matter. You would pay to watch guys like him hit the pads and not regret it. But when it comes down to business, three losses in a row, even if they’re to Liddell, Dan Henderson, and Mirko Cro Cop, makes a fighter hard to market. So the pressure was on Silva in May of 2008 when he took on Keith Jardine, a fighter who already had wins over Liddell and Forrest Griffin under his belt. But on this spring night in Vegas, the old “Axe Murderer” returned with a 36 second blitz that electrified the crowd at the MGM Grand and rejuvenated Silva’s career. It was like 2003-2004 all over again.

Credit UFC.com

So what are your thoughts on this fight? I think It should be a good one but I do see Silva taking the win here should be exciting tho nonetheless.

Zar · 05-30-2009, 05:39 PM

I'm stoked for this fight. It reminds me a bit of Pride, when you would just see some fights for the hell of it, simply because they will be an interesting and entertaining fight.

King Execution · 05-30-2009, 09:03 PM

I'm looking forward to this fight, but personally I'm not too excited about it. Silva has lost 4 out of 5 of his last fights and if he loses here that's 5 and 1-3 in the UFC... meaning he's probably retiring or being dropped from UFC. I like Silva but I just see Franklin beating him here.