Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
The main event of the evening is a rare catch-weight bout between former Middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin and former PRIDE Light Heavyweight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva.
This fight is interesting in that Franklin spent the huge majority of his career at 185 pounds, whereas Silva spent his career fighting mainly Light Heavyweights and Heavyweights, and yet Franklin will likely come to the Octagon with a significant size advantage. It just illustrates the different ideologies in America and Japan as regard weight cutting.
Silva, in his prime, was one of the scariest human beings on the planet. His appearance alone was enough to frighten opponents, and when the bell rang, he tended to unleash a torrent of violence unmatched in the history of the sport. His brutal destructions of Rampage Jackson and the way he stomped Yuki Kondo’s head into the mat will make it onto highlight reels for the next 20 years or more.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Silva’s reign of dominance appears over. The years of brutal slugfests have finally caught up with the Brazilian legend, and he has lost four of his last five fights, three of those four coming by knock out. Still, he has the ability to overwhelm opponents with ruthless agression, so taking him lightly might well prove fatal.
Franklin, for his part, has had an up and down career. He looked unbeatable for a while at 185 pounds, but met his kryptonite in the form of Anderson “Spider” Silva, who brutally KOed him two times. Unable to solve the puzzle of Silva, Franklin moved up to Light Heavyweight, a much more natural weight for him, and looked very good in wins against Travis Lutter and Matt Hamill before dropping a narrow split decision to Dan Henderson. Franklin’s punching is excellent, and his wrestling is very underrated, as is his submission defense.
This is a bittersweet fight, because even though it should be exciting, it may well mark Silva’s last-ever professional contest. It’s hard to watch a legend stay around too long and tarnish his legacy, but the writing is on the wall for Silva.
Franklin’s superior size, crisp punching, and solid wrestling will prove too much for the depleted “Axe Murderer”, and he will put Silva away with strikes midway through the second round, ending Silva’s Hall of Fame career on a down note.
