Rich Franklin Knocks Out Chuck Liddell; UFC 115

ufc 115 has come and gone and the main event was a great one with “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-8) coming out very aggressive only to get knocked out by “Ace” Rich Franklin (27-5) in the first round.

These men entered the Octagon with more questions than answers surrounding them and their fight careers. The fans and some of my media brethren were saying that Rich was on the downside of his career and that age had caught up to him. Franklin had lost two of his last three and needed a win last night to begin his run at the title in the light heavyweight division.

Chuck Liddell stepped into the Octagon a man on a mission as well. Chuck had found himself on a major slide losing four of his last five and three of those being via knock out. However this was a different Chuck Liddell according to all reports.

Chuck had not had a drink of alcohol in over nine months, had stopped being out until the early morning hours and even showed up to the weigh-ins looking ripped with six-pack abs. His trainer John Hackleman had stated that this was the best Chuck he had ever seen. He was faster, stronger and more focused than in any other training camp. All of that may be true as Chuck looked great right from the start but in the end it did nothing to stop him from getting his third straight knock out loss.

When the cage door closed and the bell ran Chuck became the hunter walking Franklin down and using early aggression that no one was used to seeing from the former champion. Typically Chuck likes to force his opponent to over commit to strikes, always looking for that counter punch that will send them to the mat. This fight was different as Chuck was wasting no time looking to hurt Rich earlier.

Both men were throwing kicks and the speed advantage that Rich had seemed to be nullified by the predator like stalking the Iceman was doing inside the Octagon. Rich didn’t have time to settle in and fight that cerebral fight I talked about here.

Franklin was being slightly overwhelmed and went in for the shot only to have it stuffed. He ate a shot to the head and body for his efforts while he came back with an inside leg kick to Chuck’s thigh.

The exchanges had the crowd buzzing as Rich threw solid leather in the form of a left hook which led to yet another fiery exchange and Liddell shooting in and taking Rich to the ground. Neither fighter is really known for their ground game and while I hate to use the following statement it does ring true here. Both Rich and Chuck have very underrated ground games. Yes, I said it!

Rich used the butterfly guard to keep Liddell off balance and unable to land heavy shots. Chuck went for a choke but Rich fought it off and got back to his feet.

Fireworks went off here as they took the center of the Octagon and Rich threw shots to the body and did some nice work with a solid combo on Chuck. Chuck is not one to back down though and he rocked Franklin with his trademark right hand only to be hurt himself when following up by a left hand from Ace.

Liddell rocked but sensing the kill was near pushed in and had Rich against the cage. He started throwing with reckless abandon and that was the first and last mistake he would make that night as Ace landed a solid shot straight to the jaw of Chuck that sent him to the canvas out cold.

The downfall of Chuck was his inability to remain calm and stay focused. Maybe it was the pressure to win, to knock someone out rather than to be knocked out but when he felt he had Rich hurt he pushed to much. He threw wild punches and as usual left himself wide open for a counter shot. Whatever the reason, Chuck was knocked out yet again which I can’t believe makes anyone happy.

Chuck has been one of the most predominant faces in the UFC for a long time and seeing him go out like that made many cringe. I come from Ohio and have had the chance to train with Rich Franklin and Team Jorge Gurgel and while I was excited to see Ace get a win, I was anything but excited to watch a legend like Chuck go out like that. One can say he went out on his sword though like a true warrior.

Of course this takes nothing away from Rich Franklin. As one man loses and hopefully, for his own safety, rides off into the sunset another man emerges in the light heavyweight division. This test did not tell us if Rich can actually make a title run but it did confirm just how tough this guy truly is when he is inside the Octagon.

Early in the round Chuck threw a body kick that Franklin blocked and for his efforts he received a broken left forearm. That did not deter him from continuing to fight and even throwing punches with that hand. Rich has shown before that no matter what happens to him in a fight he will not quit. When being interviewed by Joe Rogan after the fight he said he came there to fight and that even though he could feel the bone clicking in his arm he never thought about quitting, after all fighting is his job.

So no matter what happens with Rich from here on out I believe the man is a true warrior and solidified his place in UFC history with his knock out of the legendary Chuck Liddell.

So as the lights went up in the aftermath of UFC 115, we seemingly say goodbye to one of the sports best and at the same time we have to give respect to a man many believed was washed up and was expected to be a stepping stone on the road back for the legend. As they say, this is MMA and anything can happen.