Company Man: Franklin Ponders Futility of 195-pound Labor

Rich Franklin is a fine example of what happens when you put your nose down, sweat your gallons, and sign whatever contract is put in front of you. There’s security and employment and a good income, but in the end, you’re just running in place.

A former middleweight champion chased out of town by Anderson Silva, Franklin had an okay chance to be a factor at 205. Instead, the UFC assigned him a series of nonsense fights at “catch weights” of 195 pounds -- the kind of mishmash hybrid garbage forced on other promotions with shallow rosters. The UFC has no such issues, but Franklin found himself in fights with no upside anyway. And he knows it.

“The UFC asked me to fight the catchweight fights to help [Wanderlei] Silva and [Vitor] Belfort make the drop down to 185 pounds,” he told the National Post. “But now I’ve lost my ranking at 185 and 205. It’s crazy: I can headline a card and not be top-10 ranked…Even if I put together a couple of wins at 195 I’m not sure that helps me at 205 in terms of getting big fights.”

In both cases, the UFC needed to accommodate two athletes who couldn’t cut to 185 pounds with any urgency: Belfort had been preparing for Fedor Emelianenko, adding meals, and Silva hadn’t seen 185 in years. So, fine. Franklin stepped up. Now let the guy think about a belt other than the one holding up his pants.