Many had asked if Rich Franklin would return to the UFC even if he lost to Anderson Silva in the rematch. The former UFC middleweight champion had worked his way up to a title bout after losing his belt to Anderson in October of 2006 via TKO-Muay Thai clinch domination.
Franklin faced Anderson once again this past Saturday at UFC 77-Hostile Territory where he tried to regain his belt in a rematch bout. However, Anderson proved to be the better man once again after he completely destroyed Franklin via TKO-strikes in the second round. During the post-conference interviews, we learned that Franklin had re-broke his nose and suffered a broken hand during the match. When asked if Franklin would retire from the UFC, his manager quickly replied:
"Rich still has a lot left to accomplish in this sport…It’s too early for him to even consider retirement at this point."
Rich Franklin drops to 22-3 and is now 33 years old, which proves that he still has many fights left in him if he wishes to continue fighting within the octagon. He failed to acquire the belt he once had, but Franklin can easily get back to the top again if he truly desires it.
