Background and career
Richard Jay Franklin II (born October 5, 1974) is an American businessman and retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and a former UFC Middleweight Champion. Franklin has been the Vice President of Singaporean combat sports promotion ONE Championship since May 2014.
Franklin was born to Richard Sr. and Vaila Franklin. The couple divorced when Franklin was five years old. He has one biological brother, Greg, and five half-siblings. Franklin graduated from William Henry Harrison High School in Harrison, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and later earned a master's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati. He taught mathematics at the Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio before turning professional in MMA. His nickname, "Ace," comes from his resemblance to the actor Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura. Joe Rogan once called Franklin "Angry Jim Carrey". Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear. February 21, 2006 was officially named "Rich Franklin Day" in Cincinnati by the city's mayor.
American Fighter In 2002, Franklin and his business partner, Jeff Adler, created the American Fighter athletic clothing brand. The brand featured t-shirts, but quickly grew to feature a full line of athletic training clothing, casual wear, and training gear for martial arts. In 2012, Affliction Clothing expressed interest in the name and its widespread appeal. They acquired the majority of the company and brought the brand to mainstream retailers, where it continues to grow. Ze/Lin In October 2013, Franklin and friend and business partner, Billy Zebe, launched Ze/Lin Organic Juice & Fusion Café in Beverly Hills, California. It closed nine months later and the company focused on wholesaling and distribution for the bottled juices. ONE Championship In May 2014, Franklin signed on as a vice president in the ONE Championship organization, a Singapore-based combat sports promotion which officially launched on July 14, 2011. Franklin serves as a face of the brand and travels throughout the US and Asia hosting seminars and speaking engagements, promoting fights, and working with the fighters. He hosts Rich Franklin's ONE Warrior Series, where he recruits up-and-coming martial artists for the promotion.
According to Franklin, he first learned karate at the Harrison Okinawan Karate Dojo in the early 1990s under Bill George and Steve Rafferty. He also studied submission fighting from instructional video tapes. He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck, Inc. and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel (New Generation Martial Arts), Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts), and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). Franklin is currently ranked as a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Jorge Gurgel, which he earned on October 11, 2014. After losing his title to Anderson Silva, Franklin started training under Matt "The Wizard" Hume.
Franklin began his UFC career with a perfect 3–0 start, including a victory over MMA veteran Evan Tanner at UFC 42, Edwin Dewees at UFC 44, and Jorge Rivera at UFC 50. On April 5, 2005, Franklin fought in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale, which was the first live UFC card on free cable TV. He faced former UFC champion Ken Shamrock. Franklin defeated Shamrock by TKO at 2:42 of the first round, becoming the first person to stop Shamrock via strikes. The win established Franklin as one of the UFC's biggest stars and ensured him a title opportunity.
A title shot came at UFC 53 on June 4, 2005. Franklin defeated Evan Tanner for a second time to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. The victory led to Franklin being named a coach, along with welterweight champion Matt Hughes, on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 56 on November 19, 2005, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a competitor from season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin won the fight via a first-round knockout. At UFC 58 on March 4, 2006, Franklin defeated David Loiseau in a unanimous five-round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left hand early in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws, and Franklin was out of action for six months.
