With UFC 50 quickly approaching, the excitement and adrenaline starts to pump more quickly in each fighter’s and fan’s blood stream. Each warrior prepares diligently, shadow boxing, sparring, rolling on the mat, trying to fine tune those final skills needed to pull out the victory. I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with one such warrior, Rich “Ace” Franklin, as he prepares for his battle at UFC 50 against a tough UFC veteran in Jorge Rivera. Rich was able to share with me his thoughts on how his training is proceeding, thoughts on the Middleweight class and the fighters in it, and whether he would ever fight Jeremy Horn or any other Team Extreme member if he had to.

MMARR: First of all, thanks Rich for taking the timeout today to speak to MMAringreport.com. Just curious how your training is going so far and who are you training with?

Rich: Training is going great. The weight is coming down where we want it to be. There has been a lot of talk on the internet about me not being able to make weight or that being a possibility of my fatigue, but everything is going as planned. We are exactly where we want to be. I’m healthy, my cardio is great, I’m injury free and I’m feeling good. Jorge has been hurt and I haven’t been training with him as much usual, Jorge Grugel. He’s come on the last couple of weeks, his hand has healed up and he’s been able to do more stuff, but he’s been coaching me the whole time. I’ve got tons of training partners here at the school, Billy Rush, Mike Pratt, My brother Greg, Scott Sheeley has been coming down from northern Ohio and working with me on my kickboxing. I’ve got Neal Rowe that worked with me on my Muay Thai. I have my boxing coach Rob Bradford, Kerry Schall, my buddy Josh Rafferty is in Vegas right now taping for the Spike television show.

MMARR: Oh, he is on that?

Rich: Yeah, he hasn’t been able to train with me but you know, I have tons of guys here to train with and all, it’s been going real well. I’m happy with it.

MMARR: Great! Some of our fans want to know who is going to be in your corner at UFC 50?

Rich: It will more than likely be Kerry Schall, Jorge Grugel, and Neal Rowe.

MMARR: As you know with the rash of injuries, with Metzger, Marsh, and Prangley pulling out, has that caused you to maybe take it a little bit easier on your training. Have you had to adjust your training due to the idea that everyone is getting hurt?

Rich: Jorge and I were on a road trip a couple of weeks ago for a fight and ran into a couple other people and started talking about training and being an older athlete and training, you know what I mean. Because I’m not 21 anymore like a college wrestler or anything to that. You know, Jorge and I decided we were going to make some adjustments in our training at that time. Characteristically, we just over-trained ever since we started training together. And so we made a few adjustments in our training several weeks ago. It seems to help with recovery time, and all that stuff. The training has been going great and this stuff with the UFC when these guys get injured that’s completely independent from what I do. That’s them.

MMARR: Your opponent at UFC 50, Jorge Rivera, what do you know about him. What do you think are his strengths and weaknesses?

Rich: Well, we watched him on tape, he is a solid stand-up fighter. If you look at just his UFC fight against Lee Murray, you might think his ground game is not that good. I’ve seen other fights where he is pretty proficient on the ground as well. He’s a well rounded fighter and I’ve planned on going out there, I’ve told everybody this that’s interviewed me, I plan on going out there and standing up with him. His standup looks good, but I think mine’s better. If I didn’t think it was better, I wouldn’t plan on standing up with him. If the fight ends up on the ground, so be it. But I am looking to keep it on the feet and I heard he is too.

MMARR: Excellent! Switching gears here a little, can you explain why you made the move from Light Heavyweight to Middleweight?

Rich: As a light heavyweight fighter, I never really weighed much more than 210 to 215. I wasn’t very heavy cutting weight down to 205. Most of those 205 fighters, come down from 225 or 230, so I have always been light. But this year, after I fought for the UFC last year, the 205 pound class was just very busy, an active class, and they really didn’t need anybody. They weren’t interested in bringing me back in, so I talked to Monte Cox, my manager, and I said, Monte, maybe since the 185 pound class is a little vacant at this point, somewhat desolate, maybe we should look at me possibly dropping weight. I figured I could cut weight to 185, that wouldn’t be a problem for me and fighting in that weight class. So Monte went to Joe Silva with it and they talked back and forth and decided it was a good idea. So we decided to move down to 185, it was more of a business decision than anything else.

MMARR: Do you feel more comfortable at 185, or would you have rather fought at 205? Or do you think you are going to be o.k. since you were a lighter light heavyweight anyways, do you think the transition is going to be easier for you at 185?

Rich: You know, I cut my weight and we looked at how I felt the next day. Energy felt good and I didn’t seem to fatigue any more quickly than I would’ve fighting at 205. The weight cut didn’t seem to bother me. I don’t think fighting at 185 is going to be a problem for me as far as my own fitness. Now on the flip side of that, therefore by reason I would think it would be easier for me to fight in that weight class because the opponents are lighter. And given the fact that you got some guys, because they are lighter, lighter guys tend to move faster and stuff like that. So I’m dealing with faster standup, faster jabs and all that kind of stuff. I just don’t think that is going to be a problem. I think I am going to be successful at 185. I think I will be just as successful in that weight class as I was at 205.

MMARR: With one of your prior opponents, Evan Tanner, how you were able to defeat him at 205 and how much success he has had moving down in weight, I was also thinking that could have drove you a little being so dominant against Tanner, thought well if I move down in weight, I can dominate that weight class as well. So as you know, David Terrell shook up the middle weight class a little, there was some speculation there might be a possible tournament for the middleweight title or depending on how Robbie Lawler does against Tanner, that maybe if Tanner wins, that Tanner might go up and fight Terrell for the title. How do you feel about Tanner possible fighting for the title knowing that you have already defeated Tanner once?

Rich: You know that doesn’t really matter to me, you look at Chuck Liddell at the 205 pound class, he was very patient with his title shot and did his thing. I would say that Chuck probably fought the sport as a business rather than completely seeking the title. The UFC signed a three fight deal with me, which means they are there and they’re thinking of keeping me in the long run of things, and that’s always a positive outlook for the 185 pound class. If they decide to have a title shot without me in it, then so be it. If I perform like I am supposed to, then eventually the title shot will be there for me as well.

MMARR: Off question ,does it bother you that two of you Team Extreme members, Lawler and Jeremy Horn, fight middleweight, and if it ever came down to it somehow down the line where everyone positioned themselves for a title shot, and you had to fight one of them, would that be an option for you and would you be o.k. for that fight?

Rich: Funny, I was talking to Monte about that the other day and prior to me moving down to 185, I discussed with Monte as to whether or not Jeremy was going to be moving to 185, because he and I are pretty good friends and he’s a great training partner. I love having him in my corner when I can. I went to Korea with him this year and he’s worked in my corner several places. I’ve been up to Utah and he’s been down here to Cincinnati and everything else. Definitely, that wouldn’t be a thing. Problem is Robbie Lawler and Tony Fryklund both are in the 185 pound class with the UFC, I do not think, I’m not particularly interested in fighting either one of those two because I would like to be welcome to still train at the Miletich camp. And I know Fryklund is out there in Vegas, but you know going up there and training occasionally throughout the year you develop friendships with both of those guys. So that’s not something I would particularly be interested in. I’m sure that Monte would do whatever was necessary to pursue that didn’t happen. You never know, we would have to discuss that at the time.

MMARR: I agree, I know Pat Miletich has made comments that he does not like his fighters possibly fighting each other. It was interesting to see your thoughts on that. Just real quick, I am going to mention a few names and can you give me the first thoughts that pop into your head.

MMARR: David Terrell…

Rich: I hear his jiu-jitsu is great, we didn’t see enough in the last UFC to tell if his standup is good or not. I’m interested to see a longer fight with him banging it out a little bit.

David Terrell after knocking out Matt Lindland

MMARR: Matt Lindland…

Rich: Great wrestler, you can’t stop the takedown on somebody like that. If I was fighting Matt Lindland, I would expect the fight to eventually go to the ground.

MMARR: What are your thoughts on Joe Riggs?

Rich: Heavy hitter. I’ve trained with Joe Doerksen and I know Joe’s slick on the ground and Riggs just nullified his guard in that last fight and looked real good.

MMARR: Would you stand up with Riggs if you ever fought him or would you take him down?

Rich: Honestly, I’d stand up with anybody. I really do believe that I would be willing to throw hands with just about anyone in this sport.

MMARR: Even Tanner…

Rich: Even Tanner’s a good fighter. Our last fight I got the best of him. I’m sure he and I will meet each other again down the road but just consistent. Seems to somehow come out on top, I have a lot of respect for the guy.

MMARR: Phil Baroni? Not too many people think very highly of Baroni. Do you think he is an o.k. fighter or is he a legitimate top ten Middleweight fighter?

Rich: I tell you what, I’ve met Phil, I like Phil, we call each other occasionally and I say hi to him. He’s really a nice guy off of the scene. I know he and Matt have their differences and all that but personally, I like the guy. I think he’s a great fighter. I think maybe there’s some things going wrong with his training in the last couple of fights or something like that. He just hasn’t been able to figure it out. I know there have been some reports of his medical condition and things like that. So I don’t know exactly what is affecting his fight game. But to go back when he fought Suloev in the UFC, and Suloev hit him with that straight knee illegally. They were going to give him the five minutes to recover and Phil Baroni just shook it off and like let’s do this. A fighter like that, that’s the Phil Baroni I think of when I think of a good fighter.

MMARR: What are your thoughts on Randy Couture?

Rich: Randy, you can’t say anything bad about the guy. What do you say, he’s the heavyweight champion and moves down to light heavyweight and dominates there. I would love to have a career like that when I reach the end of the road. I would like to look back on my career and say that it mimics someone like Randy’s.

MMARR: And real quick, last one, Chuck Liddell?

Rich: Class act guy. Like we talked about earlier, he showed his patience in the 205 pound weight class. Went through several opponents he didn’t need to. Great stand-up and he looked good against Tito. Chuck just doesn’t talk a lot of trash and says what he is going to do and does it. I enjoy watching Chuck fight.

MMARR: If, or should I say when, you defeat Jorge Rivera at UFC 50, who would you like to fight next or who do you think the UFC has in line for you next?

Rich: First of all let me say this, I have been really focusing on Rivera and have not looked much beyond him. You can’t do that when you are going up against a tough opponent. But I have looked at the situation in the middle weight class, and with Robbie fighting Tanner and Fryklund fighting Salaverry, that all depends on who wins those fights. There has been a little bit of controversy between Riggs and Terrell on the internet, so I know people will start calling for that fight. I don’t know what is going to happen. As long as I am progressing, that’s all that matters.

MMARR: Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?

Rich: For those of you who have been waiting for me to get back into the UFC, make sure you watch this Fri. because I am going to do my best to put on an exciting show!

MMARR: I know a lot of our fans and fans on the internet, have been waiting for you to get your well deserved shot back at in the UFC and I think this is a great thing they brought you back. So I want to say thank you and good luck at UFC 50 and hopefully you will pull out the victory up there.

Rich: Thanks a lot! I’m going up there to put on an exciting show and I’m just excited, I can’t wait! We leave Mon. and next Fri. we are less than a week away. I’m just excited, God bless and I’ll see you up there next week hopefully.

MMARR: Thanks Rich.