thanks. ttt
i think okami will take this by decision
Man, I really hope Franklin loses this one. Even if he doesn't, he's going to have his hands full with whoever comes out on top in the Silva/Marquardt match.
can't wait for this on Youtube!
Franklin talks upcoming UFC 72 bout against Okami
By Sean McClure on June 4, 2007
After a disappointing loss to Anderson Silva last October, Rich Franklin got back to his winning ways by defeating Jason MacDonald at UFC 68 in March of this year. Scheduled to fight Martin Kampmann at UFC 72: Victory in Belfast Ireland, Rich was busy preparing to fight the talented rising star. When Kampmann had to pull out due to injury, Rich waited to hear from the UFC on who his new opponent would be. He received the phone call and will face Yushin Okami on PPV on June 16th. Rich took time out of his busy training schedule to talk exclusively with MMAFighting.com, giving his thoughts on his next trip to the Octagon.
MMAFighting.com: When they switched your opponent to Okami what was your reaction?
Rich Franklin: I was actually out of town the night that I found out that Kampmann was hurt. I got a call from a friend of mine. I called my manager to find out if there was any truth to the matter. He said he hadn't heard anything from the UFC. He called the UFC and called me back saying that the UFC was going to have to find somebody. It took a couple of days before they came back with a name for me. Actually, they had thrown Paulo Filho and Yushin Okami. And so Monte and I were discussing the whole scenario, and I told Monte [Cox] to just let me know who the UFC decides to come back with.
MMAFighting.com: So, it wasn't your choice?
Rich Franklin: No, not at all. Several days later they came back with Yushin
Okami as the replacement. I said that's fine. Either way, I was fine. I essentially said, "Cool, let me know what they decide."
MMAFighting.com: Since this fight is in Ireland, how much do you think the time change will affect your game?
Rich Franklin: I don't think if it is going to affect it a whole lot. We had talked about getting there a few days early. I mean, they're five hours ahead of us so it's a good thing I don't live on the west coast for this one. When you are going ahead in time it's not nearly as bad as going back in time. Even if I fight midnight Belfast time it's only like 7 PM eastern time which is the time that my body is used to performing anyway. I don't think it's going to be a big adjustment on that kind of stuff. On the flip side of that, considering my last fight that was like an hour and a half from me in Columbus, [Laughs] 10-12 hours on a plane is not going to be fun.
MMAFighting.com: Talk about the strength that Okami possesses. I know you say all of the time that you train the same for everyone, but when you switched from Kampmann as your opponent did you change up your sparring partners?
Rich Franklin: Definitely. The thing is that a lot of people think that when you switch opponents that you make major changes in your training and really you don't. I spend the same amount of time on my wrestling, stand-up, and everything else as I did before. The skeleton of my training all remains the same. The only thing that changes is that when I come in to the gym I am going to choose sparring partners that are more like Okami rather than sparring partners that are more like Kampmann. That's really the main thing that has changed.
MMAFighting.com: So, really you're going to give me the canned answer to this question: "Whoever the UFC puts in front of me." [Laughs] I have to believe if you get past Okami that Dana has to say that you have earned your way back. Do you feel the same way that you are either number 2 or number one after this fight?
Rich Franklin: I would think so, but again it really doesn't matter to me, if it all works out and I beat Okami...I mean we have July 7th with Silva and Marquardt on the card, we don't really know who's going to win that one. The question you have to ask yourself is if Silva were to lose would they look into a rematch with the two of us or would they give me a title shot? I would think that both fights are marketable and really either direction I go they are both tough competitors. Whichever direction they wanted to go, I could care less.
MMAFighting.com: On a side note, what did you think of Chuck vs. Rampage?
Rich Franklin: I would not have bet on that fight before hand. It was a very tough call. It could have gone either way. Like I said, I definitely would not have bet on that fight.
TTT for the link
Thank you.
Thanks.
Franklins the man. Ive always been very impressed with his humble nature.
I think if silva loses give franklin the title shot anyways. Silva can work his way back up for a title shot, just like Franklin is.