I THINK HE SHOULD CAUSE WE ALL KNOW HE CAN’T COMPETE WITH THE SPIDER

DONT DO IT BRO!!!..Man, Ace will get worked at 205. Really undersized for that weightclass and not enough power.

I see Rich getting by the very few 205 chumps but as far as being a contender for the belt I don’t believe he will do well. Fight Hendo and see where you stand first against him, then think about a move up. Rampage, Ice and Forrest will handle Franklin with ease.

I think that is his best option, but I want him to fight Hendo before he moves up.

Tough situation for Rich. I think he would find himself in the exact same situation at 205. He would be solid, but not able to beat the best.

yeah hed deifnetly make it far in the ranks..but he will definetly have a reall hard time getting anywhere int he top 5! to be honest this monte cox being a greedy scum…he wants to market him with more fights! there is a reason the rest of the middle weights cant get past him…because the rest have no absolute chance againts silva! only franklin and hendo are the ones closest to being any threst to spider! i think he should stay at 185 and have some of the bigger welter weights move up! or wait till some of the smaller 205 guys move down! and fighting hendo will answer questions if rich can compete at 205 anymore!

Running from Bisping!!!!!!

I dont know about this idea. Franklin cant beat Silva but he is still one of the best middleweights in the UFC which is the 2nd weakest division behind Heavyweight. I think Rich should Fight Dan Henderson at middleweight before deciding weather or not to move up in weight. Fans deserve to find who the 2nd best middleweight in the UFC is. Franklin should stay in the middleweight division a little longer until some of the up and comers step up and replace him. He needs to pass the toarch to someone else 1st. Taking him out of the division right now would be a big loss to the division.

There are many middleweights out there that he hasnt fought that arent named Anderson Silva.

If he does move up to LHW, I think he could do well against many of the top guys. For example: He could do well against jardine, Forrest and he wouild probably easily beat Rashad at 205….So either way I think he has at least 2 good years left!

As far as fights that pay the most, 205 is a good option. There are really only 2 money makers for him @ 185 – Hendo & Bisping – and Bisping is a few fights away from being able to challenge Rich. Ace can move to 205 and immediately have three or four bigtime fights, including a fan favorite matchup w/Forest (assuming he is not the champ). Also possible matchups w/Wandy, Jardine and maybe even a rematch w/Lyoto? I don’t care either way, I just think he would be able to make more money @ 205, cause there really are not very many interesting matchups for him @ 185 – and he has basically taken himself out of title contention by repeatedly saying no one wants to see Franklin-Silva III. He is right.

i think he should stay @ 185. theres still a ton of good fights for him. Henderson, Cote, Leben, Wandy(if he drops). i would rather see those fights first.

Sounds like a good move, at least while Anderson is holding the belt.

Frankiln moving to LH that would be like comitting suicide with a few more surgeries. Franklin has a better chance of going to elite xc and fighting Robby Lawler.
Or he could just retire while he’s still healthy.

Catch-weight fight at 195 with Henderson? Both guys can do it, it will make his jump to LHW easier, and Hendo can go either way after the fight.

I know franklin vs sivla 1 and 2 were disasterous losses for franklin but I still belleive that when sila gets beat it will be on that ground. We saw slimps of it in the lutter fight and the hendo fight. Maybe rich should take a year to work his ground game? last time all he worked on was the clinch. Rich seems tough on the ground, as per his lutter fight and the okomi fight. Just a thought. And yes, I do realize that anderson silva is a black belt in BJJ and is no slouch on the ground. Lets just put it this way, he’s been in more trouble on the ground than he’s ever been in on his feet. Also his losses have been submission losses. The loss to Okomi was from the illegal blow from his back, but okomi did have him on his back.

how bout welterweight?

I don’t think he should do it. I don’t think he has the power or the size to beat the likes of Liddell, Forest, Rampage, etc. I want to see him fight Bisping, Leban, and Hendo first. Don’t tell us there are nobody left to fight at 185. Here’s three good ones right here!

Even if Franklin was able to keep up with Hendo, granted that they eventually fight… I don’t think thats solid evidence that he will be successful at 205. Hendo is a freak of nature and a tough SOB with a lot of greco-roman wrestling knowledge. That’s how he’s able to hang with such bigger guys, but don’t get me wrong he does have gorilla strength.

Franklin’s technique can’t even stop the Muay Thai clinch at 185, so I think it would be murder to get in arms/knees length of a bigger MT specialist like Wanderlei. We all saw what he’s done to Quinton.

My guess is Franklin’s success in 205 won’t even get the chance to take off and establish himself as a LHW.

I love seeing Ace go out and compete. But as much heart as he has, I really don’t think he has it in him to stand up with the elite on either weight class. He’s in the upper level (obviously) of the 185 class, but I don’t see him cracking the top 5 of the 205lb class.

I could see him doing well at 205
He’d run through competition lyke Rashad or Bonnar in my opnion
Maybe its gonna be a surprise announcement from Dana that the Hendo – Franklin fight will happen but at 205
Now that i wouldn’t mind seein cause the winner won’t get an automatic shot lyke they would if the fight were to take place at 185
Hendo’s an animal, but still doesn’t deserve a 3rd shot at a title in 4 fights

sucks for the loser if Franklin and Henderson have to fight it out at 185 or even 205….Henderson would be 3 straight losses and Rich…well it would just place him at #3 in 185lb division….Rich needs to work on his ground game and wrestling and maybe go to Thialand and practive his muy thai and then string some more big wins together and challenge Anderson Silva a 3rd time a year or so from now….

Could be interesting. Lots more fight opportunities for him at 205 than at 185 currently. There’s what right now, Hendo(who I wouldn’t be surprised to see return to 205 too), and that’s it, unless Wanderlei drops. I don’t think he’d be giving up too much of a size advantage against some of the top LHW’s out there, and worst comes to worst and it doesn’t work out, he can just drop to 185 again.

HE WILL GET HAMMERED AT 205 HE CAN BARELY STAND NOW

Franklin must be a idiot

I like it. Especially if he beats Henderson. Rich used to fight at 205 so it isnt foreign to him. Yeah he might be better at 185 in general but like Cox said, the UFC (and most of the fans for that matter) dont wanna see another Silva fight. Let him go up and if he beats 2 decent guys and a contender then he should be able to fight for the title. At that point win or lose that title fight and I say he should be able to fight Silva back at 185 if Silva is still undefeated.

He’s in a tough spot. If he stays at middleweight all he does is beat everyone down knocking all the #2’s off of the title shot picture. Nobody will get by Rich in middleweight and Anderson will sit there with nobody to fight because nobody can get by Rich.

Franklin looked not too great against Lutter. I think Nate Marquardt can beat Franklin. Rich has nothing to gain by staying at Middleweight. Sure, Hendo vs. Franklin would be entertaining, but what’s the point? If Rich wins, then what? Another Silva thrashing?

I think there are many MWs that can give Ace a hard time. Is Monte Cox saying nobody else can beat Ace? I disagree. Even Bisping will give Ace a good run.

I’d like to see Rich take on Hendo, Leben, and Bisping before he goes anywhere.

I guess I’m in the minority here, seeing as I wouldn’t mind seeing Franklin-Silva III. I’m not saying it would be the event of the year, but damn, it can’t be any worse than the Tito-Scamrock trilogy… at least it’s two LIKEABLE fighters.

I’d like to see what The Spider could do at 205. I’ve read interviews where he’s mentioned that he has a pretty big cut to make 185. If he could bulk up a bit, without degrading his speed and agility, then perhaps he could make some waves in the LHW division. I love “Ace,” but I can’t visualize him penetrating the Top 5 as a LHW right now.

There would be more exciting match ups for Frankling at 205. Also his cardio isn’t what it use to be. I believe his age + weight cutting is begining to wear him down a little. He should be able to go a good 3 rounds at 205 without the weight drop.

so franklin fought at heavyweight at the beginning of his career so maybe he could go straight to super-heavyweight and chuck needs to move to heavyweight, hughes to middle and heath herring should just retire. i don’t understand why everyone seems to think that there can be only the champ and #1 contender. people still want to see big names fight no matter the weight or whether or not it’s for a belt.

He would have more chance at HW than LHW!! seriously!

Running from Bisping!

Rich v Hendo is a good measuring stick of how Rich would do at 205. Hendo is a legit top 10 in both mw and lhw.

I’d like to see Rich at HW personally and just slug it out with some brutes. I dont think he would do well at LHW. Get fat Rich.

henderson would destroy franklin, better everywhere except MAYBE standing up, but thats until that big straight right lands, i think henderson would beat silva in a re-match but it’s hard for me to say because i haven’t seen the first hendo-silva fight, i just have a hard time believing silva could beat him again.
Henderson-marquardt would be interesting
henderson-quarry
henderson-leben
I’m not totally convinced that silva is that great, i think too many people play to his game

Dan Henderson would destroy Rich.

I like Rich, but there’s no way he’ll perform at a higher level at LHW. Isn’t that why he left that division in the first place? – Because he was a small 205’er.

Don’t look past the MW division, Rich. You still have HENDO to go through. HENDO is the perfect next fight.

Rich is #2 in the division but until he finds out a way to beat Anderson he needs to look in other directions even if it means moving up.

i think he would be a threat to alot of those 205’s.
but i just think it would be cool for rich to mix it up a bit seeing as how he has no chance at getting the 185 belt back. so why not move up. he can keep on beating the MW’s over and over till losing to silva or test out his
ability to be dominant in the 205 category. i think it would be a good move!!!

I think he should give LHW a shot and if it doesn’t work out for him, then I think he should give officiating a shot. I think he would be good at it. At least he did officiated one of Matt Hamill’s fights before Hamill came to UFC.

I don’t see the problem with Franklin staying at MW. He’s the gatekeeper to the title shot. If a MW can’t get past him, then that MW is not ready for Anderson Silva anyway.

I seriously dont see the problem with him playing both sides. Gatekeeper in 185 and striving competitor in 205. It makes it easier for him to get big fights.

If Lyota loses then Franklin should take him.

Guys the spider isnt indestructable.
If Lutter can mount and pound and Henderson can steal the first round then he does have a weak spot somewhere. Any of the top ww’s would be exciting to watch vs him Alves, GSP, Fitch, Koscheck or even some Lhw (Sherk & BJ) (everyone cuts guys)

And Silva would be good to battle vs W.Silva, Chuck, Rampage. I think right now everyone is just waiting for the spider to fall off his throne.

They need to bring in some out of UFC fighters in Asia to battle this guy. There has to be someone out there…

Definately in his best interests. He could compete with some of the light heavys. For some reason I would to see him fight the Iceman. Being a gatekeeper in any sense is pointless for him. He can’t fight Silva again, so he should move on.

rich shoud go back to his former job as a stunt double for jim carrey

i been saying this since his 2nd loss to silva…Franklin would do fine at 205 and i think will be a wicked move for him!! he did fight at 200 for a long time so after a few months of bulking up to about 225 of everyday weight he will be fine at 205…

Franklin vs Liddell, Franklin vs Wanderlai Silva, Franklin vs Griffin I cant wait for that sh%t

Its the best move for him, come on look at Randy Couture. Franklin can bulk up 20 pounds of muscle.

Forget about Franklin changing divisions. I’d like to see Anderson Silva drop to welter weight and have a fight with GSP, a WW BJ Penn, or some of the other talent in the 170 division.

Picture this senerio:

Silva honorably leaves the MW division and the two top MW’s fight for a vacant/interm MW title. Franklin vs Leben or Franklin vs. Cote. Then eventually that champ (let’s just say Franklin) fights guys like Hendo, Bisping, Okami, ect.

While this happens, either Silva dominates the WW division or may possibly lose to GSP or BJ Penn. If Silva loses to GSP or Penn, this would make for a more interesting Franklin vs. Silva 3. Silva off a loss and Franklin on a 3 or 4 win streak.

If Silva dominates WW along with GSP and BJ Penn, I suggest Anderson Silva must fight his next opponent blind folded with both arms tied around his back.

imagine how scary Anderson Silva right now? all of the 185 competitors that has some possible title contention are all destroy by rich franklin, which is no match against anderson silva..

okami is the only one remaining that can cahllenge anderson silva at this point, “& also beat by franklin”

then if okami cant get through it, then who else?

matt lindland? i dont think so, hendo is far better wrestler than lindland & got destroyed by anderson silva too.

The one to move to LHW should be Silva. He has proved all he can prove at MW and it only makes sense for him to move on to another challenge. Going down in weight is not the answer, even though a fight with GSP would be the most interesting WW/MW fight for Silva. By going to LHW, he basically opens a huge door for himself with alot of talent to make his way through for another champoinship. I would absolutely LOVE to see him smash Tito. It would also allow the UFC’s MW to regroup and create some hype for future title defenses.