UFC 88: Rich Franklin vs Matt Hamill

Both from Ohio, in another life they could be friends even teammates but on September 6th in Atlanta we will see Rich Franklin face Matt Hamill at 205 for the 1st time since Rich beat Shamrock in 2005 by TKO.

If you are new to MMA, you probably don’t realize the warrior that is Rich Franklin.

Rich Franklin has a master’s degree in education and bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati as was a math teach at Oak hills High School in Cincinnati until he chose to become a fighter full time.

Now with a Record of 23-3, he will make his return to the Light heavyweight Division. Before Anderson Silva the only man to have defeated Ace was Lyoto Machida back in 2003 when only hard core fans knew who either one was.

If you are basing you feelings of Franklin solely on his fights versus Silva, you probably missed the bloody war between him and Evan Tanner where he earned the UFC Middleweight Championship in spades.

Franklin is a well-rounded fighter with Muay Tai and Boxing Skills with a brown belt is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rich won’t have an issue making weight, but he may have an issue with The Hammer’s strength.

Matt Hamill was a 3-time NCAA Division 3 National Champion in wrestling while attending the Rochester Institute of Technology.

You should remember him for the Ultimate Fighter Team Ortiz versus Team Shamrock where he was Tito’s Golden Boy until his an injury during a fight prevented him from continuing.

During the show his freak-like-strength made Hamill into an instance fan-favorite and he proved it TKO victories in 3 out of 4 of his wins. His only loss comes to Michael Bisping in a match I personally feel should have been a decision victory for Hamill, but with the match being in London England Bisping got some home-town-scoring.

With Rich having had such difficulties with stronger opponents in his career many probably think that Hamill will have a slight advantage if this fight gets confirmed.

However my Prediction: Franklin over Hamill by KO in late 2nd Early 3rd.

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