One of the great strengths of the UFC is that it treats its titles seriously. Whereas its competitors in boxing and pro-wrestling have devalued their titles the UFC not only places plenty of emphasis on championship matches but ensure that they are consequences to losing titles. Champions who lose are not protected with rematch clauses and soon find themselves denied the attention and money that comes from headlining. Some manage to fight their way back and earn another title shot, but most former champions will eventually completely fall out of championship contention. Such fighters will be consoled with induction into the Hall of Fame and regular spots third from the top against opponents that are ‘interesting’. Instead of fighting for titles it’s about ‘dream matches’ or settling old scores.
Rich Franklin knows what it feels like to reach a dead end and be dismissed from title contention. Even though he probably had enough to defeat most other top contenders at middleweight, his second defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva meant that it was unlikely he would ever get a shot at winning his title back while the Brazilian continued to reign. He would instead be moved into the ‘interesting fight’ category with matches against protégé Matt Hammil and for the TUF9 coaches spot against Dan Henderson using storylines and gimmicks to hide the fact that Franklin was moving nowhere near to title contention. His lack of direction wasn’t helped by the UFC derailing his move up in weight by booking him in back to back catchweight ‘superfights’ against Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.
The match against Belfort was his fifth in thirteen months (third pay per view main event as well) and saw Franklin’s body finally give way. A tired, beaten up Ace was demolished by the returning Phenom. It would be nine months before Franklin would return, managing to knockout Chuck Liddell towards the end of the first round. The knockout saved Franklin from certain defeat due to doctor’s stoppage as Liddell had actually broken his arm with a high kick. Another injury lay off means that the fight against Griffin will be only his second in seventeen months. Refreshed from the rest and with wins over Hammil, Silva and Liddell people are starting to talk about Franklin as a possible contender once again.
But that is largely because of who he is facing. Griffin is the most important American-born fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. Few comes close to replicating the impact of his star turn at the first-ever The Ultimate Finale and his progress from contestant to contender and ultimately champion. After being defeated by fellow TUF winner Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title, Griffin was put in a genuine superfight against Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Like he did with Franklin, the Middleweight Champion would seemingly destroy Griffin’s otherwise strong championship credentials as over a few short minutes Silva would first make him look ponderous and then make Griffin mentally quit. The impact on his popularity was seen by the booming cheers that greeted Silva as the result was announced and the chorus of boos as Griffin ran to the back. It was also shown by the surprisingly poor performance of his main event bout against Tito Ortiz. Due to injury and other commitments Griffin has not fought since then, an absence of almost fifteen months. The hope will be that the time away will restore some of the luster to his reputation with the casual fan and so revive his drawing power. Because of that most people assume that even today Griffin is a couple of wins away from a title shot.
Both men are at a crossroads in their career. If either wins they at the very least move into a Final Eliminator for the world title, probably against the winner of the match between Jon Jones and Ryan Bader. If both Randy Couture and Rampage Jackson lose then they may well fight for the title in their next match. For Franklin a win means that over three years since he lost his last championship match he will have finally fought his way back from the brink of championship irrelevance. But whoever loses will no longer be talked about as a possible challenger. They will have ceased to be a contender. For Griffin that would mean an unsatisfying and perhaps unpalatable career full of more matches like the one he had against Ortiz at UFC 106.
Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin are stuck in the weird twilight between genuine contender and veteran superstar. Both will leave that limbo at the end of their match at UFC 126, but only one can leave by confirming themselves as a serious force in the light heavyweight division.
