Rich Franklin: Back Home From Japan - 1/9/2004
by Michael DiSanto

I typically try to write an interesting lead in for interviews and stories. You know, something to catch your attention or help you identify with the words that follow. But thats not necessary for this piece. Why? Because every single human being reading has been in Rich Franklins shoes. Weve all lost for the first time at something that mattered dearly to us, whether in sport or in life. And those of us who are ultra competitive fully understand that nasty feeling in his gut right about now.

Suffice it to say, it sucks. Theres no way to sugar coat it. But champions learn and grow from losses. Thats what makes them great. Michael Jordan got cut from the varsity basketball team as a high school sophomore. Bernard Hopkins lost his first professional fight. Hey, Matt Hughes lost twice to Dennis Hallman. It happens. If you want to jump off the bandwagon, fine. But Im quite certain that Franklin will be back with a renewed focus and determination when he returns to the ring on March 2nd! Lets hear what he had to say on the subject.

InsideFighting: When did you get back from Japan?
Rich Franklin: I actually got back really late on the first [of January], like 11 oclock in the evening or something.

IF: You flew right out after the fight?
RF: Yeah. They did that for the Inoki show. My buddy Jorge fought in the ZST show in December and they did the same thing. He flew out the very next day.

IF: Tell me a little bit about going over to Japan to fight. Whats it like compared to fighting in the UFC? How was dealing with Inoki? Whats the crowd like?
RF: I didnt deal with [Antonio] Inoki myself. I shook his hand, but thats about it. The crowds over there are a bit different. The fans are a little bit different too. Win or lose, the fighters are looked at as special, I guess you could say. It was actually kind of surprising to me that so many fans were interested in getting my autograph after the fight even though Id lost. But the worst thing about fighting in Japan is the travel. From the time that I left my hotel room until I got to my house was 33 hours, and thats not including the 14 hour time change. It was unfortunate because we actually flew into Norita, but we were supposed to fly into Osaka. So we had to fly from Osaka to Norita, and we had a layover in Norita. Then we flew from Norita to Houston, and had another layover there. Those layovers were huge blocks of time. They were 5 plus hours each time.

IF: Wow.
RF: Yeah, its hell traveling over there. And once you get there, you have to really take some time to get your sleep schedule back on track. So you need a few days before the fight to really try to fix things.

IF: How early did you arrive before your fight?
RF: I left here on the 26th, and by the time I got there it was late on the 27th. So about 3 days before the fight.

IF: Were you fully recovered from the travel and adjusted to the time change by fight time?
RF: You see, thats the thing. Im not really sure. If you talk to a lot of the experienced fighters over there, theyll tell you that youre more tired than you realize even when you feel fine with the time zone experience. When youre there, you get tired at like 8 oclock in the evening, and then you wake up 1 oclock in the morning and you are wide awake. The same thing happened when I got home from Japan as well. Id go to bed at 10 oclock in the evening and Id wake up at 1 oclock or 2 oclock in the morning. I just couldnt sleep any more for the first couple of days when I got home. Actually, it took me longer to get my sleep back in order than when I went to Japan.

IF: Obviously, the fight wasnt on pay per view, so take me through your fight with Lyoto Machida. What did you know about your opponent going into the fight? What happened once the bell rang?
RF: Okay. I knew Lyoto trained with Rico Chipperelli. Id seen two of his fights. He had two professional fights. I didnt know how many amateur fights hed had, and I still really dont know to be honest. But apparently hes had quite a few. I saw him on tape and he looked like a decent, well-rounded fighter. You know, somebody who isnt afraid to throw his hands standing up, and he knows how to work for position really well once the fight goes to the ground. So I knew what I was getting into going into the fight. I dont know what the problem was once the bell rang. Not to take anything away from Lyoto himself because he really fought a great fight. I got completely outboxed that night. Im almost actually scared to see the tape when it gets here to my house. I have yet to see the fight, but Im quite sure Im going to be more than disappointed in my performance. But I wasnt moving real well. My footwork was off. You know, he tagged me right off the bat, which probably made me a bit more tentative and timid. When I was slipping punches, I was using too much movement. You know, kind of over slipping them and things like that. It just wasnt a good fight for me. And once he landed the left cross, it was all down hill from there. I ate a couple more punches in the first round. I was throwing some knees, and I think a couple of them landed, but nothing real big. But we went to the ground and he tried working some hands on the ground a little bit. You know, some ground and pound. But I was able to defend that real well. Then we got back on our feet and the first round ended. And then we came back out for the second round, and I dont really remember anything from the second round to be quite honest with you.

IF: Who was in your corner that night?
RF: My buddy Jorge Gurgel that I train with here in Cincinnati, and Jeremy Horn.

IF: What advice did they give you after the first round?
RF: Heres the thing. When I was in the fight, they were giving me advice like you need to move more, youre not moving, youre flat on your feet, put your combinations together because I was just throwing single punches. I can remember them yelling that stuff at me during the first round, and I even checked in with them at one point. I remember looking at them and nodding as if to say okay, okay, Ill fix it. But it never came to be. I just dont know. They were actually telling me the same stuff when I came back to my corner. They were both saying man, youre not fighting like you normally fight. Youve got to outbox this guy. Youve got to put your combinations together and move your feet. When I went out for the second round, thats what I planned to do, but I just got clipped.

IF: It kind of sounds to me like you just had an off night. You know, weve all had off nights in sports. Is that what it felt like to you?
RF: Yeah, it did. I think with the traveling, and it being my first time in Japan, that might have affected me. It was hard. I didnt get a good warm-up before the fight. We relaxed a little too long and lost track of time. When we had to come out for the pre-show, I didnt realize that I was the second fight and I wouldnt be allowed back into my locker room. So I came into the fight a little flat. It was also very cold in the arena. It was so cold that you could see your breath. With all those things coming into play, maybe that helped cause me to have a bad night. But like I said, I can make excuses all day. What it really boils down to is that I didnt fight as well as I would have liked to, and Lyoto fought a great night. So he deserved the victory that night.

IF: What was your motivation to go over to Japan and fight? Obviously, weve seen that the UFC has turned their backs on other up and coming fighters whove fought in other organizations and had unfortunate results.
RF: Well, heres the thing with the UFC. I fought on their September show. Some of the UFC reps talked to me about fighting on their November show. But I had a pulled groin that I was fighting with at the September show, and I needed to take some time off to nurse that injury. So the November show was out of the question. At that point, it was not set in stone, and I hadnt talked to the UFC reps or anything, but it was the general understanding that I was going to fight on the January UFC show. Then all of a sudden I wasnt on the January card, so I needed to find another fight because 1) I needed to stay busy, and 2) I needed the money. I made a comment in my interview with MMA Weekly about money. When I went to Japan, a lot of it was money motivated. Not so much for big money, but this is my primary form of income and how I pay my bills. The purse money I earned in September, which was $10,000, had been exhausted paying my rent and my other bills. You know, after your managerial fees and taxes, youre down to a little over $5,000 or maybe $6,000 spendable cash. So I needed some sort of income to keep me afloat, and Japan was the answer at that time. Thats why I went to Japan.

IF: So its a 3-fight deal with Inoki, right?
RF: I havent seen the contract yet. But apparently Monte Cox has. Hes back in Japan right now with 3 guys who are fighting in the ZST show in a 16-man bracket. He and I were talking and the word is that theyre going to offer me a 3-fight, non-exclusive contract. So I would be able to fight with the UFC if they were interested in having me back. But I dont know if they would be interested in me at this point since I dropped the ball in my last fight. It would not be a breach of my contract to fight for the UFC since its a non-exclusive deal with the UFC.

IF: So youve not actually signed the contract yet?
RF: No. I have not put the ink to the paper yet.

IF: I take it, then, that youve had no communication with anyone at Zuffa since your fight?
RF: No, I havent. And I probably wouldnt have any personal communication with the people at Zuffa. They would probably contact Monte [Cox] directly.

IF: Fair enough. Thats a good point.
RF: Now, that may have happened already. I dont know. There was a 3-day period when Monte was back before he left for Japan when I didnt talk to him. So its possible that he could have talked to Zuffa about some stuff. I dont know. Im in the dark about this stuff until Monte gets back.

IF: Well, youll probably never say this publicly, but I certainly will. If Zuffa decides to drop you because you because you just lost a fight Japan when you needed money, then thats completely ridiculous. Tim Sylvia is the only major title holder (or former title holder) who is undefeated professionally. EVERYONE else has a loss. Thats just part of life in this sport. I certainly hope that well see you in the UFC again soon.
RF: Yeah, I hope so. I like fighting for the UFC. The organization treated me really nicely when I fought for them. If they approached me with a fight offer, Id definitely take that into consideration.

IF: Talk to me a little bit about your brother, Greg. I understand hes fighting on January 16th.
RF: Yes. Hell be fighting for Kerry Schall, who is better known as Meat Truck, on a show here in Cincinnati called Ice. Theyve been doing that show for awhile. Actually, Jeremy Horn will be fighting on the card against a local fighter. My brother will be fighting a guy named Buddy Lewis, and its going to be a pretty tough fight for him.

IF: Whats his fighting style?
RF: He fights similarly to me. He likes to work his hands quite a bit, but hes proficient on the ground. Hes build like me, but maybe not quite as lean. We fight alike. Theres only 2 ½ years between us, so he fights similar to me. He doesnt perform to my level yet. But with the proper training and time, he can be a really good fighter.

IF: Talk to me about Team Extreme and Pat Miletich. You seem to have a good relationship with those guys. Do you plan on training more with them going forward?
RF: I like all the Miletich guys up there in Iowa. Theyre all great guys to train with. Tim Sylvia called me up before my fight and asked me if Id like him to come down and help me out. I told him that I really appreciated it. Theyre just really nice guys. Jens Pulver is a really nice guy. I could name all the guys individually, but Id probably leave someone out, which would be bad. But the main guy up there that I really enjoy working with is Jeremy Horn. Hes an experienced fighter. He fights at, or close to, my weight. And he has a bag of knowledge and tricks that I can really pull from, so I really enjoy working with him. When he fought in that IFC tournament in Denver, I flew out there for a week and a half to work with him. I asked him to come down here and work with me for my fight, but in his defense it was a late request and he already had someone flying into Salt Lake to work with. So he couldnt come down here. But I really enjoy working with the Miletich guys. Anytime I get the chance, I really enjoy going up there to train. I love going up there. I mean, Robbie Lawler, Tony Frykland, Matt Hughes and all those guys are really great training partners.

IF: Do you think the training and access to sparring that you get in Cincinnati is enough to stay at the elite level or do you have to seek out outside training and sparring? I mean no disrespect to the guys in Cincinnati, but I just dont know the Cincinnati fight scene.
RF: No, I completely understand the question. I get some really good training down here. Jorge has a black belt, and he has some great students for me to work with. Mike Pat is a good brown belt for me to work with. He competes as well and we weigh about the same. Hes a good training partner. And Nick Oberdine trains with me down here in the morning. These are some of Jorges students that I train with, and theyre great guys. Like I said, Jorge is a black belt, so I have a good, good jiu-jitsu reference down here. I go to a separate boxing coach. He runs my mitt work, and brings in different boxers for me to spar with. Thats great work. We also kind of team with a guy down here named Nick Roe, who runs a Muay Thai school. He does a lot of my Muay Thai mitt work for me, and has been a great teammate and a good resource for me lately. We kind of pool stuff. He takes the ground knowledge from us and we take the Thai knowledge from him. And then theres Billy Rush, who does all of my strength and conditioning work. But then I also have my original teammates like Josh Rafferty and Kerry Schall to workout with. So I get pretty good overall training. But its just good when I can get a guy like Tim Sylvia or Jeremy Horn come down to Cincinnati or go up there for a week to train with them because their style might be more like the guy that Im fighting.

IF: Sure, that makes sense. You said earlier that you werent sure whats next. But the Japanese media is reporting that youre signed to fight in the next Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in March?
RF: I havent yet put my ink to the paper, like I said. But Monte told me before he left that theyre planning on putting me in their March show like you said. Thats the last thing we talked about before he left. Now, whether theres any truth to a 3-fight deal with them or not, I just dont know. It may very well be the case. I just dont know.

IF: I believe Monte Cox said on MMA Weekly Radio (which is a great show) that they are offering you a 3-fight deal.
RF: Yeah, I havent read anything online about that. Ive kind of been bummed since my fight, so Ive tried to stay off the Internet because people are kind of jamming on me right now [we both laugh].

IF: I hear you, man! Last couple of questions. What are your goals for 2004?
RF: Heres the thing. When you get into the UFC, people start talking about title-this and title-that. I would love to earn a UFC title because its a well respected title here in my home country. But ultimately my goal has always been that this is what I do for a living. This is the image I was trying to portray on MMAWeekly. When Im fighting in 2004, Im trying to make money. Not a lot of money, but enough money to live on. Im still in that transition stage where I make money, but its really not the kind of money where I can live on my own without my wifes money. So what I want 2004 to be is a breakthrough year where I make enough income to provide for my family. If the UFC has me back and Im in a title hunt, great. If not, as long as Im fighting, winning and making enough money to survive on, then thats what Im interested in.

IF: Lastly, is there any message that you want to send to your fans? Theres a lot of stuff out there on the Internet about you, but its not surprising to me that a lot of it is very supportive towards you.
RF: I know a lot of people wont see the fight, which is probably to my benefit! [we both laugh] Im going to take a couple of weeks off, but its really motivating when you drop the ball like that, especially for the first time. Its probably the hardest, I would assume. Im not necessarily going to train harder because I train hard for all my fights. But Im going to switch some things around and train more intelligently. So Im going to do really well in my next performance. If theres anyone out there that I disappointed with my performance, I just want to say that Im sorry. Just keep an eye out for me in my next fight.

IF: Personally, I think do just fine this year. I think youre going to have a breakthrough year in 2004, so I look for great things from you. Well definitely keep following your progress. Good luck to you.
RF: Thank you. And God bless you.

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