|
|
  - LESSONS LEARNED: FRANKLIN ON SILVA TRAINING
Friday, May 15, 2009 - by Steven Marrocco - MMAWeekly.com
Rich Franklin was caught in the middle.
The former UFC middleweight champ last Friday departed from a short training camp with current king Anderson Silva in preparation for a catch-weight showdown with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99.
A war of words broke out between the Silvas in recent weeks over Wanderlei’s intention to move from light heavyweight to middleweight. The two were training partners in their formative years at Chute Boxe in Curitiba, Brazil.
But Franklin says he’d mapped out the trip to the Los Angeles gym long before the conflict arose.
“None of the situation between Anderson and Wanderlei played in to me going out and training with Anderson,” Franklin told MMAWeekly.com from Seattle, where he trains for another week before heading back to hometown Cincinnati.
The decision was good for gossip circles, but he says it was about good training from a respected fighter.
“I received a call from (Silva’s manager) Ed Soares many, many weeks ago about training with Anderson, and I spoke to Rob, my boxing coach, and Matt (Hume), my MMA coach, and ran the idea by them about training here,” he continued. “We all decided it wasn’t a bad idea, so we headed off.
“Ed told me that Anderson and Wanderlei used to be teammates, and they’re not anymore, and Anderson had a tremendous amount of respect for me, and would like to help me prep for the fight. Aside from that, the whole soap opera of them going back and forth, none of that stuff had even started. In my life, I really, really try to keep myself as drama free as possible. I’m not a guy that likes to encounter conflict; I’d rather avoid it when it’s possible.”
His history with the current champ – two devastating stoppage losses at UFC 64 and 77 – didn’t weigh as heavily as one might expect.
“The UFC’s made it clear that they don’t want me to fight him again, and with that in mind, it made it easy for me to decide that I wasn’t going to be putting myself in a situation that I would perhaps end up having to face him again one day,” said Franklin. “From that point of view, it was just a decision.”
And in the big picture of his UFC 99 training camp, the time in Los Angeles was a drop in the bucket. Other than adjusting to “Brazilian time,” he says he enjoyed the departure from his usual training regimen, which has been focused in Cincinnati and Seattle.
“Aside from the scheduling – we had some scheduling conflicts, guys showing up late for workouts – when we were in the gym training, the training was really good,” said Franklin. “We ran a lot of different drills, and got a little bit of time one-on-one with Anderson. It was definitely an interesting trip, something I’m not used to doing.
“It wasn’t like I was going to learn a bunch of techniques that I didn’t already know, so it didn’t really boil down to that. Any time you go to a different camp, everybody has their own way of training, and the way they structure classes, what they decide to work on, how they divide up their week. It was slightly different than the way we do things.”
He did not get a key to defeat Wanderlei, nor was he looking for it.
“It’s not like Anderson revealed any kind of secrets or anything we didn’t already know,” he said. “It was good work we did down there, but nothing that was a big eye-opener.”
The experience, however, may have changed his feelings about training with Wanderlei in Las Vegas. The former Pride champ invited him to the gym around the time of its opening in March.
“Training at his facility will be different now, because Anderson helped me out for this fight,” he said. “The fact that he even extended the invitation for me to come out there says a lot to me. With that in mind, if something were to ever come up between the two of them, I wouldn’t want to be in Wanderlei’s gym training with them, crossing that line with the possibility that they might fight each other. At this point, I feel like Anderson stuck his neck out for me. I just wouldn’t want to cross that line.”
Would he help out Anderson in a fight with Wanderlei?
“I haven’t really given that much thought,” he said. “To be quite honest, even if I did want to help Anderson get ready for Wanderlei, I’m not sure I’m the best training partner for that anyway. I’m southpaw; he’s not. I don’t move like Wanderlei does. So I’m not sure that would even be an issue to begin with.”
BACK TO THE NEWS
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Related Articles :
- - HEATH HERRING READY FOR HIS NEXT RODEO (Saturday, May 09, 2009)
Heath Herring talks about his upcoming fight with Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 and his time in the UFC..
- - WANDERLEI ON ANDERSON: "I WANT TO FIGHT HIM" (Friday, May 08, 2009)
Wanderlei Silva has another big challenge on his plate when he fights Rich Franklin in the main event of UFC 99, but Anderson Silva could be on the horizon...
- - DAN HARDY TO END MARCUS DAVIS' BRIT BASHING (Saturday, May 02, 2009)
U.K. welterweight Dan Hardy explains why he called out Marcus Davis and his confidence leading into their UFC 99 bout in Cologne, Germany...
- - WANDY'S GOING TO KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)
Wanderlei Silva responds to Rich Franklin's announcement he'll be training with middleweight champ Anderson Silva in preparation for UFC 99 in Germany...
- - VELASQUEZ VS. HERRING ANNOUNCED FOR UFC 99 (Wednesday, April 01, 2009)
Unbeaten rising star Cain Velasquez will face his stiffest test to date on Saturday, June 13 when he steps into the UFC Octagon at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany to battle perennial contender Heath Herring...
- - ALESSIO SAKARA VS ROUSIMAR PALHARES AT UFC 99 (Monday, March 30, 2009)
The card continues to grow for UFC 99 in Germany, as Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares will return for a middleweight match-up against American Top Team fighter Alessio Sakara...
- - UFC 99 FIGHT CARD HAS DECIDED EUROPEAN FLAVOR (Monday, March 23, 2009)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time lands in Germany with UFC 99 on June 13. The supporting cast on the fight card has a decided European flavor to it...
- - WANDERLEI TALKS RICH FRANKLIN & MOVE TO 195 (Friday, March 20, 2009)
Wanderlei Silva is making the move down to middleweight, but first he has a scheduled stop at 195 pounds to face Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in Germany...
- - DANA WHITE EXPLAINS FRANKLIN VS. SILVA AT 195 (Monday, March 16, 2009)
ormer UFC middleweight titleholder Rich "Ace" Franklin and former long-time Pride champion Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship's debut event in Germany at UFC 99 at a catch-weight of 195, and here's why...
- - FRANKLIN VS SILVA & UFC 99 IN GERMANY OFFICIAL (Tuesday, March 03, 2009)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Tuesday announced its next step in global expansion. UFC 99 "The Comeback" extends the company's reach in the European Union landing on June 13 in Cologne, Germany...
- - UFC 99 PITS RICH FRANKLIN VS WANDERLEI SILVA (Wednesday, February 18, 2009)
Rich Franklin will face Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99 in Germany. Multiple sources indicate the fight could be at a catch weight...
- - FISHER WELCOMES UNO BACK AT UFC 99 IN GERMANY (Tuesday, February 17, 2009)
Though bout agreements have yet to be signed, Spencer Fisher has agreed to welcome Caol Uno back to the Octagon when the promotion debuts in Germany at UFC 99...
- - UFC 99: JUNE 13 IN GERMANY ()
Copyright 2009 MMA Weekly LLC. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MMA Weekly content is expressly prohibited without expressed written consent of MMA Weekly. MMA Weekly will not be liable for any errors in content or any action taken in reliance thereof.
|
|
|
|
