|
|
Rich Franklin
As a former high school math teacher,
the role of educator comes naturally to Rich Franklin. Now an internationally
known sports star, Rich strives to serve as a positive role model for young
people, teaching them to deal with their anger constructively instead of
destructively.
3 Time UFC Champion
22-2 Professional Record
Visit
www.teamamericanfighter.com for all the up to date information on Rich
Franklin. Also Check out
www.richfranklin.com
RICH'S STORY
My story is an interesting one, and one that begins
different from most.a second string high school football player who wanted
nothing more than to play college ball. Since God had not granted me the size to
pursue a college football career, I decided to get back into karate. It was
something my father had put me into when I was 12, and I was hoping it would
quench my competitive thirst.
I met and became friends with my instructor's sons, Josh and Shawn Rafferty.
Shawn learned Thai boxing while serving in the Marine Corps, and together we
took our current knowledge and added to it by training in styles other than what
we were used to. At this point, I had my first taste of the UFC. After watching
in disbelief that stand-up fighters could not keep a fight standing, I began
studying some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We began training at a school down the road
with a jiu-jitsu program, and we used Rafferty's father's facility to train.
Training was short lived as our school shut down, and attendance dropped off at
the jiu-jitsu classes. From there, we had no place to train, and refusing to
quit, we cleared out an old shed in the Rafferty's backyard and continued to
practice. Josh and I continued to practice in the shed, even in temperatures
reaching as low as 40 degrees at some points and topping out at about 110
degrees. I would meet Shawn at the field house on UC's campus for supplemental
training.
The three of us decided to watch our first local
amateur show, at which point we decided to fight. This was a pivotal point in my
life, since I had just graduated college, accepted my first job as a teacher,
and found a solid training facility at Excalibur fitness. We began training with
Kerry Schall and coordinated training sessions for a small group of fighters at
the gym. During this time I had key victories over Gary Myers and Aaron Brink,
at which time Monte Cox began managing me. I went on to beat Dennis Reed, Travis
Fulton and Marvin Eastman. However, it seemed our skill level had peaked at
Excalibur, and we needed more training partners and resources to excel in MMA.
Once again, I found myself at another pivotal point of my life. I met my wife,
we bought our first house, I quit teaching to train full-time and I found
several new training facilities and coaches. It was also at this point that I
was offered my first fight in the UFC. I presently train at facilities run by
Jorge Gurgel, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt (New Generation Martial Arts);
Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a
boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness).
Check out the premiere of
"American Fighter"
the Television Pilot Sept 14th 6PM at The Madison Theatre Covington KY.
See Rich Franklin and help a great foundation
|
