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Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell (+115) vs. Rich "Ace" Franklin (-145)

by Stan Leung
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Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs. Rich "Ace" Franklin
June 12, 2010 7 PM
Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin
UFC Betting Pick: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell (+115)

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Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell (+115) vs. Rich "Ace" Franklin (-145)

Though tickets for UFC 115 were sold out within 30 minutes of being released for sale—breaking the previous record set by UFC 83, the mixed martial arts fans in Vancouver will be treated to an old-timers bout with mediocre fighters.

To be honest, even when they were at the top of their game Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (21-7) and Rich “Ace” Franklin (26-5) were never really true top level fighters but rather were marketed by the UFC as being so. Though the consensus and their fan following may think otherwise, both Liddell and Franklin are average to slightly above average fighters at best.

So who will win this fight?

I do not want to put Franklin down as he is most likely the nicest person in the sport, but his skills hardly match his accomplishments. Despite being a one dimensional fighter, Liddell on the other hand has won against a couple of top level guys and packs more power than Franklin. Franklin has always fought in a weak UFC middleweight division and the times he has come across anyone notable, he has been destroyed—Anderson Silva at UFC 64: Unstoppable and again at UFC 77: Hostile Territory, Dan Henderson at UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson, and Vitor Belfort at UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort. Though he does have a win against Wanderlei Silva this was quite recent and Silva is not the force to be reckoned with as he once was. Franklin has been fortunate and has made the most of an “easy” career in the UFC, but it was not until he began squaring off against notables did his mediocrity come to light.

Chuck Liddell has also been the face of the UFC for some time now and we are currently witness to his decline. He was downed by Mauricio Rua at UFC 97: Redemption, Rashad Evans at UFC 88: Breakthrough, and Quinton Jackson at UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson. Though he also won a three round decision versus Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79: Nemesis, he lost a split decision to Keith Jardine the fight before at UFC 76: Knockout. Despite his loses, he has faced several top level fighters and four of his seven defeats were to former world champions. Liddell had met up with ten top level fighters since 2005 while in 32 career MMA matches, Franklin has only come across five, to all of whom he lost.

Nevertheless Liddell is still a striker and a powerful one at that. The question remains, however, at 40 years of age, can Liddell still keep up with the best of them? Though he may be missing a beat here and there and though he may not move as fast as he once did, he can still pack a punch. Franklin, on the other hand, is not a powerful striker and will not be able to down even a 40 year old Liddell. Though considered a good striker, one really needs to examine his list of KO’s before coming to such a decision—Travis Lutter, Matt Hamill, Nathan Quarry, Evan Tanner, Edwin Dewees, and old Ken Shamrock as well as a list of other unknown MMA fighters. Knocking out C level fighters does not make one a good striker.

Though Franklin has decent power in his strikes, his kicks have always been quite horrid—he has a huge wind-up that can be seen right from the get-go. They are sluggish and looping and even Liddell, at his advanced age, will be able to steer clear of them. The problem has always been with Franklin’s training—he trains with an average set where there is no one to challenge or push him to improve. For a while he was working with Jorge Gurgel who has to be one of the worst BJJ instructors out there. At 33 years of age Gurgel is barely a black belt himself. Without the experience and exposure to properly mentor a professional fighter, Franklin picked up some very bad fundamentals and technique during his time with Gurgel. His wrestling skills could certainly use improvement and his grappling is a practically non-existent despite being a brown belt, which I highly doubt he is. Currently, Franklin is with Matt "The Wizard" Hume but it may be a little too late to teach this bad dog new tricks.

Now I am not saying that Liddell is all that much better either as he is the epitome of the one-dimensional fighter, however, he is very good at his one strength. Liddell has wicked punches and probably one of the best takedown defenses in MMA. Franklin will not be able to take him down and will be drawn into a striking battle. Though Liddell may not be as fast as he once was he is still quick enough to hit a sluggish and weak chinned Franklin.

Bottom Line: Though Liddell may not be considered a top light heavyweight fighter any longer, he is still good enough to take a C+ level fighter in Franklin. In his “heyday” Liddell went against some of the best in the game—Tito Ortiz, Renato Sobral, Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn, Vernon White, Alistair Overeem, Amar Suloev, Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, Kevin Randleman, Guy Mezger and Jeff Monson. Even in his fighting prime Franklin would have been too slow and feeble to take out Liddell—it is highly unlikely he can do so now.

When it comes to online UFC betting, the sports books have opened up with Franklin as the betting favorite at -145. The only reason why Franklin is favored is because of Liddell’s recent losses, however, one must remember that these were to world champions. Though he may not be a considered top level fighter any longer, Liddell will be going up against Franklin, who is no where near as skilled nor powerful as Liddell’s recent opponents.

Liddell is the underdog at +115 and I would bet heavily on The Iceman to win this one. Liddell needs to prove to his critics, UFC president Dana White included, that he is not yet ready to retire. Though Liddell may no long be a title-contention fighter, Franklin is way down the ladder.

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