UFC 72 Victory Game
Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami
Saturday June 16, 2007
Okami +145
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Franklin was looking to have an easy MMA match in Ireland with mixed martial arts fighter Martin Kampmann but that fight never materialized due to an injury in training. Franklin then had to decide on who he wanted to fight. It was between Paul Filho and Yushin Okami. He made the right decision because Filho would have knocked Franklin out early in the first round. Yushin Okami, however will knock Franklin out late in the first round.

Basically Rich Franklin (21-2) is one of the most overrated fighters in the UFC. The UFC hyped and marketed him to be the next great thing. However, the middleweight division in the UFC is so weak that no one knew how overrated Franklin really is. The UFC had a middleweight champion in Marco Rua but for some strange reason they dropped the belt (pre Dana White days). Now with the explosion of mixed martial arts the UFC reinstated the middleweight division but it is a very weak division with Rich Franklin fighting Evan tanner for the UFC title. After Rich won the belt he fought sub standard opponents like Curtis Stout, Jorge Rivera, and Nathan Quarry. Franklin has lost to Ryoto Machida and Anderson Silva who are on the same level as Okami.

Don’t get me wrong Franklin is a good fighter but not a top fighter like Silva or Okami. Plus Okami has already beaten Anderson Silva (though it was a disqualification).

Well with the influx of Pride fighters coming to the UFC it has exposed the very weak UFC middleweight division. Anderson Silva who is the first person from Pride to come to the UFC has basically devastated the middleweight fighters. Honestly, besides Franklin, who are the top ranked middleweights? Chris Leban? Nate Quarry? Yushin Okami will basically beat the hell out of Franklin exactly how Anderson Silva did. Franklin has problems with fighters that are stronger and more powerful than him.

Bottom Line: Yushin Okami is on a 6 win fight streak and Franklin has not fought anybody that I consider a real top 10 middleweight and has a record of 20 and 3. The people he lost to are very good fighters like Jake Shields, Amar Suloev and Falaniko Vitale. Franklin has not even fought anyone closer the caliber of fighters that Okami has fought. Rich Franklin always has trouble with legitimate punchers and Franklin cannot match Okami’s skills should he have to rely on that.

Look for Yushin Okami to knock Franklin out late in the first round. Anderson Silva will get his long awaited rematch with Okami.

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