Rich Franklin would ‘love’ to fight Anderson Silva again

Rich Franklin retired from MMA following his knockout loss to Cung Lee in 2012. Yet, the now ONE Championship vice president says he still eyes one more fight, and that is a trilogy bout with Anderson Silva.

Franklin and Silva fought at UFC 64 where Silva won by TKO to become the middleweight champion. The pair would collide again at UFC 77 where it was the same result. Although they are both now in their 40’s, Franklin being 45 and Silva being 44, the American believes the fight makes sense and knows it would be a different result.

The ONE VP says he still keeps up to what Silva is doing and is quite amazed that he is still having success at 44. For those reasons, Franklin wants the fight.

“I would love to dance with Anderson again. And I believe I could beat him,” Franklin said to theScore MMA. “But that’s the kind of mentality you have to have as an athlete, right? It’s amazing seeing somebody that at our age is still competing and trust me, on a realistic note, I think about it from time to time. It’s what you love to do. That’s why Anderson is still competing. Because it’s what he loves to do. I love competition, I love martial arts, I love training. So don’t think I don’t occasionally maybe get that bug.”

Image: @UFC on Instagram

Anderson Silva is currently on a two-fight losing streak, where he was TKO’d by Jared Cannonier and lost by decision to Israel Adesanya. Both those fights happening earlier this year. Before that, he beat Derek Brunson by decision, but is just 1-6 with one no-contest in his last eight fights overall.

Rich Franklin, meanwhile, has not fought since 2012 as mentioned and in his last eight fights he has alternated wins and losses. How much training he has done since retirement is unknown, but he makes it clear he would love to have the chance to fight Silva again.

Would you be interested in seeing Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva 3? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/15/2019.