Training with the enemy

By Brett Okamoto

Saturday, June 13, 2009 | midnight

Anderson Silva has been what you might call a thorn in Rich Franklin’s side.

In 2006, Silva took the UFC middleweight championship away from Franklin by landing a knee to his face that required surgery to repair. One year later, Anderson prevented Franklin from taking back the championship belt when he defeated the Cincinnati native again, this time in his hometown.

And yet, in preparation for his showdown at UFC 99 with Wanderlei Silva, a fellow Brazilian and ex-training partner to Anderson Silva, the 34-year-old Franklin found himself working with his former rival.

“He and I have been friends since the first fight,” Franklin recently told mmfanhouse.com. “We spoke to each other about training, but never had the opportunity before. (Anderson’s manager) Ed Soares called and said, ‘Anderson would like to help you prepare for the Wanderlei fight.’ It all kind of came together.”

If someone had once told Franklin that not only would he be fighting Wanderlei at UFC 99 — a former PRIDE champion that Franklin admits he looks up to — but that he would train for it in the camp of the only man who has beaten him twice, it probably wouldn’t have added up to the former math teacher.

But in the twilight of his career, traditional thinking was pushed aside.

“It’s an honor to be fighting Wanderlei,” Franklin said during an open workout. “If you rewind all this to a time when UFC and PRIDE had their own fighters and the champions never fought each other, I never envisioned there being a fight between us. Fast-forward to today and it’s now a sport with such a tight community. I never thought it would come down to the two of us fighting, but here we are.”

The new alliance between Franklin and Anderson actually makes more sense upon closer inspection.

Franklin, who holds a 26-4-0 professional record, has had a historically difficult time with Brazilian fighters. He’s lost to Anderson twice and once to the undefeated UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida, in 2003. The only non-Brazilian loss Franklin has suffered was at the hands of Dan Henderson in January, in a fight many people, including Franklin, believe he won.

The two are also dealing with the same issue of moving between weight classes. Silva’s next fight will be at light heavyweight against Forrest Griffin in UFC 101. Franklin is also in the midst of moving up in weight class, although Saturday will be at a catch weight of 195 pounds.

“The UFC had spoken to me on several occasions about moving to 205 before I actually moved up to this weight class,” Franklin said. “I was kind of resistant at first because I’m not really a big 205-pound fighter. I’m a really big 185 and a small 205, so right now this 195-pound class is perfect for me.”

Saturday will mark the third time in the last two years Franklin will make the trip to Europe to fight in a main event. He defeated Yushin Okami in UFC 72 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before the January loss to Henderson in Dublin, Ireland.

Serving as an unofficial ambassador of the sport, Franklin says he has gotten used to the international routine.

“My general rule of thumb is that I want to get there one day for every time zone I have to travel through,” Franklin said. “I can usually get myself adjusted within two to three days feeling like I’m on the time zone, but I know I’m not ready to perform. It takes more days than that.”

While it’s not necessarily a “comeback” Franklin is looking for in UFC 99, a win over Wanderlei would be the first step in getting back into title contention before the end of his career.

One thing that at least Franklin has made clear throughout his career: He’s ready to fight at any weight and any location the UFC wants to put him in.

“I’m a 'never say never' kind of guy,” Franklin said. "I’ve always been one of those fighters that whatever the organization needs from me, I’m pretty much willing to do anything.”

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].