Rich Franklin is the latest inductee to be added to the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2019.
During the UFC 236 broadcast on ESPN+, UFC announced that Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champion, will join Michael Bisping for induction at a ceremony in Las Vegas on July 5, during international fight week.
Franklin, whose career stretched from 2003 through 2012, fought 20 times and battled some of the biggest names in UFC history, including Ken Shamrock, Anderson Silva, Chuck Lidell, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort. Franklin's breakout fight was a first-round TKO against fellow Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock at the Ultimate Fighter 1 finale. His middleweight championship reign began in June 2005, when Franklin defeated Evan Tanner in his next fight.
In the later years of his career, despite high-profile losses to Anderson Silva (twice), Henderson and Belfort, Franklin gained a reputation for putting on entertaining fights against anyone in a range of weight classes and venues. Franklin fought in seven countries over the last five years of his career, in an era when the UFC was just starting its international expansion.
"I don't really care about accomplishments as much as I care about being remembered for things like work ethic, the heart that you have in a fight, the passion that I had for this sport and the sacrifices that I made so that I could pursue something great," Franklin said in a UFC-released video celebrating his career.
Franklin retired with a career record of 20-7 (14-6 UFC) and a 2.4 strike differential (having landed 2.4 times as many strikes as his opponents over the course of his UFC career, tied for third-best all time).