UFC 53: Evan Tanner vs. Rich Frankilin

[JKD Student]

Just curious about people's thoughts on this fight. I thought Franklin had a good shot at winning after seeing him beat Tanner last time, but Tanner is a seasoned veteran too. He was the belt holder after all. He just seemed to get real sloppy real fast while Franklin kept his cool and got his strikes in where there were openings. Course, he almost lost in the first round :-) It almost seemed near the end of the fight that Franklin was holding back a little bit because, knowing he was winning big he didn't want to hurt Tanner bad. The amount of time he hesitated near the end between when he clinched with Tanner on the fence, and when he finally threw the big knee. Like he was waiting for Tanner to stop him from doing it or something. Or perhaps I'm just a conspiracy theorist.

[mmanut]

i agree that the fight could have gone eighther way, but i was at the way in's in atlantic city and saw evan tanner. when he took his sweat shirt and pants off he was wearing a plastic suit for cutting weight and he was drenched in sweat. he looked very weak, and at the same time rich franklin had to cut weight but looked much more healthy. my personal opinion was that the fight was won by franklin because he cut weight better and more healthy than tanner.

[SamuraiGuy]

Plus he out struck him in an almost completely stand up fight... that would just be part of it though I would think....

Another cool thing, winner of this fight is the second coach on Ultimate Fighter 2, I cant wait for that show.

[JKD Student]

Originally Posted by mmanut

i agree that the fight could have gone eighther way, but i was at the way in's in atlantic city and saw evan tanner. when he took his sweat shirt and pants off he was wearing a plastic suit for cutting weight and he was drenched in sweat. he looked very weak, and at the same time rich franklin had to cut weight but looked much more healthy. my personal opinion was that the fight was won by franklin because he cut weight better and more healthy than tanner.

now that's a fascinating perspective. I have a tape of the weigh-ins, but never watched them. I didn't even think that it might have to do with cutting weight. I am a huge fan of both Tanner and Franklin, so I would have been happy for the winner and disappointed for the loser either way. It will be a blast to watch Hughes and Tanner coach TUF next season, I can't wait :-) I just hope this season's contenders aren't such big whiners for the most part, ha!

Franklin clearly was the better striker, and I think that would have been the case whether Tanner wore himself thin cutting or not. We might have seen Tanner more successful pushing a ground game if he had the energy though. Guess we'll never know (unless there's a rematch).

[SamuraiGuy]

Hrmm, unless Tanner knocks the crap out of everyone in the middleweight division I dont see a rematch really... why fight a guy who smoked you the other two times you fought.

[JKD Student]

I completely agree.

[mmanut]

well thanks for acknoledging my comment, first and foremost. I do agree with you when you say that franklin is a better stand up fighter, no doubt about it his exstensive boxing background shows through his fighting. If you watch that fight closley you will see that through the whole fight franklin kept throwing a simple right jab in tanners face, not to cause damage but to keep that punch-knee throwing distance. Also i was fortunate enough to go to ufc53 and catch a quick meet and greet with rich franklin in the lobby of trump plaza, he had an extremely confident smile and humor he was ready for that fight.

[JKD Student]

Originally Posted by mmanut

Also i was fortunate enough to go to ufc53 and catch a quick meet and greet with rich franklin in the lobby of trump plaza, he had an extremely confident smile and humor he was ready for that fight.

Okay, now I'm completely jealous. That rocks. I've always wondered if you could see very well when you're at these venues in person? Or is it just as well to watch on tv?

[SamuraiGuy]

I think it would be harder to see in person... first of all you only get the one angle... and what if they are at the far side of the cage from you doing intimate groundwork and grappling... seems like watching it on TV is the better way to SEE the fight due to camera angles, close ups, instant replay, Joe Rogans amazing commentary, really any number of reasons.

With that said, Id still love to go to a UFC event over watching it on TV.

[vadrip]

I don't think cutting weight was a factor Tanner's like 200 or a little less while Rich cuts from 211 so Rich cuts more than 20 pounds while Tanner cuts a lot less.

[OmaPlata]

who has a bigger head, tanner or pulver? tanner is starting to look like the guy "rocky" from the movie mask. roids lol