It’s been nearly eight years since former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin stepped into the octagon; Franklin had unforgettable fights against names such as Ken Shamrock (The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale), Evan Tanner (UFC 50), Chuck Liddell (UFC 115), and Wanderlei Silva (UFC 99 and 147) during his tenure with the promotion.
Following his fight against Cung Le back in November 2012, the 45-year-old decided to hang up the gloves for good and Franklin has been enjoying life outside the octagon ever since. However, when the UFC Hall of Famer first made the transition, it surely wasn’t easy as Franklin has only known about being an athlete throughout his life:
“First of all, as an athlete, that is my first love.” Franklin recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “As a young boy, I dreamt of becoming a professional athlete, and I was able to fulfill that dream. When you get to an age where you can’t compete at a top level anymore, at least consistently at a top level, you have to look at doing something else and you have to remember that second thing you’re doing at the time is not your first draft pick, so to speak. It’s your second love, and that’s a difficult adjustment at first for a lot of people. Fortunately for me, I was able to secure a good career in the industry working for ONE Championship.”
Franklin has been working as the Vice President of ONE Championship for the last couple of years and the drive and passion within the promotion has reignited the former UFC Middleweight Champion’s itch to get inside the cage:
“Within the umbrella of ONE Championship, we created the Warrior Series, and I run that project,” Franklin explained. “I’m the CEO of that particular company here in Singapore, so the good thing about that is that I pretty much have full creative control of what I want to do, where I want to go, the athletes we’re recruiting, the card that I put together with my matchmakers, and I work extensively with my team.
“The way that I run my team, it’s kind of like the knights at the round table because I believe everyone has something to contribute on the team, and it’s been a beautiful thing because I’ve taken that product specifically and treated it like my martial arts career. Every day, I sit there and think of how can I make the content that I’m putting out better, how can I be a better host for a travel show, and I treat it all the same. It’s the refinement process that I really I guess miss about competition, so I apply that to my role as an executive, and that’s what really keeps me motivated.
“So initially the transition was difficult, but once you take a look at something at a different angle and take the same approach with something else, it almost in a different kind of way feeds those competitive juices that I felt as an athlete.”
Check out the full interview where Rich Franklin talks about running into hardcore MMA fans, modern day mixed martial arts, and so much more regarding his professional career.