UFC 175 news reveals former UFC middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin saying that he has now become a fan of current champion Chris Weidman.
"Ace" spoke with lastwordonsports.com about the man who beat the former pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva twice. Rich Franklin himself fought and lost to "The Spider", which subsequently ended his title reign in the UFC.
"I tell you what, I wasn't a big Weidman believer at first, but looking at the second Anderson Silva fight, he looked great and had a solid gameplan," Franklin said about the UFC 175 news. "Lyoto & Anderson have this great ability to elude punches and draw you into their game."
Rich Franklin also had a chance to fight Lyoto Machida in 2003 for a small-time promotion company in Kobe, Japan. Despite losing via second round TKO, "Ace" was able to get a solid grasp of "The Dragon's" fighting style.
"Lyoto is obviously a bit different than Anderson and he is a bigger fighter, and size hasn't played a big role in the Anderson fights, but I like how Weidman matches up with Lyoto," he added.
Lyoto Machida brings a highly unorthodox style to the table, as he was able to effectively integrate the concepts of Shotokan Karate into mixed martial arts. This is why Rich Franklin believes that Chris Weidman will most likely utilize his wrestling prowess to his benefit.
"Obviously, he would try and take Machida down, but with Anderson he wasn't shy about standing up either, so honestly I don't know where the fight would end up being but it should be a good exciting fight," Franklin continued about the UFC 175 news.
But while he is uncertain about the outcome, "Ace" sees a huge advantage for Chris Weidman as he heads into this upcoming fight.
"He is very patient as a fighter and I think that if there is any fighter out there who can knock a hole into Lyoto's game, it would be Chris," Franklin said.
