Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin has fought all over the world.

Beyond trips all over the United States, he’s fought in Japan, Germany, and Ireland just to name a few destinations, but none have put the pressure on him like fighting at home in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Franklin was preparing for the biggest fight of his career, a rematch with Anderson Silva, the man who took his middleweight belt two fights earlier. The stage was set for Franklin to face Silva in his hometown of Cincinnati, but while the crowd was definitely on his side, the distractions leading into the fight did him no favors.

It changed things so much for Franklin leading into that fight, that he’s adamant that fighting in your hometown is not something he’d jump at to do all over again.

“I personally don’t like it,” Franklin told MMAWeekly Radio about fighting in his hometown. “Some people do well with it and others don’t. There is a lot of pressure. I know when I was fighting Anderson (Silva) here in the hometown, I actually left.

“Me and my team here in Cincinnati went to Wyoming, and my coaching staff was with me. Rob Radford, Neal Rowe, Matt Hume, I was working with at the time he came, Jorge Gurgel was there, Mike Ferguson, my strength and conditioning coach, and then I had a dozen training partners. We all picked up and went to Wyoming just to get out of the city.”

Franklin says it really boils down to all the extra commitments that come along with a hometown fight that make it different than any other experience he’s had in his nearly 13-year fighting career.

“There was so much media. I’m doing all this media right now for the Wanderlei fight and this is all national and international media, but the local media that I’ve had to do hasn’t been too burdening at this point in time,” said Franklin.

“But when you’re fighting in your hometown, the amount of local media that you have to do on top of all the other requirements you have, it’s very demanding.”

This time around, Franklin will be playing the other role in the “hometown fight.”

He faces Wanderlei Silva in Brazil, and while their bout takes place in Belo Horizonte, which is not his opponent’s hometown, he’s facing a national hero in his home country.

With that honor also comes a lot of pressure and Franklin knows that all too well. It’s one of many mitigating circumstances that sometimes means the difference between a win and a loss.

These are things that no one can see, but they are there lingering underneath the surface for a fighter, and the end result many times is defeat.

“There’s so many things that can go on in a fighter’s life, like you don’t know how the camp went, is that guy getting along with his wife? Did he just have a close relative that died? Are his kids getting picked on at school? Stuff like that, all these things come into play,” Franklin stated.

“There’s so many other factors that you can’t account for when it comes to those kinds of things so it’s hard to predict those kinds of things.”

After more than a year off from fighting and dropping back down to his old weight class, of course Franklin has to deal with those same kinds of questions, but heading into his bout with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147, he’s not worried about being the hometown hero. He’s not worried about the extra pressure of local media.

Rich Franklin only has to focus on one thing… beating Wanderlei Silva.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/rich-franklin-on-the-perils-of-fighting-in-your-hometown

Michael Bisping Says He’s Got Chael Sonnen ‘Quaking in His Boots’


Michael Bisping is not a fighter who holds his tongue about much of anything.

The brash outspoken former Ultimate Fighter winner is very straight forward about pretty much any subject that you approach him with, and love it or hate it, he’ll give you his opinion or tell you exactly what happened.

Such was the case when Bisping recently received a rather odd direct message on Twitter from none other that UFC 148 main event fighter Chael Sonnen.

Bisping and Sonnen battled back in January at UFC on Fox 2 with Sonnen coming out on top by unanimous decision, although it was a very close fight.

According to the Brit, Sonnen messaged him in a rather cryptic manner after it was revealed that he was out of his fight with Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 due to injury. This was around the same time that rumors were swirling that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was possibly injured and out of his UFC 148 bout with Sonnen.

“The thing is with direct messages on Twitter is it’s personal; it’s private. I think it would be improper of me to divulge that information, but when have you known me to do the proper thing. So here we have the information, I was actually sat in the doctor’s (office) when this came through. ‘Alright man, here’s my guess, you’re not hurt and we are rematching. If I am right give me a clue in your tweet. Include the word “lad” in your next tweet,’” Bisping revealed on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight on Tuesday.

“And I’m sitting in the doctor’s surgery and I’m like what the hell is this guy talking about? Obviously, he’s quaking in his boots at the thought of a rematch cause he knows I won the last fight and he doesn’t want to fight me again.”

After a few minutes, Bisping received a second message from Sonnen that seemed to close the book on the first message at least.

“Then another one came through and went ‘alright never mind, conspiracy theory is over. Get well soon.’” said Bisping. “So Planet Chael strikes again.”

It appears that the rumors about Silva’s injury at least reached Sonnen in West Linn, Ore., but at this point have been dispelled and the Brazilian legend will indeed defend his belt at UFC 148 in July.

As for Bisping, he’s on the mend for the next few weeks after having surgery to repair a knee injury suffered in training. The middleweight contender doesn’t expect to be on the shelf for very long, and hopes to jump right back into the title mix, if not a title shot upon his return.

“I’ve been around the UFC since 2005 and I’ve been consistently fighting the best guys in the world. I feel I’ve put together a good win streak and I deserve a shot. My last fight was a No. 1 contender match-up with Chael Sonnen. It was a very, very close fight. Some might call it a controversial decision. I think the general consensus is that I won that fight. I know Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) said that as well,” said Bisping.

“So if Chael wins, I don’t see why I don’t get a shot at the title straight away.”

The contender’s race in the UFC middleweight division appears to have at least a few viable names including Bisping along with former NCAA champion Mark Munoz. It remains to be seen, however, if Bisping will get a rematch with Sonnen with the title on the line.

A lot has to happen before they can even contemplate that match-up, but maybe a few more private messages exchanged via Twitter can at least start the conversation.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/michael-bisping-says-hes-got-chael-sonnen-quaking-in-his-boots

Roland Delorme vs. Francisco Rivera Slated For UFC 149 In Calgary


Although an announced bout with Bibiano Fernandes (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was quickly scrapped, Roland Delorme (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will remain on next month's UFC 149 card.

The bantamweight will take on Francisco Rivera (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the planned matchup with sources close to the event, though UFC officials haven't made a formal announcement.

UFC 149 takes place July 21 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In the pay-per-view headliner, Urijah Faber and Renan Barao fight for the interim bantamweight title.

Delorme initially was slated to fight Fernandes on the event's FX-televised preliminary card. However, the UFC prematurely announced the Brazilian's signing, and Fernandes recently told MMAjunkie.com he's considering options both with the UFC and other promotions.

Rivera, meanwhile, recently pulled out of this weekend's UFC on FX 4 bout with Ken Stone due to a staph infection. After a 0-2 skid in the WEC and UFC in 2011, Rivera left the UFC and picked up a pair of quick knockout victories under the Tachi Palace Fights banner. That earned him a return ticket to the UFC (he, in fact, canceled a Tachi title fight for the opportunity), where he scored a shutout unanimous-decision victory over Alex Soto at UFC on FUEL TV 3 this past month.

Delorme, a cast member on "The Ultimate Fighter 14," has won his first two UFC fights. After a quarterfinal-round finish on "TUF 14," he submitted Josh Ferguson on the undercard of the show's live finale. The 28-year-old Canadian then submitted Nick Denis at UFC on FOX 3 this past month.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29258/roland-delorme-vs-francisco-rivera-slated-for-ufc-149-in-calgary.mma

Spike TV, Bellator Fighters Still Working To Establish Distinct MMA Brand


Outside the MMA bubble, Bellator stars still correct a lot of misconceptions when explaining their job.

"I call it fighting in the cage because that's the easiest way," Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler told MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com). "I say I do MMA, and people are like, 'Huh?"

This is, of course, nothing new for promotions not named UFC. Chandler, though, said he's comfortable educating new (and sometimes old) MMA fans.

"It kind of is our role," he said. "It's an emerging sport, so we have to do it."

And Spike TV, which is set to host Bellator events at the start of 2013, hopes a little promotional muscle will make these awkward conversations a thing of the past. After six years as the home of UFC, the channel is pushing a different brand, though it holds the rights to and airs UFC programming through the end of the year.

"Our focus moving forward is building stars," Spike TV Senior Vice President of Communications David Schwarz said. "We look at the ratings in the past seven years with the UFC, and (Kevin) 'Kimbo Slice' (Ferguson) was the guy who drew the highest ratings. He was a star. That is our job at Spike in the next couple of years: to make these guys household names."

Viacom, which owns MTV2 and Spike TV, moved to become the next big player in MMA when it purchased a controlling interest in Bellator in late 2011. The media giant isn't exactly working from scratch in making the next big star, but because the tournament-based promotion's stable doesn't include a ready-made star such as 'Kimbo,' it has a ways to go. MTV2-broadcast events have drawn strong interest from hardcore fans but failed to garner the kind of ratings that separate them from other niche sports programming.

So as the crossover nears, Viacom is trying to get as many eyeballs as possible on Bellator. Earlier this month, Chandler, Bellator featherweight champ Pat Curran, and top signee Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal were flown to the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles. They walked the red carpet and sat a row behind teen idol Taylor Lautner. They had better seats than some big stars.

"I'd never seen so many celebrities," Curran said. "Actually, I'd never seen celebrities at all."

The fighters are hopeful that moving Bellator to a bigger platform such as Spike TV will bolster the promotion's status as a viable alternative to the UFC.

"We're going to get a lot more viewers," Curran said. "We've got a lot of big things in the works, and Bellator is just growing season by season. It's getting more popular, more viewers and more recognition."

Yet there are also signs that Bellator, and the sport, have a long way to go. Meaning, the fighters still have to explain they don't fight for the UFC.

"They just don't get it," Lawal said. "The pro wrestling is a lot easier to explain."

In May Lawal signed a first-of-its-kind deal to fight in Bellator and pro wrestle for WWE rival TNA. He said fans often confuse the latter two, to say nothing of his real fighting career.

"The whole UFC thing, they just think about UFC and Dana White," Lawal said. "They don't think of anything else. It's up to the media to make that die down.

"If people are going to focus on the sport, you have to have a boxing model, to where our Bellator champion can get an offer from someone in India, and be like, 'We've got the Bellator champion, we've got the UFC champion, (and) we want to see if we can put money together.' Have a purse bid, and the Bellator fights the UFC champion over in India. Like boxing. The WBC champ will fight the WBA champ.

"(Right now) it's all about promotions, where everybody fights everybody in a small circle. And the fans have watched promotions and promoters and fighters in certain organizations, and not the whole sport."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29254/spike-tv-bellator-fighters-still-working-to-establish-distinct-mma-brand.mma

Bellator 71 Results: Wiuff, Vegh, Newton, Carpenter Advance To Summer Series Semi's


A huge (and fired up) Travis Wiuff minced Chris Davis to advance to the semifinals of the Bellator "Summer Series" light-heavyweight tournament.

Punches to the downed Davis ended the fight at the 4:12 mark of the first round and capped off a night of fights at Bellator 71.

The event took place at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, W.V. Main card fights aired live on MTV2 while preliminary-card fights streamed on Spike.com.

Wiuff, who's one of the most experienced competitors to walk into the Bellator cage, threw just about one good punch before bullying Davis to the cage.

There, the fight remained until boos filled the arena.

Davis tried to escape the position once, but Wiuff was all over him before he could create space and work any semblance of a striking game. Although his tactics didn't please, it was Wiuff who connected with the first meaningful punch, a short right hand that dropped Davis and allowed him to pound away from the Bellator newcomer's back.

A flurry of shots, and Davis was out, prompting the referee to intervene. Wiuff afterward paced the cage with a snarl.

"I'm ready to go – I want that belt," Wiuff said. "I want to be up on that banner. Christian (M'Pumbu) – I'm coming for that belt.

"These guys can't handle my pressure. These guys can't stop a nosebleed – now they're going to try to stop my takedowns? Not going to happen."

Wiuff (66-14 MMA, 3-0 BFC), who improves his current win streak to five, already holds the distinction of beating champ M'Pumbu in a non-title bout (and prompting calls to eliminate such fights for champs). Davis (10-4 MMA, 0-2 BFC), who lost to M'Pumbu in his most recent outing, could be on the way out of Bellator.

Vegh tames wild Galesic in one minute

Gone in 60 seconds – that was the meeting of Zelg Galesic and Attila Vegh.

A frenzied Galesic swarmed early with punches, prompting the submission specialist Vegh to go for the takedown. Unfortunately, he was quickly reversed and took a knee to the head as he righted himself.

Galesic chased him across the cage with a flurry of punches and kicks, but was stopped in his tracks by a left hook that dropped him to his knees. Seizing opportunity, Vegh hopped on his back and got the tapout at the one-minute mark of the first frame.

"It was kind of hard to start out fresh because Zelg just came out crazy," Vegh said through a translator. "It was hard for me to get my rhythm, but once [Zelg] got caught, it woke me up, and I finished the job."

Vegh (26-4 MMA, 2-0 BFC) now boasts back-to-back wins in Bellator. After a 34-second KO of former WEC champ Doug Marshall, Galesic (11-7 MMA, 0-2 BFC) is back on the road to redemption.

Emanuel Newton outgrapples Roy Boughton for submission win

A frenzied, back-and-forth session of roughhouse grappling left Emanuel Newton exhausted by the second round.

Thankfully for him, Roy Boughton could not escape his rear-naked choke early in the second frame of their meeting. Newton earned the tapout at the 49-second mark of the round.

The two traded position several times from the outset of the bout, but it was Newton who was the more physical of grapplers. He slammed Boughton to the mat after one particularly spirited exchange and powered him back to the ground after defending a takedown.

Boughton worked for submissions, but Newton's posture made it impossible for him to get anywhere.

The two traded kicks at the start of the frame, but it was Newton that did damage when Boughton lunged forward and caught a knee to the head. Immediately, Newton locked in the arm triangle and then secured his legs. Boughton had no choice to tap.

A thankful Newton (18-6 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who improves his current streak to six, said he would do better when he had more than three weeks to prepare. Boughton (8-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC) goes back to the drawing board after seeing his three-fight streak is snapped.

Tim Carpenter stays calm to cinch sub for semifinal berth

Short-notice tournament replacement Tim Carpenter is the first semifinalist of the Bellator Summer Series light-heavyweight tournament.

After tourney participant Rich Hale was not cleared to compete, Carpenter, a season-four semifinalist, stepped in to the slot.

After spending much of the second frame on the wrong end of Beau Tribolet's ground and pound, Carpenter locked in an armbar for a tapout at the 4:51 of the round.

"I didn't even expect to be here today," he said afterward. "I was a last-minute addition, so that's all that's all that's on my mind right now. I'm ready to go."

Carpenter fared well in the first frame of the fight, mostly because Tribolet didn't do much to stop him. Tribolet spent the majority of the round evading, but not offering much in the way of counters or offense. Meanwhile, Carpenter pursued and put together several combinations to take the round.

Tribolet woke up in the second and got busy with striking combinations, several of which scored. When Carpenter missed a guillotine attempt, he took top position and pounded away with punches. The round appeared to be in the bag, but a momentary lapse in defense allowed Carpenter (9-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) to use the cage to angle his hips and cinch the armbar.

Carpenter's sole setback remains his loss to current Bellator champ Christian M'Pumbu while Tribolet (7-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC) sees a seven-fight streak snapped.

Rogers earns doctor-stoppage win over former training partner

It wasn't the most athletically impressive endeavor, but Brett Rogers' early work on former training partner Kevin Asplud paid dividends that won the fight.

Asplund's swollen left eye prompted the cageside doctor to call off the bout between the second and third rounds.

"I wasn't expecting it to look like this, but it is what it is," Rogers said afterward. "He's got a concrete head. I wasn't lying about that, right?"

Meanwhile, a carefree Asplud paraded his swollen eye around the cage, beaten on paper but not in spirit.

After initial skirmishes, Rogers landed big with a right hand when the two collided and then tossed Asplund to the mat. Asplund kept his former training partner honest with a kimura, which slowed the action down, but Rogers managed to land a big knee before the two returned to their feet.

There, it was Rogers that was just a bit more accurate of punchers, countering Asplund's swinging hooks with more compact shots. He bowled over Asplund with a big uppercut and nearly sealed the deal with follow-up shots from up top, but ran out of time.

Asplund scored in the second with a left, but Rogers charged back and landed a knee to the chin from the clinch. That prompted Asplund to take the fight down, but the bigger Rogers got up and landed a takedown of his own. Asplund again countered with a kimura but took a flurry of punches to end the second.

Asplund's cornermen were still giving him instruction when the fight was waved off.

Rogers (11-4 MMA, 1-0 BFC) earns his first win following a 1-4 stretch while Asplund (15-2, 0-1 BFC) suffers his first loss since his first pro fight in 2002.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29352/bellator-71-results.mma

Paul Daley Says Strikeforce Split Was Amicable, Looks For Fresh Start With Bellator


Ask and you shall receive.

Forced to play the extended waiting game, Paul Daley and manager Wad Alameddine of Fight Management Limited sprung into action.

If Strikeforce parent company Zuffa LLC had no plans in the near term for the 29-year-old British slugger, it was time to forge their own way ahead. And it's precisely what they did.

"(We were) just trying to get me a fight date while I was over at Strikeforce, and nothing was really coming back," Daley (29-12-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC) told MMAjunkie.com Radio (http://www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "They (Zuffa) had nothing really planned out for me, so me and my management approached them and said, 'Look, if you've got nothing planned out for me, if you don't see some clear fights in the future for me, then I'd appreciate it if you let me go.'

"And they understood that. It was amicable. And they let me go."

Bellator Fighting Championships and CEO Bjorn Rebney wasted little time in securing the services of Daley, who inked a multi-fight contract.

"Bjorn's a very passionate guy about MMA, and I can see where he wants to go with this sport," Daley said. "I'm just happy he offered me the chance to be a part of it."

Daley, who has fought for more than 15 different promotions since his professional career began in 2003, knows a good opportunity when he sees it.

"I've been looking at Bellator while I've been with other promotions," he said. "I've been looking at the way they've been developing, and obviously with the Viacom acquisition, you can only expect more from the promotion."

Viacom purchased a majority stake in the promotion back in October and settled into their spot on MTV2. In 2013, it'll make the transition to Spike TV, the former long-time home base of the UFC.

Daley will debut at Bellator 72, a season-seven "Summer Series" event that takes place July 20 at USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. The main card airs on MTV2 while Spike.com streams the prelims.

"I'm just looking at opponents now," he said. "I've got to keep it (the list) top secret, but I'm looking at the e-mail now from (Bellator matchmaker) Sam (Caplan), and I'm just sifting through them."

He revealed the list was composed of around 10 names, one of which was Japanese veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

Daley will look to bounce back in the win column following his March 2012 split-decision loss to Kazuo Misaki. While he may only be 6-4 in his past 10 contests, he's officially 0-0 with his new employer.

And if victorious in his initial outing, he's a virtual lock for entry into the upcoming Bellator season-seven welterweight tournament.

Daley hasn't ruled out the possibility of taking a second fight prior to the beginning of the tournament either, in order to remain active at a steady rate. He gets rather anxious with an empty schedule, as we've learned.

There will be new beginnings on the home front in the coming months as well. Daley and his girlfriend will welcome their first child, a boy named Tai, into the world in September.

Perfect timing.

"It's giving me a new focus," Daley said. "I'm doing everything with a little more intensity now because I've got someone else there to provide for. It's a really, really motivating factor for me.

"I think that's going to play out in my fights."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29374/paul-daley-says-strikeforce-split-was-amicable-looks-for-fresh-start-with-bellator.mma

Bellator's Lawal Wants Three Titles, Eyes 'Rampage' Or Nelson As Tag-Team Partner


Never one to think small, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal doesn't see one or two belts in his near future; he wants to hold three titles by the end of 2013.

"I'm gonna have three belts: the TNA belt, the (Bellator) heavyweight belt and the light-heavyweight belt," Lawal told MMAjunkie.com Radio (http://www.mmajunkie.com/radio) this past week.

"I ain't waiting for nothing. I'm trying to make stuff happen. I'm trying to win that 205(-pound) division, win a couple of fights there, and then hopefully get two belts. I'm trying to do big things. I just want to fight whenever and get paid."

The former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion was his usual colorful self as he joked with host "Gorgeous" George Garcia about unusual dance moves going on in Dallas, whom he'd like to have as a tag-team partner and who will win the fight of the year.

But first the 31-year-old discussed the details surrounding his unique deal with the Spike TV family that could make him a two-sport/entertainment star. Lawal (8-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) will spilt time between the Bellator cage and TNA Impact Wrestling ring over the course of the next calendar year.

"I feel like I'm the MMA Harriet Tubman in a sense," Lawal saod. "I lead people to figure out ways where they can do two things of entertainment. Let's be real: MMA is entertainment. It's a sport, but it's more entertainment to a certain extent."

"Now I can branch out and do my own thing and be happy. I ain't got to worry about somebody getting mad because I'm doing something."

Strikeforce released Lawal in March after he criticized a Nevada State Athletic Commission representative following his March 27 hearing. There, he answered for a failed drug test from a January Strikeforce bout with Lorenz Larkin.

While it briefly appeared that Zuffa, Strikeforce's parent company, might keep Lawal within the organization, the Tennessee native knew there was no looking back when Spike TV offered the first-of-its-kind deal to perform on two entertainment platforms.

"After I got released I got hit up, and they said they (Bellator) were interested," Lawal said. "'We're going to call you in two days. We got something big to tell you, something big to offer you.' So I said, 'All right. Let me see what it is.' I didn't know much about Bellator.

"When they called me, they had (TNA Entertainment president) Dixie Carter on the phone. I was like, 'Hold up. I kind of like the sound of where this is going.' Then when they threw it at me. I was like, 'Let's sign this now.'"

The deal was done a couple of days later in May, but Lawal — who is on the mend following a recent ACL surgery and staph infection — won't be able to get back into fighting either in the cage or on the canvas until later this summer or fall.

"I'm about two months away from going to Ohio Valley (TNA's developmental wrestling organization based in Louisville, Ky.)," he said. "My knee should be 95 to 100 percent by then. Then I'll start (MMA) training again. I'm going to start hitting mitts next week. But I'm going to take my time with it and not do anything stupid."

While the outspoken Lawal was easily one of Strikeforce's top draws, he admitted he would have to start over a bit in rebuilding his name in both TNA and Bellator.

"I'm going to put in work," Lawal said. "It's like all sports. You can't just jump in and expect to be the top dog like Brock (Lesnar). You have to work your way up to get into the spotlight."

The former NCAA Division I wrestling All-American said he has equally high expectations for a run at Bellator's season-eight light-heavyweight tournament, which will begin in 2013 shortly after the promotion moves from MTV2 to Spike TV.

"I'm going be in that light-heavyweight tourney, and I'm going to win it and get that belt in 2013," Lawal said. "I'm just waiting to see who wins. Then I know what I'm going do: go beat them."

Lawal then talked about an upcoming training trip with wrestling legend Booker T, and how he'd like to recruit a former rival to be his tag-team partner.

"We're done with the beef," Lawal said of him and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's war of words awhile back. "I want him to come to TNA and be my tag-team partner. We could be the new 'Harlem Heat' or something. Either him or Roy Nelson. Nelson could bring the country (aspect)."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29377/bellators-lawal-wants-three-titles-eyes-rampage-or-nelson-as-tag-team-partner.mma