Rich Franklin Says a Return is Possible, But Unlikely

Former UFC fighter and ONE Championship Vice President Rich Franklin spoke with MMAjunkie for a new interview. The highlights are below:

On what he misses about fighting: “People ask me if I miss my career, and the main thing I miss is not necessarily walking into the arena and all that and having your hand raised, but I miss the brotherhood I had prepping for a fight.”

On the possibility of a return: “Is it possible I could come back? I mean, anything’s possible. But is it probable? Not likely. I’ve never really been interested in a legends league. Just because once you climb to the top of Everest, you wouldn’t say, ‘Hey, I just you want to climb up Everest and go to base camp.’ It just doesn’t work that way. But the right kind of matchup and fight could definitely pique my interest. It’s just not probable, so I don’t really want to give anybody any false hope as if I’m coming back.”

On continuing to train: “To look at me, I’m probably actually in better shape with my body feeling the way it feels than I was in my fight career. Now, obviously, I’m not in peak physical condition, because you just kind of maintain that kind of conditioning throughout your life. You have to pick and choose when to peak, but yeah, I keep myself in shape.”

On the rise of ONE FC and other companies: “I believe in competition. I actually believe that the UFC being in Asia and having two global organizations over there only increases the awareness of MMA overall, and it just ends up helping both organizations out.”