Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson

Henderson		77%	(33)
Franklin		23%	(10)

I have been hearing a lot of talk about this, who do you think won? i honestly thought the judges got it right giving it to hendo as i thought he won the first two rounds, and the judge that ruled it 30-27 Franklin is the worst judge in the world.

i agree. Franklin only won the third round which makes it a 29-28 UD for Henderson. that judge doesn't deserve to work another MMA event ever again.

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Posted by Bowen50

i agree. Franklin only won the third round which makes it a 29-28 UD for Henderson. that judge doesn't deserve to work another MMA event ever again.

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We've discussed this in detail on our camp board. I was dead set that Hendo was the clear winner when I watched it live. But I went back and watched the fight a second time. It was closer then I originally recalled, however I still scored it the same. I think someone could make a case for Franklin in the second round because Hendo didn't doo much after the takedown. But he did land some shots of his own on the feet, so it's not like he was getting dominated there. And he was able to control Rich on the ground for half of the round. I also think that the most signifigant strikes landed in that round were the couple of elbows that Dan landed before the bell. That's ultimately what sealed the deal for me.

After watching the second time I can certainly see an argument for Franklin in the second. And he clearly won the third round. But no matter how you feel about the second round Franklin did not deserve a 30-27 from one judge. This bout should have been 29-28 one way or another. I do think it was close enough to justify the split decision.

I picked rich but i think hendo won. Rich was aggressive but that didnt win him the fight, hendos wrestling won the fight for him.

The way i saw this fight was Hendo CLEARLY winning the first, no question.
Hendo won about 75% of the second round.
Franklin won the 3rd round...

How the hell a judge scored this 30-27 for Rich is beyond me.

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Posted by Hendo67

The way i saw this fight was Hendo CLEARLY winning the first, no question.
Hendo won about 75% of the second round.
Franklin won the 3rd round...

How the hell a judge scored this 30-27 for Rich is beyond me.

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Rich even looked shocked....

30-27 Franklin is laughable. The first round went to Hendo hands down.

That fight was the first time I've heard an obscenity from Rich Franklin. That was as shocking to me as the 30-27.

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Posted by gartface

That fight was the first time I've heard an obscenity from Rich Franklin. That was as shocking to me as the 30-27.

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Same here.

First off let me state as I have many times, Rich is my favorite fighter (Hendo is a top five fav, but Rich is #1). But to call it like it was, Hendo just barely won that fight and that is only because the two judges that were scoring correctly in a sense (that one judge who scored 30-27 Franklin is an idiot because Hendo clearly won the first round), they gave Hendo's dominance in wrestling more point value, than RIch's aggressiveness. But either way you look at it it was a very close fight, that could have went either way.

But even though I'm one of Rich's biggest fans and this may sound crazy, I'm almost happy that the fight ended exactly the way it did. Because Rich barely lost that fight if even at all so ultimately losing such a close fight to Hendo isn't going to drop him that much in the LHW rankings. But if Rich would have won, then he would have to face Bisping at the end of the next Ultimate Fighter at 185 which doesn't make any sense seeing how the winner most likely would get a shot at Anderson and it has been clearly proven (as much as it kills me to say this) that Anderson has Rich's # at least at 185 at this point in time. So Hendo vs. Bisping looks much better right now and also because Hendo seems genuinely excited to coach the Ultimate Fighter where as Franklin has been there done that and he knows that that would require him to go back to 185 and he has obvious made the transition to 205 and that's where he wants to stay. I'm liking Rich at 205 because we can now see fights like Rich vs. Forrest or even Rich fight for the LHW title eventually.

I still don't understand why this fight was at 205, Hendo is dropping down now, and I guess Rich will stay up at LHW. I think it was a bigger advantage for Rich to have it at 205 since he didn't have to cut(he looks like a cancer patient when he cuts). Also Rich looked HUGE compared to Hendo, so I think Rich can still do quite well at 205, I think he could take out Chuck and quite a few others in the top of the div. Also hoping Hendo smashes Bisping.

First round was clearly Henderson and the third was clearly Franklin. Second round can be debated as it was pretty close. I think Hendo won the second but I can understand if someone scores the second round for Franklin.

And I do agree that the judge who scored 30-27 for Franklin needs to not judge ever again.

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Posted by cmill21

I still don't understand why this fight was at 205, Hendo is dropping down now, and I guess Rich will stay up at LHW. I think it was a bigger advantage for Rich to have it at 205 since he didn't have to cut(he looks like a cancer patient when he cuts). Also Rich looked HUGE compared to Hendo, so I think Rich can still do quite well at 205, I think he could take out Chuck and quite a few others in the top of the div. Also hoping Hendo smashes Bisping.

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agree, i think rich takes it at 185 to be honest with you, hendo for some reason isn't the same fighter at that weight.

imo, this shouldn't even be debated. Hendo won this fight hands down; he controlled the majority of the fight, got the better of the exchanges and had Rich in more trouble. the fact that it went to a SD blew me away, there has to be more consistency with the judging.

IT's fights like this one that just leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth when it's over. It's fights like these that demand 5 full rounds. Both fighters could have gone more/ and should have gone more.. they should have an overtime round on split decisions or something.