Preview: UFC Heads to Ireland
Franklin vs. Okami
Rich
Franklin (Pictures) vs. Yushin Okami (Pictures)
While Rich Franklin (Pictures)'s (21-2) road back to the UFC middleweight title won't remind anyone of Randy Couture (Pictures)'s improbable run as the current UFC heavyweight champion, he does have to work his way through an increasingly difficult division if he is ever going to get a crack at avenging his face rearranging loss to Anderson Silva (18-4).
Then again, Franklin's baptism to MMA consisted of marathon training sessions in an unventilated shed, so hard work isn't about to deter the favorite son of Cincinnati, Ohio.
That almost inhuman determination to improve and succeed drives the 32-year-old Franklin, who is fully aware that his athletic prime won't last forever. With that weighing heavily on his mind, Franklin isn't looking to waste any time as he works his way back to contention.
The first step towards that goal was Franklin's workmanlike dismantling of Jason MacDonald (Pictures) (18-8) at UFC 68. Fully healed from a litany of injuries and showing no ill effects from only his second professional loss, Franklin proved to the world that he is ready to take the next step towards becoming a two-time UFC champion.
Originally, it was to be Danish kickboxer Martin Kampmann (Pictures) (15-2) standing in Franklin's way of a title shot, but a knee injury put Kampmann on the shelf for the time being. Instead, we get one of Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo's best students, 25-year-old Yushin Okami (Pictures) (20-3).
Having quietly accumulated a UFC record of 4-0, a win over Franklin would be all Okami needs to set up his own shot at a second go round with Silva. It was in the opening round of Rumble On The Rock's much-ballyhooed 175-pound Grand Prix that Okami claimed an altogether unexpected after Silva knocked out the tall Japanese fighter with an illegal upkick.
While Okami walked away with the disqualification win, it certainly wasn't as satisfying as his current run of success in the UFC. Ever since opening his UFC ledger with a unanimous decision win over Alan Belcher (Pictures) (10-3), Okami has become a "TUF Hunter" of sorts having notched consecutive wins over Kalib Starnes (Pictures) (8-1-1), Rory Singer (Pictures) (11-6) and Mike Swick (Pictures) (10-2).
Franklin however is no reality show byproduct and won't be impressed by Okami's success against mediocre contenders. What this fight will really boil down to is Okami's ability to use his suffocating top control style to nullify Franklin's patient but powerful striking.
Thus far, Okami has found great success using his wrestling and grappling to shut down opponents, but Franklin is the most physically imposing middleweight in the UFC and it will be no small task trying to corral him.
What should worry Okami fans is his performance against Swick. Though Okami dominated most of the fight, seemingly every time Swick landed a shot the Japanese middleweight would either lose his composure and leave himself open to attack, or blindly come forward in search of the clinch.
Against the experienced Franklin, it would be best for Okami to avoid such amateurish mistakes.
Whether or not Franklin gets an opportunity to capitalize on those mistakes will depend on how his takedown defense holds up against Okami. What tips the equation in favor of Franklin is the fact that should Okami manage a takedown or two, Franklin's cerebral approach to MMA and strong grappling training should be enough to keep him out of danger and eventually back on the feet where the disparity in skill is obvious.
Okami simply isn't going to wear down a cardio machine like Franklin and once Franklin starts finding his range on Okami's suspect defense, it will be a matter of time before Okami finds that perhaps he should have stuck with the "TUF Hunter" angle.
Expect this one to be similar to Franklin's match against MacDonald, with Franklin's takedown defense and striking winning the day and leading to a TKO stoppage early in the second round.
While Rich Franklin (Pictures)'s (21-2) road back to the UFC middleweight title won't remind anyone of Randy Couture (Pictures)'s improbable run as the current UFC heavyweight champion, he does have to work his way through an increasingly difficult division if he is ever going to get a crack at avenging his face rearranging loss to Anderson Silva (18-4).
Then again, Franklin's baptism to MMA consisted of marathon training sessions in an unventilated shed, so hard work isn't about to deter the favorite son of Cincinnati, Ohio.
That almost inhuman determination to improve and succeed drives the 32-year-old Franklin, who is fully aware that his athletic prime won't last forever. With that weighing heavily on his mind, Franklin isn't looking to waste any time as he works his way back to contention.
The first step towards that goal was Franklin's workmanlike dismantling of Jason MacDonald (Pictures) (18-8) at UFC 68. Fully healed from a litany of injuries and showing no ill effects from only his second professional loss, Franklin proved to the world that he is ready to take the next step towards becoming a two-time UFC champion.
Originally, it was to be Danish kickboxer Martin Kampmann (Pictures) (15-2) standing in Franklin's way of a title shot, but a knee injury put Kampmann on the shelf for the time being. Instead, we get one of Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo's best students, 25-year-old Yushin Okami (Pictures) (20-3).
Having quietly accumulated a UFC record of 4-0, a win over Franklin would be all Okami needs to set up his own shot at a second go round with Silva. It was in the opening round of Rumble On The Rock's much-ballyhooed 175-pound Grand Prix that Okami claimed an altogether unexpected after Silva knocked out the tall Japanese fighter with an illegal upkick.
While Okami walked away with the disqualification win, it certainly wasn't as satisfying as his current run of success in the UFC. Ever since opening his UFC ledger with a unanimous decision win over Alan Belcher (Pictures) (10-3), Okami has become a "TUF Hunter" of sorts having notched consecutive wins over Kalib Starnes (Pictures) (8-1-1), Rory Singer (Pictures) (11-6) and Mike Swick (Pictures) (10-2).
Franklin however is no reality show byproduct and won't be impressed by Okami's success against mediocre contenders. What this fight will really boil down to is Okami's ability to use his suffocating top control style to nullify Franklin's patient but powerful striking.
Thus far, Okami has found great success using his wrestling and grappling to shut down opponents, but Franklin is the most physically imposing middleweight in the UFC and it will be no small task trying to corral him.
What should worry Okami fans is his performance against Swick. Though Okami dominated most of the fight, seemingly every time Swick landed a shot the Japanese middleweight would either lose his composure and leave himself open to attack, or blindly come forward in search of the clinch.
Against the experienced Franklin, it would be best for Okami to avoid such amateurish mistakes.
Whether or not Franklin gets an opportunity to capitalize on those mistakes will depend on how his takedown defense holds up against Okami. What tips the equation in favor of Franklin is the fact that should Okami manage a takedown or two, Franklin's cerebral approach to MMA and strong grappling training should be enough to keep him out of danger and eventually back on the feet where the disparity in skill is obvious.
Okami simply isn't going to wear down a cardio machine like Franklin and once Franklin starts finding his range on Okami's suspect defense, it will be a matter of time before Okami finds that perhaps he should have stuck with the "TUF Hunter" angle.
Expect this one to be similar to Franklin's match against MacDonald, with Franklin's takedown defense and striking winning the day and leading to a TKO stoppage early in the second round.
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