D.P.

Nickname Ace
Height 6 ft 1 in
Weight 185 lb
Nationality Flag of the United States American
Born October 5, 1974
Fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio
Team/Association Team Extreme
Primary fighting style Freestyle

Wins 24
By knockout 16
By submission 9
Losses 4
Draws 0
No contests 1

Martial arts background

According to Franklin, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes.[6] He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc., and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). Franklin is currently ranked as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel. Since losing his title to Anderson Silva, Franklin has started training under Matt "The Wizard" Hume.

Mixed martial arts career

Franklin had a record of 17 wins and 1 loss before his fight for the title, which he won. His sole loss was against Undefeated Lyoto Machida by TKO in the second round. In the run up to the title match, he defeated such well-respected fighters as Evan Tanner, Jorge Rivera, Edwin Dewees, Ken Shamrock, Jason MacDonald, and David Loiseau. Before his fight with Shamrock, Franklin signed an unusually long 8-fight contract with the UFC. In 2005, he defeated Evan Tanner for a second time at UFC 53 to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. His victory led to his being a coach (along with welterweight champion Matt Hughes) on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter.

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a competitor from season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round. On March 4, 2006, at UFC 58, Franklin defeated David Loiseau in a unanimous five round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left hand early on in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws, and Franklin was out of action for seven months.

Franklin lost his title on his return fight after being defeated by Brazilian Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. The fight was stopped at 2:49 of the first round after Franklin received a knee to the face. On October 19, 2006 Franklin underwent surgery due to the nasal fracture he received in his fight against Silva.

At UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, Franklin defeated Jason MacDonald by TKO due to MacDonald's corner throwing in the towel in the break between rounds two and three. Franklin had mounted MacDonald in the closing seconds of the second round, causing significant injury and swelling around MacDonald's left eye. MacDonald's corner advised ending the fight, and Franklin was declared the winner. After the fight Franklin called Anderson Silva to the Octagon, and said that he and Dana White had agreed to a fight for the title in Franklin's hometown, Cincinnati.

On June 16, 2007 at UFC 72 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Franklin defeated top middleweight contender Yushin Okami to be announced the official number one contender for Anderson Silva's middleweight championship. The bout was only Franklin's second overall fight that went the full distance (due to being a non-title fight, it was three rounds). All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Franklin.

On October 20, 2007, Franklin faced Anderson Silva in a rematch for the middleweight championship, losing by TKO in the second round. Franklin recently signed a new 6 fight contract with the UFC.

Franklin defeated Travis Lutter via TKO at 3:01 of Round 2 at UFC 83 on April 19, 2008. This was despite Lutter locking in a tight armbar. Franklin exhibited a high level armbar submission escape, made even more impressive because Lutter is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

On September 6, 2008 at UFC 88, Franklin made his return to the light heavyweight division by defeating Matt Hamill by TKO with a kick to the liver.

Franklin fought against former PRIDE Fighting Championships 183 lb. and 205 lb. champion Dan Henderson at UFC 93 on January 17, 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. He lost the fight in a split decision and the winner, Dan Henderson, will be the coach of the American Team on the 9th season of The Ultimate Fighter, with Michael Bisping coaching the opposing Team UK. Franklin lost a very controversial decision. Franklin was in the unique position of being the first person to main event a UFC show in Northern Ireland at UFC 72 and the first person to main event a UFC show in the Republic of Ireland.

On March 3, 2009, the UFC confirmed the reported catchweight (195 lb) bout between Franklin and Pride FC legend Wanderlei Silva. It will take place at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, on June 13, 2009.