Rich Franklin vs Matt Lindland

[Masscore]

Originally Posted by Afro Samurai

I think Richs takedown D is irrelevant, it definently isnt good enough to fend off Lindland.. his wrestling is way too good

I think it is good enough to hold off Lindland at the very start of the fight. Probably for most of the first round, which would allow Franklin enough time to land some leather and do some damage.

Also like I said, I would not be surprised at all to see Franklin take Lindland to the ground and GnP. I mean even though Lindland is a great wrestler it has been shown in the past that he can be taken down and beat on a little (ala Rampage).

Like I said before, the only way Lindland could win in my opinon is taking Franklin down and GnPing him. Where as Franklin can sub, KO, and GnP Lindland. Usaully the guy with more ways to win, wins the fight.

[Harlem]

I think Lindland by GNP in the 3rd. I think his wrestling is just too good. He had Fedor flailing around like a baby for a minute.

Rich can't stop Lindland from controling this fight IMO.

[Warchief]

Lindland is a bit smarter and waaayyy too experience well rounded fighter ( 2000 olympic silver medalist) compared to franklin, so i choose matt by gnp by round 2 or 3.

[Ubermensch]

Originally Posted by dork8503

Rich's Stand up is better then Lindlands, Lindland has ok stand up ok subs he is just a great wrestler with good gnp, Rich has good stand up good take down d and good ground game. I have to agree with Mass, Franklin has more ways to end this fight.

First I never said Lindland had better stand up than Rich. Second Lindland is not just a GnP'er. Have you watched many of his fights??? Thats like saying Randy or Horn are GnP'ers. I know you know your stuff so I don't have to spell this one out for you. Rashard, Tito, Hughes = GnP'ers Not Lindland (early Lindland yes now days NO) Just because you are good at Wrestling doesn't mean you are only a GnP'er.

Originally Posted by Nate_Deezy

How does Rich have a suspect jaw? He's been knocked out twice in 24 fights. One was to a straight front kick directly to the chin by Lyoto Machida, who is a great striker, and the other came after repeated knees to the face and body (I counted almost 30 of them) delivered by Anderson Silva, arguably the most pinpoint striker in the UFC, if not all of MMA. I just don't see how that constitutes having a suspect jaw. Rich takes shots just fine in my opinion.

However he has been dazed on more occasions than that, and those dazing's count in my book at testing ones jaw.

[Afro]

Rich doesnt have a glass chin but it isnt great either

[Ubermensch]

Originally Posted by Afro Samurai

Rich doesnt have a glass chin but it isnt great either

Agreed. I think people thought I said his chin was glass where I have never said that.

[rivethead]

somehow, I messed up this quote from Nate Deezy, and I'm too lazy to figure out why...but here was the original:
Matt Lindland is a lot like Frank Shamrock to me in that he is always talking about how good he is, yet refuses to sign on to fight in big orgs against the top guys in his weight class to prove it. Rich could defend the takedown on a tired Lindland in later rounds, seeing as how Rich has phenomenal cardio, and at that point he would knock Lindland out if it even went that far. Lindland's chin seems a little suspect to me. Speaking of which:
How does Rich have a suspect jaw? He's been knocked out twice in 24 fights.





I have to respectfully disagree with virtually everything you've said.

First of all, you're counting an NC as one of Franklin's fights. While you're correct in that he wasn't KO'd, it was a no contest. They don't count.

and even by your logic, Lindland has only been KO'd once in 25 fights, by David Terrell, in Terrell's [albiet brief] heyday, so your logic is flawed. Lindland doesn't have a suspect jaw. He's stood against great strikers, and done fine. And no way is Franklin defending against his takedown...

Furthermore, he's fought great fighters in a variety of weight classes [again, not sure who stated he fought a "faded" Jackson, but I doubt they even watched that fight...] and had great, entertaining fights.

Even though it was dirty on both sides, comparing this last fight to Fedor/Mirko, I'd rather see a Lindland rematch, as I thought Mirko ran from Fedor for the majority of the fight. [nothing against Mirko, I'd run from him too.]

I can understand giving Franklin credit, but I don't see him winning more than 2 out of 10 times with this match up. Lindland has an answer for big strikers, he has far better ground and grappling, particularly when fighting closer to his walk-around weight. Franklin has been dominant in part because he's so big for MW, but he doesn't have an answer for MAtt's takedowns, and wouldn't be as physically dominant as he has against smaller guys. It would be a great fight, and big strikers always have a striker's chance, but I think he'd have to get lucky.

Finally, regarding Matt's decision to delay signing with UFC, I applaud it. He stated in an interview he wanted to do a couple fights, non-exclusive, and Dana wouldn't go for it. I have very serious concerns with UFC signing practices, and with Dana's lame-assed tune-up fight philosophy in general, and the bullshit hype that surrounds even the weakest match-ups [Sanchez/Koscheck, anyone?] I think Lindland is screwed, because with the aquisition of PRIDE, Zuffa effectively creates a monopoly, but it's always nice to see someone who won't bend.

rh