UFC 88 breakdown: Rich Franklin vs Matt Hamill

Strength
The strength of Matt Hamill was well documented on The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality show, where competitors spoke at length at just how powerful Matt Hamill was. This is something Rich Franklin will have to deal with, as Hamill will have the strength advantage in this battle. Franklin by no means is a weak individual and held his own against super strong fighters in the past such as Yushin Okami, but nonetheless he will be giving up some strength versus the powerful wrestler in Hamill.

Wrestling
The strong wrestling pedigree which Hamill brings to the table is going to be a big factor in this bout. His ability to secure takedowns from double leg takedowns has been thoroughly impressive in his bouts. Franklin at some point will likely be put on his back and the big question will be can he get back up afterwards? Franklin has been a strong scrambler off his back, but he hasn’t been planted on his back by such a strong wrestler as Hamill. It’ll be a strong battle of will on the ground–Hamill trying to keep Franklin down while the former UFC champ trying hard to get back up.

BJJ
If Hamill does keep Franklin down on the mat, it’s no guarantee he’s safe in that position. While he has some viciously powerful ground and pound, Rich Franklin is a slick BJJ artist and can pull of a submission from his back. Franklin has the better BJJ skills and can dive into that arsenal if need be.

Striking
While he has submissions in his toolbox, Franklin is looking to finish off Hamill on the feet. He likes to be exciting, he likes to strike and he likes to win fights by finishing his opponent. All that equates to a sprawl and brawl strategy. If it comes down to a striking battle, Franklin has the edge on paper but Hamill has been getting better every fight in the striking game. While he was keeping his hands down and chin up for many of his early fights, he’s been working on better defense and showed great offense in his striking battle with Michael Bisping. Hamill is a relative rookie to MMA compared to Franklin so you might just see a whole new striker in Hamill. Nonetheless at the moment you’d have to give the Muay Thai edge to Franklin.

Cardio
While I doubt either fighter will gas, because Franklin is considered one of the hardest workers and most conditioned athletes in MMA, and the fact he has trained for 5 rounds and has gone 25 minutes in a championship battle, he has to be given the slight edge in this area. If the fight does end up a big grappling struggle it will tire both fighters out, but I highly doubt either will run out of steam.

The Winner

Rich Franklin. His superior striking and experience will allow him to take this battle at UFC 88

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