Israel Adesanya proved his critics wrong after registering an impressive knockout victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 287. He finally defeated the toughest opponent of his entire career after their fourth meeting (second in the UFC) across two combat sports disciplines. Many people argued that his win against ‘Poatan’ must have made him the best middleweight fighter in the UFC’s history. But Hall of Famer Rich Franklin doesn’t agree with that statement.

Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin was one of the biggest UFC fighters during the 2000s. He is a former middleweight champion, which he won after defeating Evan Tanner at UFC 53. Franklin was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2019 under the ‘Pioneer Wing’.

UFC Hall of Famer does not consider Israel Adesanya to be the best middleweight ever

‘The Schmo’ recently caught hold of Rich Franklin for an interview where the former middleweight champion shared his thoughts on ‘The Last Stylebender’ being the best UFC middleweight in history. ‘Ace’ was previously asked about his thoughts on the best middleweight fighter, and he mentioned Anderson Silva. He said, “Anderson [Silva] didn’t just win matches, he made good guys look bad, myself included.” He added, “You look at a match like what he did with Forrest [Griffin] and how he was able to outmaneuver him. I have yet to see that kind of level in the middleweight class with somebody else.”

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When it came to Adesanya, Franklin was still in favor of ‘The Spider’. He said, “Absolutely not [On Adesanya being the best]. It’ll always be Anderson Silva.” ‘Ace’ proceeded to provide the reason behind his choice. “The reason why is because Anderson beat me. So I had to be beaten by the greatest, right? So Israel will always be… he will be number three. It’s Anderson, then me, then Israel.”

‘The Last Stylebender’ created a few records at UFC 287

Israel Adesanya not only overcame his biggest rival at UFC 287, but he also created a few records of his own. Apart from becoming the first-ever two-time middleweight champion in the history of UFC, he also created the record for the second-most UFC middleweight title fight victories with eight wins, just three behind Anderson Silva. He also tied the record with ‘The Spider’ for most knockdowns landed with thirteen.

Adesanya also recorded eight fight night bonuses, tied with Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker in second place with Anderson Silva, leading the charge with twelve fight night bonuses. The Nigerian-born Kiwi fighter also handed Alex Pereira the first knockout loss of his MMA career so far.

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Rich Franklin may not agree with Adesanya’s status as the best middleweight fighter ever, but UFC 287 proved to be a fantastic outing for ‘The Last Stylebender’. He has beaten all the fighters in the top five of the division and will seek to continue his winning ways in his future bouts.

What is your take on Franklin’s comments about Adesanya? Drop your comments below.

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