Rich “Ace” Franklin is set to take on Wanderlei Silva in the main event at UFC 147 on June 23, 2012 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This will be the 37 year old’s second bout against the hometown fighter.
Franklin has thrown on his MMA gloves 35 times in his career and this fight will mark his 19th fight within the UFC. He has fought the likes of Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva (x 2).
Franklin was on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani. He spoke about possible retirement and the idea of undergoing testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
I hate quitting more than I hate giving up. I don’t like quitting, that’s all. I do what I do and I do what I love. About two or three years ago, I started getting asked about retirement and now that I’ve been asked about it in every single interview since then, I am kind of conditioned to understand that retirement is sometime in the near future. I don’t have a date, I don’t plan on fighting into my forties, but I do believe that I am one of those people that will wake up one day and say, “you know what? I’ve had enough and I’ve done enough and I’m good.
Helwani asked if he had ever contemplated undergoing TRT and Franklin admitted to “kicking around” the idea,
Yeah, I’ve kicked around that idea and everything, and actually I’ve talked to doctors that work with the UFC and the athletic commission in Nevada and all that kind of stuff. And at 37, my count obviously is not what it was when I was 25, and I’m a candidate for that kind of stuff. I haven’t started yet. I’m not sure if that’s something I want to do or how I want to approach that, because TRT is, once you start that process it’s a permanent fixture. Once you start putting those hormones in your body , those synthetic hormones , then your body is not going to produce its own hormones any more, and so you really have to think carefully. My levels are still decently healthy for a male, but they’re not high enough to continue a prolonged career at a top level for many more years.
At the age of 37, Franklin doesn’t have many fights left in him. However, this upcoming bout with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 in Brazil is going to be fireworks.
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