This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Rich Franklin Turns 41

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He is one of six men to capture the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown and became one of MMA’s most effective ambassadors during a career that spanned more than a decade. Rich Franklin will celebrate his 41st birthday on Oct. 5.

A former high school math teacher, Franklin recorded wins over Chuck Liddell, Yushin Okami, Wanderlei Silva (twice) and the late Evan Tanner (twice). He claimed the UFC middleweight title with a fourth-round technical knockout on Tanner at UFC 53 and successfully defended it twice before running into Anderson Silva a little more than a year later. The Cincinnati native compiled a stellar 14-6 mark in the UFC and delivered 25 of his 29 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Franklin fought for the final time in November 2012, when he was on the receiving end of a one-punch knockout from former Strikeforce champion Cung Le.

Currently serving as vice president of the Singapore-based One Championship organization, Franklin had long hinted at a possible return for a farewell bout in the UFC but instead announced his retirement on Sept. 28.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of October:

OCT. 1

Helio Gracie (1913-2009)
Devin Cole (39)
Ryan LaFlare (32)

OCT. 2

David Heath (39)
Takayo Hashi (38)
Ed Herman (35)

OCT. 3

Thiago Alves (32)
Leo Kuntz (32)
Dave Herman (31)
Seok Mo Kim (29)
Sirwan Kakai (26)

OCT. 4

Milton Vieira (37)
Josh Burkman (35)
Liam McGeary (33)
Alexis Davis (31)
Ralek Gracie (30)
Andrew Bard (28)
Erik Koch (27)

OCT. 5

Hiromitsu Kanehara (45)
Rich Franklin (41)
Matt Hamill (39)

OCT. 6

Brett Martinez (29)
Masio Fullen (28)

OCT. 7

Akihiro Gono (41)
Kyacey Uscola (34)
Chris Mickle (32)
Yuta Sasaki (26)

OCT. 8

Siala-Mou Siliga (45)
Ryo Chonan (39)
Francisco Rivera (34)

OCT. 9

Gene LeBell (83)
Josh Diekmann (39)
Luis Palomino (35)
Jorge Santiago (35)
Blagoy Ivanov (29)

OCT. 10

Brad Mitchell (41)
Brandon Vera (38)
Douglas Evans (35)
Terry Martin (35)
Doo Won Seo (34)
Carla Esparza (28)
Jordan Mein (26)

OCT. 11

Francis Carmont (34)
Dave Burrow (24)

OCT. 12

Fred Ettish (60)
“Big” John McCarthy (53)
Wes Sims (36)
Jason High (34)
Bashir Ahmad (33)
Ronnie Mann (29)
Omari Akhmedov (28)
Kyoji Horiguchi (25)

OCT. 13

Matt Hughes (42)
Bryan Baker (30)
John Albert (29)

OCT. 14

Kathina Catron (30)
Tony Sims (30)
Jim Alers (29)
Josh Grispi (27)

OCT. 15

Art Arciniega (34)
Jacob Draves (33)
Vaughan Lee (33)

OCT. 16

Kazuyuki Fujita (45)
Frankie Edgar (34)
Maximo Blanco (32)

OCT. 17

Joey Villasenor (40)
Rex Richards (35)
Holly Holm (34)
Ben Rothwell (34)
Buddy Roberts (33)
Luke Rockhold (31)
Edimilson Souza (31)
Charles Oliveira (26)

OCT. 19

Yukiko Seki (45)
Terry Etim (30)
Drew Dober (27)
Sabah Homasi (27)

OCT. 20

John Fraser (38)
Paul Redmond (29)

OCT. 21

Clint Godfrey (33)
Shawn Jordan (31)
Lowen Tynanes (25)

OCT. 22

Ajlin Ahmic (31)
Kosuke Suzuki (31)
Rin Nakai (29)
Amanda Bobby Cooper (24)

OCT. 23

Jason Butcher (31)
Jeremy May (29)
Adam Piccolotti (27)

OCT. 24

Orlando Wiet (50)
David Mitchell (36)
James McSweeney (35)
Mark Bocek (34)
Jesse Forbes (31)
Kelvin Gastelum (24)

OCT. 25

Eric Davila (39)
Jeremiah O’Neal (38)
Keith Wisniewski (34)
Augusto Montano (31)

OCT. 26

Alejandro Villalobos (37)
Seth Baczynski (34)
Cindy Dandois (31)
Rafael dos Anjos (31)

OCT. 27

Semmy Schilt (42)
Sherron Leggett (37)
Misaki Takimoto (35)
Julio Arce (26)

OCT. 28

Jigoro Kano (1860-1938)
Bobby Hoffman (49)
Alex Chambers (37)
Glover Teixeira (36)
L.C. Davis (35)

OCT. 29

Will Kerr (33)
Antonio Braga Neto (28)
Matthew Lozano (27)

OCT. 30

Hong Man Choi (35)
Katsunori Kikuno (34)
Ed West (32)

OCT. 31

Keith Jardine (40)
Joe Warren (39)
Daniel Kelly (38)
Waylon Lowe (35)
Yoshiro Maeda (34)
Myles Jury (27)