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11/06/09 - Franklin admits frustration at having to defend MMA to German media
Rich Franklin has confessed to feeling somewhat frustrated by the nature of some questions the German media have asked him ahead of UFC 99 on Saturday night.
The weekend event is the first time that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has ventured to the European mainland, and Franklin says he feels like he has "stepped back in time".
"We got asked these kind of questions in the USA like, ten years ago," the former middleweight champion explained to Fighters Only.
"It has surprised me to see some of the negative reactions in the German media over the last week, if I am honest. We didn't get those reactions the first time we came out here to promote this show. It seems like since then the media have gone away and read a couple of things and have developed preconceptions.
"It is a bit frustrating to have to once again be defending my sport and myself as a sportsman, but I suppose that is what happens when you move into a new territory that maybe hasn't been exposed to the sport [of MMA] before."
UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik agrees, and also thinks that Germany's long boxing pedigree may have led to a misunderstanding of what is going on when the fight goes to the floor in UFC shows.
"You see the fighter fall to the floor and the other fighter follows him down and continues punching him, and people think that looks bad," says Zelaznik.
"But actually, when you see in boxing where a guy is given a standing eight count and then gets hit a few more times and concussed, that is much worse for the fighter. much worse. Much of the time when a UFC fighter is on his back its a tactical thing."
John Joe O'Regan
john.fightersonly@Gmail.com
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