DaytonDailyNews.com

Before heading to Wyoming to train for Saturday's Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title bout against Anderson Silva at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, West Chester Twp. resident Rich Franklin sat down for a Q&A with staff writer Jay Morrison.

Q What are your recollections of your first professional fight?

A You know, off the top of my head, I don't even remember who I fought. ... I can remember my first amateur fight, though. I fought out in Richmond, Ind., and it was just kind of a big game to me at the time. I didn't get nervous. I was sitting in the audience, and they called my name, and literally I just stood up and tore off my warm-ups and took my T-shirt off and just thought it was kind of fun.

It wasn't actually until my third fight when I fought this gentleman and kicked him the jaw and broke his jaw. That was the first time it dawned on me what can really happen if you're on the receiving end.

That just kind of really put things in perspective for me. From that point on, every time I was stepping in a cage I knew this was serious business, that you can get hurt.

Q How many autographs would you say you've signed?

A At least probably a million. I remember when I signed my first autograph. Technically, my first autograph was for my sister. We did a fight down at Annie's — that was the only other time I've ever fought in Cincinnati — where my manager set up this small professional fight, and she asked me to sign an autograph for her. I felt really stupid about it. But about a half-hour later, there was a younger kid there who asked me for an autograph, and it was really weird. It's kind of like, "What do you want my autograph for? I just fought in this tiny little show here, and I'm nobody special."

You get used to it after awhile, but it's still kind of crazy to me. I went down to River Downs and I had this guy — and I mean it was over 100 degrees — and I had this gentleman stand in line four hours in that weather waiting to get my autograph.

Q What's the strangest thing anybody's asked you to autograph?

A A prosthetic leg. He walked up to the table and he already had it off, and he set the leg down on the table. I'm sitting down at a table, so I can't see anything from his hip down, so I just thought he was joking at first. But I leaned over and looked down below the table, and he's standing there like this (hopping).

I was like, "Are you serious?" And he said, "Yeah, man. I'd be honored if you'd sign my leg." So I put my signature on it.

Q What kind of things do you like to do away from the gym and all of that publicity madness?

A I'm learning a foreign language, working on my Portuguese. And I'm learning how to play drums. I'm one of those people who in my free time, I like to better myself in some way, shape or form.

Q How much longer do you see yourself doing this?

A A few years. I don't know. Until I'm sick of it. Physically, I'm in good shape. I think, physically, I could handle doing this another 10 years if I wanted to. But I don't think mentally I want to stick it out for another 10 years. Fighting's not the end-all for me. There are other things in life I'd like to accomplish.

At one point in time, when I was teaching for a living, I think becoming a world champ would've been the end-all for me. That would've been the ultimate goal. But now, seeing how many other doors this has opened for me, there's just so many other things in life that I never thought about doing.