Matchmakers for Bellator don’t believe in coddling the MMA promotional company’s contract fighters – not even a fighter like Davion Franklin, who entered Bellator’s ranks with no previous experience in the sport.
But that’s OK with Franklin. Bellator’s matchmakers can’t be any tougher than his older cousins back in Chicago.
On Thursday, Franklin (2-0), who trains in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink MMA Academy, is scheduled to face Anthony Garrett (5-2) in a heavyweight fight on a Bellator card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Franklin, 26, entered the MMA ranks just two years ago. For athletes coming primarily from a wrestling background, as he has, getting punched in the face can be a difficult adjustment to make.
Not for Franklin. His nickname, “All Day,” is in part a play on his first name. But it’s also what one kid says to another when he’s ready to throw down.
“I grew up in a very tough section of town, and at a very young age I got in a lot of street fights,” Franklin said this week in a phone interview. “So I’ve been hit in the face before.”
Some of those fights, he said, were instigated not by him or his opponent but by his own cousins.
“My older cousins used to get together and make me and my cousins around my age fight,” he said. “There were maybe six of us, we were all around 10 years old. Our older cousins were, like, teenagers, and they used to make us fight.”
Franklin did more giving than receiving in those battles and said he knew all along he was handy with his fists. And he was intrigued with MMA, having known a high school classmate who’d gone into the sport.
Still, the scholastic sports – football and wrestling – held his focus. After high school in Minnesota, he wrestled at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa.
Still, he continued to entertain thoughts of an MMA career.
“I had friends always telling me I should try MMA,” he said.
At the same time, though, relatives and other friends were counseling against it. “They’d say, ‘Why would you want to get punched in the face?'” he said.
“I think that played a little role (in the delay), but I’m so glad I did it. So glad.”
Once that decision was made, Franklin made another – traveling to Albuquerque and coming to Jackson-Wink. Impressive from the start, he caught the eye of manager Richard Guerrero, whose company – Mata Leon – had awarded a “scholarship” – consisting primarily of living expenses – to Jackson-Wink light heavyweight prospect Christian Edwards.
Guerrero has done the same for Franklin.
Bellator, as it had done with Edwards, signed Franklin to a contract.
Franklin made his debut with a victory by first-round TKO over JW Kiser, who was 5-2 at the time.
Hiss second victory, against Ras Hylton (6-4) came with some controversy. And his inexperience was evident.
Intent on finishing Hylton in the first round, as he’d done against Kiser, Franklin “gassed” in the second. Nonetheless, he was dominating the fight when, in the third round, he landed an illegal punch to the back of Hylton’s head.
Referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight at that point but ruled the blow unintentional, giving Franklin a victory by technical decision.
“The biggest thing I learned (from the Hylton fight) is to pace myself,” Franklin said. “… Just win the fight and pace yourself and breathe. That’s kind of where I’m at with it.”
Garrett, Franklin’s opponent on Thursday, also owns a victory over Kiser in the first round (submission, rear naked choke).
“He’s a wrestler,” Franklin said of Garrett. “… That’s about all l know about him. That’s all I need to know about him.”
Whoever they put in front of him, whether the matchmaker is Bellator or a cousin – “All Day” will be ready.
BONES C.A.R.E.(S): A charitable project headed by Albuquerque MMA fighter Jon “Bones” Jones is offering a $500 shopping spree for 50 Albuquerque-area families.
For more information, go to careproject.com and click on the Instagram logo at top left. To apply or nominate, click on “contact.”
Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, has abandoned that title and plans to compete as a heavyweight.
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J-W’s ‘All Day’ Franklin is ready for Thursday night Bellator bout - Albuquerque Journal
"all day" - Google News
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