5 forgotten UFC legends who deserve more respect from fans

#2. Rich Franklin - former UFC middleweight champion

In a world without Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin might be far better remembered as the UFC's greatest middleweight.

In a parallel universe somewhere, Rich Franklin is probably widely recognised as the greatest middleweight in UFC history. He may well have defended his UFC middleweight title on more than the two occasions he actually managed.

Of course, such a parallel universe would never see Anderson Silva enter the octagon. Essentially, the presence of 'The Spider' as the UFC's greatest-ever middleweight has ensured that Franklin has been largely – and unfairly – forgotten by modern fans.

When Franklin initially captured the UFC middleweight title in 2005, he looked every bit the new poster boy for the promotion. 'Ace' was good-looking, well-spoken, had a background as a high-school math teacher, and was a phenomenal fighter.

With well-rounded skills in all areas, Franklin overcame the likes of Jorge Rivera and Ken Shamrock before unseating Evan Tanner at UFC 53 to become the promotion's new middleweight kingpin.

Violent defenses against Nate Quarry and David Loiseau followed, as did a stint as a coach on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. That made him one of the UFC's most popular fighters in the mid-2000s.

Unfortunately for him, Silva then arrived in the promotion, and destroyed him at UFC 64 to take his title. Despite Franklin working his way back up to another title shot, he never managed to defeat 'The Spider'. Due to Silva's lengthy reign, he never got close to another one too.

Instead, 'Ace' meandered in the UFC for years, beating top-class fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell, but never quite being as highly regarded as he deserved to be.

That reputation remains to this day, as many modern UFC fans have forgotten him, meaning he definitely belongs on any list of UFC legends who deserve more respect.

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#1. Matt Hughes - former UFC welterweight champion

Matt Hughes was widely recognised as the UFC's welterweight GOAT before the rise of Georges St-Pierre.

If you rewind to just over a decade ago, Matt Hughes was undoubtedly recognised and respected as a bonafide UFC legend. In fact, UFC president Dana White would often talk him up as 'the greatest welterweight of all time'.

Today, though, Hughes has somehow been forgotten by most UFC fans. Moreover, the title of the promotion's greatest-ever welterweight belongs to the man who also dethroned him and then surpassed his legacy - Georges St-Pierre.

GSP knocked Hughes out to take his UFC welterweight title at UFC 65 in late 2006. He then defeated Hughes for a second time to win the interim UFC welterweight title a year later.

While Hughes continued to fight on after that, he was past his best and never really regained his status despite picking up three more wins before his retirement in 2011.

Before his loss to St-Pierre, though, Hughes was a remarkably dominant UFC champion. He first captured the welterweight title from Carlos Newton at UFC 34. He then defended it on five occasions, setting what was then a UFC record in the process.

A loss to BJ Penn at UFC 46 ended his first reign. However, Hughes then defeated St-Pierre to begin a second, and made another two successful defenses, while also beating an even older legend in Royce Gracie along the way.

Hughes' losses to St-Pierre and subsequent slide have given him the reputation of someone whose skills were eventually found wanting. However, in reality, the native of Illinois was actually a highly well-rounded fighter, and anyone would've been surpassed by someone as great as GSP.

Therefore, Hughes should be far better remembered than he is today, and deserves more respect than he gets from modern UFC fans.