The popular Round 5 company today revealed images of the fighter figurines that are featured in its "Ultimate Collector Series 3" line.

Fighters selected for the series include UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, Diego Sanchez, Wanderlei Silva, and former champs Rich Franklin and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The "Series 3" line hits store shelves in August.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rich Franklin toughs it out as a doctor cuts his glove away from his left broken arm. “Ace” suffered the broken appendage in his main event bout with Chuck Liddell at UFC 115, after blocking a kick from the “Iceman” in the first round.

Nobody does quitting like professional athletes. First there’s a stretch of wildly inconsistent performances, followed by an official retirement in a spectacle of touching ceremonies, heartfelt speeches and highlight-reels. Then they sniff out a bigger contract, come back the following year and do it again. Even when the career finally ends, there is still the rounds of cheating accusations—from steroids, to corked bats, to illegal handwraps—that block the road to the record books. Whatever the circumstances, a career in physical competition almost never ends on a high note.

However, most star athletes are remembered warmly by fans. All the awful statistics and scandalous headlines (usually collected during the last few years) are forgotten in favour of an identified “prime”. Furthermore, slipping talent is more subtle in team sports because the overall success of a franchise is more important than a specific player; that allows for a more gradual realization that the best days are past—though it will still come painfully late.

However, in fighting, entire storied careers can be buried underneath a couple humiliating defeats—Michael Bisping will never live down that knockout by Dan Henderson. Furthermore, faltering performances are not obscured throughout a long season amidst teammates. Rather, the reduced speed, sloppy timing and softening chin are clearly displayed through full HD widescreen and slow-motion replays.

Fighter’s careers rarely wind down with dignity; instead they are viciously beaten out of contention by young-up-and-comers. Former stars like Jens Pulver, Ken Shamrock and Kevin Randleman are struggling to stay relevant while being brutalized by the next generation. Some fighters even opt for a huge drop in competition in order to rack up some wins. Such as former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (26-6 MMA), who has been proving his legendary status by facing such challenges as Ray Mercer (0-0 MMA, with one exhibition loss to Kimbo Slice) and Marius Pudzianowski (2-0 MMA).

The UFC 115 main event featured two fighters who are passionately ignoring signs that it is time to gracefully retire. Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin had great title reigns but are simply being outclassed in the autumn of their careers. Neither man has a chance of regaining the championship. And as the losses pile up, not only is their physical health at risk, but so is their legacy as fighters.

MMA has grown dramatically over the last five years. One the best results of that growth has been a tremendous increase in overall talent throughout the sport. As a result, being a champion means much more now than it did during the prime of Franklin and Liddell. Therefore, when former champs get destroyed by the next wave of talent, it begs the question of whether that prime was helped along by a lack of real competition.

Take the present UFC light-heavyweight class as an example: there are seven active former champions (Rich Franklin, Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz ) competing to get a shot at the newly crowned Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Compare that to the division during Liddell’s reign, where he and Randy Couture were the only real forces, as most of the current big names were still emerging or fighting in Pride FC.

Truthfully, the fizzling of former MMA stars probably has more to do with age and physical deterioration than truly being outclassed. But because it’s impossible to say exactly what would have happened if things had been different in their prime, they’ll never be able to shake the notion of being champ before the divisions were truly stacked. And the longer they spend getting knocked around by new blood, the more fuel it gives to such doubts.

It is hard to say exactly why athletes refuse to retire. Part of the problem may be pure ego, but mental conditioning may also deserve blame. Competing at the highest level means pushing through injuries, rough training camps, struggles with confidence and personal tragedy—see Vitor Belfort fighting Randy Couture while his sister was being held by kidnappers. After years of telling yourself that quitting is not an option, it’s pretty hard to bow out. That’s the nature of MMA though; success requires being tough, stubborn and a little crazy. And those traits do not usually lead to dignified endings.

UFC President Dana White has guaranteed that Chuck Liddell will never again fight in the octagon following his first-round knockout loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 115. White, speaking with MMAFighting.com after the event, insisted his long time friend would now hang up the gloves for good.

“I thought Chuck looked great right up until it ended but I guarantee you that tonight was the last time” said White.

Despite dominating the majority of the bout with some vintage striking, Liddell was caught by a crisp Franklin lead hook late in the first round. The 40-year old former champion’s weakened chin abandoned him again as he suffered his third straight knockout defeat. Once widely regarded as the world’s best light heavyweight, he’s now dropped five of his last six fights.

Liddell is yet to make a formal announcement regarding his future.

Following a vicious first-round knockout of MMA legend Chuck Liddell at this past weekend's UFC 115 event, headliner Rich Franklin today joins MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss the victory and his future at light heavyweight.

UFC welterweight contender Martin Kampmann also joins the show to discuss his equally impressive win over Paulo Thiago.

MMAjunkie.com Radio airs live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. Listen to and watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

During his victory speech at UFC 115, Rich Franklin made it clear he’d broken something in his left arm through both his words and his body language. Cradling the limb, “Ace” discussed the kick bringing about the injury and likely made a few onlookers’ stomachs cringe when mentioning he could feel the bone “click” shortly thereafter. However, based on the immediacy of the post-fight interview it was impossible at that point for the Cincinnati native to know the actual extent of the damage sustained.

Now that a short period of time has passed the former UFC middleweight champ has seen a doctor and the diagnosis is in. According to Franklin, who took to his Twitter page, “I broke my ulna in my forearm. I find out today if i need surgery today. Either way I’m casted at least 8 weeks.” No timetable has been announced for the soutpaw’s return, though it’s clear he won’t be seeing action until Fall at the earliest.

Franklin improved his record to 28-5 this past weekend after flooring fellow UFC icon Chuck Liddell with a counter right-hand in the first round of their headlining bout. The win was the one-time high school math teacher’s third since moving up from 185 pounds two years ago and his second by way of knockout.

Rich Franklin is en route to Las Vegas for surgery after his first-round
knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 this past Saturday in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada.

J.T. Stewart, Franklin's business manager, today told MMAjunkie.com that
his client suffered a broken left ulna when blocking a kick from
Liddell early in the fight.

"Ace" will see an orthopedic surgeon to correct the damage.

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Chuck Liddell was KO’d in the final seconds of the first round against Rich Franklin. The “Iceman’s” friend and UFC president, Dana White, was impressed with Liddell’s performance but ensures fans that the fighter is done in the octagon.

During the post fight press conference, White spoke to the media about his friend.

“Chuck Liddell came in, and we talked about it before, in fantastic shape. He worked hard for this thing, I think him and Rich Franklin tonight, fought the type of fights that made them both famous and world champions.

“Those two went at it in the first round, non-stop, toe-to-toe, and it was a fun fight.”

HT: MMAFighting.com

Former UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin walked away from UFC 115 with more than a first-round win over fellow icon of the Octagon Chuck Liddell after flattening the “Iceman” with five seconds remaining in the opening frame. “Ace” also exited the arena with an additional $85,000 and “Knockout of the Night” honors, both of which may help to ease the lingering pain he’s no doubt enduring as a result of a broken bone in his arm sustained during the headlining bout. The news was announced at the post-event press conference and reported by Sherdog.

Joining Franklin in procuring an extra $85,000 for work put in, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s post-fight plea apparently resonated with UFC brass, as his third-round choke of hard-hitting kickboxer Pat Barry WAS selected as “Submission of the Night”. The Croatian, generally known for his striking and knockout power, earned the fourth submission-based win of his career with the performance and his first by means of grappling since choking Kevin Randleman in PRIDE a little over 5 1/2 years ago.

Finally, Carlos Condit’s comeback win over blue-chip prospect Rory MacDonald was announced as the event’s “Fight of the Night”. The former WEC welterweight title-holder emerged down on the judges’ scorecards after the bout’s opening ten minutes but was able to pound out a victory with less than ten seconds remaining in the third round.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - UFC president Dana White did not get a
chance to confer with former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell,
as he said he would, after Saturday's UFC 115 event. Instead, Liddell
went straight to the hospital after Rich Franklin
knocked him out cold.

White said Thursday that if Liddell went unconscious again,
the two would come to the same conclusion: it's time to hang it up.

"Yeah, and I hope he agreed tonight," the UFC president said at the
post-event press conference when asked if Liddell's career is over. "I
don't think he won't."