ok than elvis we are all relying on you to sneak a video camera in by any means possible, illegally record the fight and then post it on here immediately afterwards. this is your mission if you choose to accept it.
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ok than elvis we are all relying on you to sneak a video camera in by any means possible, illegally record the fight and then post it on here immediately afterwards. this is your mission if you choose to accept it.
versus sanshou...
Quote:
Shamrock a survivor from MMA’s early days
By Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports Mar 17, 5:01 pm EDT
Frank Shamrock has a unique role in the nearly 15-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He was the first truly well-rounded UFC champion, combining submission fighting on the ground and kickboxing, with quick transitions between the two. He was also one of the forerunners in recognizing the value of intense cardio training.
As an undersized light heavyweight, Shamrock was the first champion in what has been, from the day he won the title in 1997, the organization’s marquee weight class. He was the company’s top fighter for two years before walking away after his biggest career victory, over Tito Ortiz in 1999.
And Shamrock’s existence is all but completely ignored in UFC company literature.
Shamrock’s period on top, in 1998 and 1999, coincided with UFC’s low point, when most cable companies wouldn’t even air it on pay-per-view and there was no cable television outlet.
But over the long run, Shamrock (23-8-1) has emerged as a survivor. He’ll attempt to remain the only champion from the primitive days of the sport who is still one when he defends his Strikeforce middleweight title on March 29 against one-time training partner Cung Le (5-0) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The fight airs live on Showtime.
Shamrock didn’t fight top-level competition from late 2000 through early 2007. Therefore, he didn’t destroy his body for tiny paydays and wind up physically ruined when the real money started to come in, the fate suffered by many of his contemporaries.
When EliteXC started up in early 2007, Shamrock was the group’s first major signing coming out of the blocks, getting a $1.8 million deal for six fights and returning to the national spotlight.
Roundabout road
Shamrock, born Frank Juarez, is the adopted brother of UFC legend Ken Shamrock. Shamrock won his UFC title less than two years into his career by beating Kevin Jackson with an armbar in just 16 seconds in December 1997. After beating Ortiz in 1999, which is considered the high point of his competitive career, he left the company in a contract dispute and semi-retired, figuring the sport in the U.S. was going nowhere.
When current owners Zuffa LLC bought UFC in 2001, Shamrock was originally part of the announcing team, but left when the company wanted him to sign an exclusive contract. Since that time, Shamrock and UFC president Dana White have engaged in a noted public feud. Besides each calling the other names, the problems included a lawsuit filed by UFC toward Shamrock over a DVD of a Shamrock match in World Extreme Cagefighting, which took place years before Zuffa, the UFC parent company, purchased the WEC. But with the WEC name on the box, since Zuffa now owns the WEC, Zuffa alleged trademark infringement. The case was recently settled out of court.
White did make a lucrative attempt to sign Shamrock in 2006, but Shamrock figured, correctly, that he could better call the shots in his own career by being a name fighter who isn’t in UFC.
Next in line
Shamrock’s next foe, Le, is a 35-year old former Vietnamese refugee who has been the martial arts hero in his home town of San Jose for more than a decade. Le has the flashiest stand-up style in the sport, but he’s still unproven against top-level opposition.
There is little question the fight will be the toughest test for the undefeated Le, whose wins have all ended via stoppages from kicks or punches. Le is known for using an array of crazy kicks out of martial arts movies that history had demonstrated don’t work in MMA competition. Thus far he’s made them work, but this will be the first time he uses them against legitimate major opposition.
There has been impatience from some fight fans to see Le, who has been in MMA for only two years, against top competition. Because he’s been a well-known name in the martial arts world since the mid-90s, and a king of San Shou-style fighting, there were always questions as to how his style – which includes strong takedowns and strong takedown defense – would fare against the top-level MMA fighters.
Shamrock, who trained with Le years ago, and admitted Le was ahead of him as a striker in those days, believes that impatience has made him ask for the match a little early in his all-around MMA development.
“I’m going to punch him in the chin,” said Shamrock. “I’m going to stand right in front of him and force him to fight. By round two, he’s going to be going for the takedown because he’s not going to like when he gets hit. I don’t think he’s got a chin.”
The 35-year old Shamrock also believes the entertaining kicks Le throws, which he said are not bio-mechanically correct, will cause him to tire faster. Stamina is more of a factor in a five-round title fight, although both Shamrock and trainer Maurice Smith insist it’s not going five rounds. Shamrock believes Le has gotten away with his kicking style in previous fights because of superior athletic ability.
“I said back in 1999 that striking was the direction the sport was going to go,” he said. “It’s also what the fans want to see.”
Here's my 'official' take on it, exclusive on our e-zine. :cool:
Cung Le Knows the Way to San Jose. It's through Frank Shamrock.
Personally I can't wait for this fight.
They hype is all worth it IMO. It's going to be a blast.
I hope they have a good fight, go a couple rounds, and then Le wins :D
edit: by a kick would be slick as hell
I'm worried that Cung might do his "I want to draw it out into 3 rounds/put on a show" thing, and get hit with a lucky one. But he will probably go for the kill on this one anyway.
I got my press pass. This was the hardest fight for me to get into so far. I can barely wait until Saturday. Anyone else besides me and elvis going to be in the house?Quote:
So It's This Saturday The 29th?
...but I could only secure one press pass. Like I said, this was a tight one to get in. Strikeforce is cooperating with EliteXC on this, and they handed the promotions over to BZA, a professional PR firm. What does all that mean? It means MMA is growing up in San Jose.
Odd time to fight with a pregnant wife...
Quote:
Frank Shamrock takes on Cung Le in mixed martial arts showdown
10 hours ago
The Shamrock name still sells in mixed martial arts. So apparently does that of Cung Le.
Le, a martial arts star who switched to mixed martial arts two years ago, takes on MMA veteran Frank Shamrock on Saturday night (9 p.m. ET) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose for Shamrock's Strikeforce world middleweight title.
Gary Shaw, co-promoter of the Strikeforce-EliteXC show, expects the two local fighters to draw a crowd of 15,000 to 17,000 plus a gate in excess of US$1 million.
"This is truly for the king of the Bay Area and the king of San Jose," Shaw said on a conference call. "One of them is going to walk with his head high that night and through town the next week or two and the other won't feel quite as good."
Like Shaw, the 35-year-old Shamrock can talk a good fight. And thanks to a layoff and what some might call judicious choice of opponents in recent years, he can point to an unbeaten run that dates back to 1997 - save a disqualification loss to Renzo Gracie last February.
He fought once in 2000, 2003 and 2006 and twice in 2007, most recently last June when he submitted Phil Baroni - another fighter who has been round the MMA block a few times.
Le promises to be a good payday for Shamrock and the veteran has his eye on a few more, citing a possible rematch with Tito Ortiz and a fight against his adoptive older brother Ken Shamrock. "There's a lot of strength in brand values in some of these old-timers like myself."
Frank Shamrock was the UFC's first light-heavyweight champion. He won the title in December 1997 and defended it four times before retiring in November 1999 after beating Ortiz.
"I've got so many belts I don't have a place to put them. I just stack 'em up in my gym," Shamrock, whose website has a photo showing him holding some five championship belts, said loftily. "I realized a long time ago that belts don't mean anything. It's easier to become a champion than to stay a champion. For me it's just a way of life and if they give me a belt that's great, if they don't I could really care less.
"I've got to have something that challenges me," he added.
Le may do just that. A former star practitioner of the Chinese martial arts of Sanshou (think kickboxing with throws), he moved to MMA two years ago after an unbeaten kickboxing career and has run up a 5-0 record since. That record includes wins over "The Ultimate Fighter" alumni Sam Morgan and Jason Von Flue and veteran Tony (the Freak) Fryklund.
Born in Vietnam, he left the country when he was almost three.
"I was fortunate to have a grandfather who was chief of police and we were able to be airlifted out, under gunfire though but three days before the fall of Saigon," Le said in an interview. "A lot of people didn't have that luxury."
Now 35, Le is fast and unorthodox. His highlight reels are full of opponents distracted by a punch and then felled by a sweep of the legs. The elegant fighter moves like an upright breakdancer.
"It's a good matchup because Frank has the edge on me on the ground and I have the edge on standup," Le said. "And I think my movement will be the key factor to this whole fight because I'm going to be in and out and you can't hit what you can't see.
"One moment I'll be in his face, but I'm not just going to be in front of his face. I'm going to be feeding him some shinbone and four-ounce leather and I'm going to be in and out. I'm not going to stay in there for him to tie me up and look for my ankles."
Shamrock, however, said he will stand and punch with Le.
"My art has been tweaked many years ago to be a striking art," he said. "And for the past decade most of what I've studied has been striking and I think it's just time for me to try out my striking. It might be a little dangerous, but it's not like we're not in a dangerous sport. I have the utmost confidence in what I do. I think Cung Le is a great striker but I don't think he's prepared for an MMA striking match and that's just my strategic analysis of the match so I'm going for it."
Le doesn't buy it.
"I think it's a big smokescreen," he said. "Frank's a very intelligent fighter and of course he's going to put it out there that he's going to strike with me and, really, I think he's going to test the waters a little bit and then probably jump for half-guard or look for the ankle lock and start hunting for my knees." Adding to the spice surrounding the fight is the fact the two men have sparred before. Just how much is a topic for debate.
"We only did Sanshou and I sucked at Sanshou," said Shamrock. "That was a great many years ago and that was at the beginning of my understanding of striking. Now it's just a different level, different story. Time will tell. My actions in the ring will make everybody understand."
Countered Le: "He didn't just spar with me in Sanshou, we did kickboxing, we did Muay Thai, we did kickboxing with throws, everything what he would do in MMA except when it came to the ground."
Both men have also dabbled with acting. Shamrock's resume includes an appearance on "Walker, Texas Ranger. Le has appeared in the yet-to-be released films "Fighting" and "Tekken."
In typical Shamrock-speak, the champion predicted a short night Saturday.
"If Cung Le runs from me, I think that it might last a while, because it'll take me a little while to run him down. ... I don't think we'll go past two or three rounds," he said. "I'm going to push the pace really hard and try to finish it in two, because my wife's pregnant and I want to make sure I'm home with her just in case the baby pops out. I don't think it's going to be a long fight."
Le isn't fazed by such talk.
"I feel that he is very arrogant and ****y, ego-driven but that could be Achilles heels when it comes to fighting me."
NOTES - Other fights on the card include Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez versus Gabe Lemley and welterweight Jake Shields versus Drew Fickett.
Of course, anyone following the money knows who is on CBS. No wonder it was so hard to secure a press pass.
Quote:
NBC Follows CBS Into Mixed-Martial-Arts Ring
Strikeforce to Produce Bouts to Air at 2 a.m.
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/27/2008 2:39:00 PM
NBC is joining CBS in adding mixed martial arts to its programming lineup, although unlike CBS, which is broadcasting the events earlier on Saturday evening, NBC will air its fights at 2 a.m.
Strikeforce
NBC struck a deal with Strikeforce, an MMA-promotion company, to produce the fights.
"It's truly an honor to have the opportunity to bring the Strikeforce mixed-martial-arts product to one of the longest-standing and most well-respected national television platforms," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in a statement. "NBC has a history of popular late Saturday TV and, in the 1980s, NBC's Saturday Night's Main Event show helped to catapult the popularity of professional wrestling. Strikeforce is looking to follow in suit and establish a legacy of its own on the network."
NBC will broadcast its first MMA fight, Strikeforce on NBC, April 12 from 2 a.m.-2:30 a.m., following Poker After Dark, a show that it said shares an audience with MMA.
The network has beefed up its late-night programming over the past few years. While its competitors often air repeats or syndicated fare late at night, NBC broadcasts Last Call with Carson Daly from 1:35 a.m.-2:05 a.m. on weekdays, followed by Poker After Dark. On Saturdays, NBC broadcasts Saturday Night Live, followed by either Showtime at The Apollo or Poker After Dark, depending on the local station.
The Strikeforce deal will extend original programming until 2:30 a.m. -- far later than any of its competitors, but when the television audience has shrunk to a very small group of potential viewers.
See my post on the MMA and Drugs thread.
Cung Le looked good. I'm still curious to see him once he hits his back, but what a performance against Frank Shamrock!
Cung had game. He definitely seemed to be taking the fight more seriously in the beginning compared to Frank.
Plus, his accuracy and ability to judge ranges was amazing.
Lastly, I loved to see that "classical" San Shou "catch-the-kick and dump." What a takedown!
I want to see his ground game, too.
Banging fight!
Crescent Kicks ftw.
Holy smokes, Cung Le beat Frank Shamrock! I can't believe he broke his arm. Best fight I've seen in awhile. :)
I agree how bout that hook kick to the head followed by the spinning back fist, and they both actually landed and landed hard. A lot of heart in the fight for both guys.
The first and third rounds were good, especially the 3rd. But you gotta admit that 2nd round was boring. Even the announcers admitted it looked like sparring.
The Shamrock was close to knocking Le out more than once. This was one o the best fights.
On another note, the North Carolina 'TYLERheels' won thier final four spot against Louisville last night. Hansbrough is the best Ive seen in a looong time. The Cards put up an strong fight but it was an honourable loss.
The Shamrock and the Cardinals have nothing to be ashamed of. Both contests could have gone either way.
~Cg~
That was the best fight I have seen in a LONG time!
http://www.mmaroot.com/cung-le-vs-fr...keforce-video/
This is about how I thought it would go. Aside from the broken arm I am hearing of.
In all of Cung Le's fights so far, EVERY single opponent has had problems with his side kicks. Maybe some MMA guys need to start looking towards some more traditional arts to figure this problem out...:rolleyes:
aww, my thuder :(
i posted in the cungle thread lol
But ya, that was an awsome fight. Went out last night to watch it live, so worth it.
Frank had it comin to him
I actually thought Cung Le beat him so bad that he was in the process of passing out as he attempted to walk to his corer. If the bell had wrung a few seconds later he would have been out on the spot. Shamrock looked naucsious, like it was taking all he had to walk upright and get back to his corner.
I was actually surprised when they said he could not enter round 4 due to a broken arm?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLq9QFtJDyQ
Yeah that fight was very awesome!
Good for San Shou practitioners and also good to see Le really putting his hands together. Solid fighter and a solid card.
Too bad about Nick Diaz getting bumped...he's definitely in my top five of favourite fighters.
Nope. It's on my cablebox DVR. Someone must have it up on youtube by now. I'm not that technologically advanced. For those of you who missed it - it's being replayed on Showtime. It's called EliteXC. Absolutely the best MMA fight I have seen in a long while. That fight definitely could have gone either way. If Shamrock would have tried a bit harder to take it to the ground; it could've ended differently. As much as I like Cung Le, I really thought that Shamrock was gonna rock him in the end, especially in the middle of the third. Frank Shamrock is no joke. Very well rounded, really flexible and always in incredible shape. Those roundhouse kicks to his head were crazy though. I can't remember seeing anyone land that many kicks against anyone in a MMA match. The roundhouse kick follow-up with a spinning backfist was great. He got him a couple of times with that. The taunting, smirking and body language was the best. People will have to respect Cung Le now, cause Shamrock is no candy@ss. Can't wait for a rematch!
Hope this works:
Round 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8ikCM6v-I
Round 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glj-KEdtHKE
Round 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnGH5hhuLGE
Agreed with everyone on here.
It was a great match. 3rd round slugfest was very exciting.
CUNG LE is KING.
Went to the fight. Played pick the winner with Great GrandMaster Novak. The game is to pick the winner of the fight by looking at the fighters before the fight. I picked 4 out 5 winners while Novak picked 1-1.
How I saw the CUNG vs SHAMROCK is=
Round 1- to CUNG LE
Round 2- to CUNG LE
Round 3- shamrock had Le hurt in the last forty five seconds in that round, Le took some heavy punchs to the head, I was not sure if Le could hold out he was stunned but held on, shamrock get this round.
Round 4. Shamrock gets arm broken and his team throws in the towel, arm broken by a kick.
Pretty much the whole fight Le kicked the stink out of shamrock with side kicks and roundhouse kicks.
Cung Le dominated all three rounds in my mind. I hope there will be more Shan Sau fighters going into MMA. There is lots of dangerous International Shan Sau fighters.
Greetings..
Nice to see TCMA show its game.. Cung took some heavy hits and looked in trouble, Frank couldn't close the deal, though.. You could see the imprint of Cung's shin along the right cheek of Shamrock, ouch!!.. All in all, a decent fight.. i wish they both had been a bit less "playful"..
Be well..