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.”
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by GeneChing
