FRANK SHAMROCK’S FAREWELL TO MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: A LOOK BACK

Posted on | June 30, 2010 | No Comments

FIGHT NEWS UNLIMITED WISHES FRANK SHAMROCK A HAPPY RETIREMENT:

Check Out Our FIRST PRINT INTERVIEW WITH FRANK:

FRANK SHAMROCK READY TO PRESS THE ACTION AGAINST RENZO GRACIE

By: Rich Bergeron

If Frank Shamrock had a theme song, it would probably be George Thorogood’s “Get a Haircut.” The old classic rock tune is an anthem for those who choose unconventional paths in life and still somehow succeed, though in Shamrock’s case his decision to get into the fight game was following a family tradition.

Instead of big brother Bob, Frank had big brother Ken.

Frank found his initial motivation when his father told him to clean his act up. “I was hanging out, not doing much, and I wanted to drop out of college and move back and live with my Dad, and he told me to get a job,” explained Shamrock. “He suggest that I do the wrestling thing that my brother was doing. That’s how I started.”

The move would turn out to be life changing, and it would lead him into stardom when he became the first middleweight champion in the UFC. He went on to even greater accomplishments from there, and he perfected his game to the point where he is now in the midst of an undefeated streak that dates back to 1997.

Chuck Norris, Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee are all role models for Frank. “Chuck Norris because I just liked the way he was honest, forthright, stoic, and had incredible strength,” said Shamrock. “With Muhammad Ali what impressed me was his skill and the way he openly spoke about things and how he spoke up about important things. Bruce Lee I just admired his martial arts ability and body and movements. He had the whole package as a martial artist.”

Shamrock is cruising toward a bout with Renzo Gracie that will put a huge spotlight on two of the most famous MMA fighting families at the inaugural event of EliteXC on SHOWTIME February 10th. Though the media has been hinting that this match-up is going to settle some kind of “family feud,” the two fighters have shown nothing but respect for each other leading up to their showdown.

“I have no animosity toward him,” said Shamrock. “I’ve known him about ten years, and every time we’ve met I’ve had pleasant interactions and conversations with him. The fight’s just a big deal, and it goes back to the beginning of the sport. Shamrock and Gracie are two of the oldest and biggest names in the history of the sport. We’re the first two families, and it’s really more about American MMA vs. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That’s what it really comes down to. Us Americans are very insistent on being the best.”

Though Shamrock has no real personal beef with Renzo Gracie, he’s not bashful about predicting the kind of beating he’ll dish out against the BJJ expert. “His strength’s the ground, and I’ve been working almost exclusively on punching and kicking,” siad Shamrock. “I’ve been working on what I call anti jiu jitsu, and I think I have the physical strength and speed and agility to basically run circles around him, and that’s what I plan on doing while punching him in the head.”

Being given a chance at the big spotlight again at this stage of his career as the main event in such a huge milestone for MMA doesn’t add any extra pressure for him. “No, there’s always pressure on me,” he said. “I’m always competing at something, challenging myself at something. For me it’s just another celebration.”

Shamrock is lucky enough to have martial artists all around him. “I’ve never known another way,” he said. “For me it’s just my way of life, this is what I do every day all day long. My son does martial arts, my brother does martial arts. Everyone I know does martial arts.”

He’s enjoyed having the opportunity to be part of such an important event for the sport that will mark the first time MMA appears on a premium cable station. “It’s tremendous for me, especially being an old guy now,” he said about the chance to display his talents on Showtime. “I did some pretty amazing things when nobody was watching, so to me, what got me back into the sport now is how it’s gone mainstream, to cable. My goal is to show as many people as possible mixed martial arts and the mixed martial arts lifestyle.”

Fight News Unlimited interviewed Cung Le as our first MMA fighter back in the beginning of our little outfit, and he mentioned that Frank Shamrock was on his short list of guys he’d like to fight. Asked if a Cung Le fight might be somewhere down the line, Shamrock responded, “I sure hope so, I’d like an easy night. Cung was my sparring partner for about two and a half years, and I sparred him in his sport, and he never came close to hurting me, so I imagine if he plays in my sport I’m gonna have an easy night.”

He came in contact with the Pro Elite organization about a year or so ago through his numerous business dealings. “Oddly enough, for the past three or four years I’ve been an entrepreneur, and I’ve been doing work with venture capitalists, raising money, funding companies,” he said. “I saw Pro Elite come on the scene, and I saw they did a reverse merger, and I followed their progress. When they announced the Showtime contract I was right there ready to jump aboard.”

Though he doesn’t claim any particular style as his favorite, he does like certain techniques more than others. “I’m a big fan of the leg locks,” he said. “My style has been geared more toward the weaknesses in the industry. In the beginning it was any type of submission, and now it’s all about good, clean striking.”

Being involved in so many different projects outside the sport, he considers it extremely important to clear his head and get into fight mode before a match. “I just work on setting my mind right,” he said. “I run a number of businesses, and I’m a pretty busy guy. I just get my mind focused, what I call laser focused, and once I get that down, I’m ready.”

He points to raising his 18-year-old son as his greatest accomplishment outside the sport. His son is also training in martial arts, although Shamrock doesn’t know if his boy will follow in his footsteps. “If he chooses to be involved, he will have more knowledge and tools than anyone else in this world,” he said. “I just hope he goes to college first.”

Shamrock indicates the same reasons for being passionate about both competing in fights and training fighters. He notes the “camaraderie and the community” wrapped up in MMA. “It takes ten guys to make one champion,” he said. “As far as training, it’s mostly the family. There’s something very bonding about putting yourself out there, trying really hard, and having people believe in you and support you. To me that’s really gratifying.”

He also has a unique take on what ails the sport as it tries to explode onto the mainstream marketplace. “I’d say it’s just a lack of education, not only in the technical side of fighting and the strategic side, but also in the management side,” he said. “And, it’s more the business management. There’s too many uneducated promoters and uneducated fighters, and a bad promoter only exists because fighters aren’t educated. If they were educated more, bad promoters wouldn’t exist.”

Knowing he can’t fight forever, Shamrock’s plan is to ease his way out of the sport over the course of the next five years. “By then I will be retired from fighting,” he said. “I will have 50 martial arts schools with my franchise Shamrock Martial Arts Academy, and I will own a major entertainment company. And I’ll function as a corporate executive, entertainment producer and martial arts instructor.”

Asked what he would change if he could go back and alter one bad career move, he pointed to a moment when he took on way too much responsibility in one night. “I would have done more cardio training when I fought Jeremy Horn, and I would have not commentated that show,” he said. “I’m still the only fighter in history to fight in the first fight of the night and then run back and put on a suit and then commentate the rest of the show.”

Shamrock has two favorite fighters he considers himself a fan of. He said he likes watching Fedor Emelianenko and also counts himself as “a huge Randy Couture fan.” He’s thrilled that Couture is coming out of retirement. “I’m happy for him ’cause he’s gonna make good money, and he deserves it,” said Shamrock.

Shamrock is also happy to be riding the wave of MMA as it reaches new heights, and he’s in a great position to be able to assess how far the discipline has come since the inception of it all when he first came on the scene in the UFC. He just hopes the wave doesn’t crest too soon. “It’s great. The sport’s been around a long time. It’s just always been a diamond in the rough waiting to get in front of the masses, and now we’re there,” he explained. “I just hope the sport and the athletes live up to the hype.”

Given a chance to add his own two cents, Shamrock gracefully gave homage to the fans of the sport, regardless of their allegiance. “I appreciate everyone supporting me over the years, and everyone sticking by me whether they liked or disliked me,” he said. “My fans have always been supportive, and they always voiced their opinions, and I appreciate that. I’m just looking forward to getting the sport way back to the top and getting the sport popular again.”

Rich Bergeron
Editor/Writer/Webmaster
www.unlimitedfightnews.com
www.fightnewsunlimited.com