This coming Saturday, March 29th, Frank Shamrock will make his return to MMA action when he faces off in a battle of San Jose against San Shou expert Cung Le. The fight has been in the making for quite some time now and the two will have a chance to settle any differences this weekend. In this MMANews.com exclusive interview, Frank talks with Chris Howie about his fight this weekend, possible fights with his brother Ken and Tito Ortiz, as well as steroids in MMA and his thoughts on Kimbo Slice.
FRANK SHAMROCK INTERVIEW MARCH 25th, 2008
Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is MMANews.com’s own Chris Howie and today I am speaking with Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and the man who will defend that belt this Saturday against Cung Le, Frank Shamrock. Thanks for speaking with me today Frank.
Frank Shamrock: No problem at all Chris.
MMANews.com: How are you doing today?
Frank Shamrock: I’m doing really good. Just laying out on some ice and about to stretch out in a little bit.
MMANews.com: Big fight coming up this weekend, how are you feeling going into it?
Frank Shamrock: I feel great man. I had a good training camp and I feel really healthy on this one.
MMANews.com: Now not only is this a big fight for you and for Cung but this is also a big fight for the people of San Jose, talk to me a little bit about that.
Frank Shamrock: It’s rare that you have two superstars in one city that have a big fan base that me and Cung have. San Jose is fired up and this is the hottest ticket in town this weekend so I’m pretty excited.
MMANews.com: How are you feeling you match
up with Cung Le?
Frank Shamrock: Well, I think it’s a good matchup. I have definitely have more experience in the MMA world than he does because I’ve been at the game quite a bit longer. I’m going to stick to the game plan I have for the last few years. I think he has a good chance at it because of his punches and kicks and takedowns. He’ll have a chance to catch me or go a distance.
MMANews.com: You have been pretty open about the fact you want to stand up with him…
Frank Shamrock: Oh yeah I’m ready to stand with him. I’ve worked my stand up a lot in the last few years so I think it will be a good test for me to stand with Cung.
MMANews.com: A lot of people seem caught off guard when you say that you want to stand and trade but as you’ve shown in the Phil Baroni fight your stand up has changed a lot from back in the day.
Frank Shamrock: Yeah, I mean, Cung’s not really a stand up guy either. He’s just a wrestler who has better stand up than most guys. He’s kind of like Chuck Liddell who is a great wrestler that can just out strike everybody else. I just don’t think that Cung has been tested in the stand up area and I don’t think he has the chin for it.
MMANews.com: There has always been rumors floating around that Cung handled you back in the day when you guys spared but recently you stated that the sparring was only San Shou and you weren’t that good at it. Can you elaborate a little more on that?
Frank Shamrock: Yeah sure. Cung wouldn’t spar MMA with me back then and would only do San Shou. So when he was at the height of his San Shou career I was sparring with him in his sport. I didn’t know any of what I know now about striking back then and I know that my knowledge of striking now is light years ahead of what it once was. I have 100% confidence in striking with Cung Le.
MMANews.com: Going into the fight is there bad blood between you guys or is this a case of business being business?
Frank Shamrock: This is business. We are from two different worlds. Cung’s always the nice guy and I don’t really have someone I can bounce stuff off of with him. We are going to mix it up and see who wins the city.
MMANews.com: Would you say the city is half and half in this one or do one of you have the advantage?
Frank Shamrock: That’s hard to say. We have huge Vietnamese community here and he is like their Bruce Lee so it’s tough to say. There are a lot of people here but I think I have more fans.
MMANews.com: Do you see this fight going to a decision or having a big finish?
Frank Shamrock: I don’t see it going to decision because I think it is going to be too dangerous of a game being played. If he gets too close to me I’m going to grab him and lock him up and when we are doing stand up the risk factor will be there but I don’t see it going the time limit at all.
MMANews.com: You talked in the past about title fights not being as special to you as big time fights. What are some of the fights you have in the works right now?
Frank Shamrock: Well, the Tito Ortiz rematch is in the works because I think there is value in that one. I think there is money in a Shamrock VS Shamrock. Those are the big wins.
MMANews.com: Tito is fairly adamant that this will be his last fight in the UFC, is there talks of him making the jump to Strikeforce or EXC to make that fight happen?
Frank Shamrock: I can’t speak for Tito on that one but we have talked about the possibility of us fighting and the business venture involved in that but I’m not sure what he is up to.
MMANews.com: On the conference call last week you talked a bit about taking the promotion out of the organizations hands and putting it on the fighters. Can you talk a little more about that?
Frank Shamrock: I think the industry is mature now and there is enough large enough brand names to take some of the power and put it in their pockets. I think some of the fighters out there are big enough to be able to promote their own fights.
MMANews.com: With talks about you Ken squaring off you made some comments last week about Ken using steroids his whole life. Have you heard anything back from his end on those comments?
Frank Shamrock: No. I just thought it was common knowledge that Ken used steroids. [laughs].
MMANews.com: Steroids are a hot topic these days…
Frank Shamrock: Yeah I mean back in the Lions Den days we all knew that he was so I just figured everybody else knew. It seemed pretty obvious to me.
MMANews.com: I think with the way things are nowadays with steroids concerning baseball and such when someone says another person was using steroids it can league to a lot of outcry.
Frank Shamrock: Sadly steroids are commonplace in most sporting events and America has just kind of gotten use to it. The saddest part is that not just with athletes getting caught but with the general public using them to look better or to feel stronger. I just think that steroids are a mistake.
MMANews.com: How big of a problem do you think steroids are in MMA?
Frank Shamrock: I think it’s a huge problem
MMANews.com: Bigger than we know about?
Frank Shamrock: Oh yeah most definitely
MMANews.com: How do you feel suspensions should be handled?
Frank Shamrock: I think they should be handled from the promotion stand point and not the commissions. If the promoters really cared about the athletes than they should set the standard instead of forcing the state to do it. I think it comes down to the promoter and that if they were worried about protecting their athletes for the long term they would set a standard.
MMANews.com: Is that something you think will happen in the future?
Frank Shamrock: I don’t think so. I don’t think the promoters really care because it is there job to promote.
MMANews.com: One thing I was curious about because we don’t hear much about is anymore is what happened to a rematch with Renzo Gracie?
Frank Shamrock: He keeps turning the fight down so I don’t think he wants to fight me.
MMANews.com: So it has been put out there?
Frank Shamrock: Yeah we’ve given him like 4-5 months notice and he is too busy with his acting career or something so I guess he isn’t going to take it. I’d love to do it because it would feel good to be smashing him but I don’t think he will.
MMANews.com: Do you feel there are just bigger fights out there for you at this point?
Frank Shamrock: I really do. I think the public got really turned off by the way he got out of that fight. A lot of people I talk to want to see a rematch because it ended badly but most people just think that he is a joke and that he’ll quit on me again if he gets the chance.
MMANews.com: There are talks of Ortiz and Shamrock, are there any talks of other possible fights out there for you?
Frank Shamrock: A fight with Robbie Lawler has been floated around out there a little bit.
MMANews.com: How long do you want to continue fighting and how many times a year would you like to fight?
Frank Shamrock: I want to go for at least another 10 years and fight 2-3 times a year.
MMANews.com: Is there a time frame of when you would fight after this fight?
Frank Shamrock: It’s kind of wait and see at this point with the baby on the way and such but I’d like to fight again in July and then close the year out with another big fight.
MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on EXC and CBS hooking up for a network television deal?
Frank Shamrock: I think it’s really good for the industry. I’m really excited because we are running out of big name stars that I can fight and with television we can come in and make young guys stars overnight and then I can smash them which would be wonderful.
MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Kimbo Slice coming into the world of MMA?
Frank Shamrock: I think it’s a step back to the late ‘90’s when we had the Tank Abbotts and guy like that in there but I don’t make the decisions.
MMANews.com: Did you have a chance to catch the Kimbo/Tank fight?
Frank Shamrock: Yeah I did.
MMANews.com: What were your thoughts?
Frank Shamrock: I thought it was entertaining but when you embrace the sporting side of it and the professional athletic side of it and then see a freak show like that with a guy who became famous fighting bums in backyards on the internet it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth for all the work I’ve put into this sport.
MMANews.com: Being a pioneer in the sport do you think it’s a step back?
Frank Shamrock: It is. We already did that part and I hoped we were past that but apparently not.
MMANews.com: With MMA getting to be so big nowadays do you feel “freak show” fights could make the sport look bad again?
Frank Shamrock: Yes I do because when the average mom or pop or grandma gets on the TV to see what’s going on that is the impression they get that everybody is and that is not what I signed up for and now what I have put my time into. It’s quick money for him though I guess.
MMANews.com: Have you ever thought of running you own promotion?
Frank Shamrock: Yeah I have. I’m not really into the whole promotion idea because it can be a pretty cut throat business but I’ve been putting thought into running my own promotion and hiring promoters instead of having them hire me. It would be changing the business model a little bit.
MMANews.com: What kind of changes would you like to see if the future?
Frank Shamrock: I think drug use and steroid use is a major problem that will come back and bite us in the butt one of these days. Taking care of the fighters for the long term is something that we need to address with some sort of union or health care to help protect them past their careers. Finally I think we need some sort of education for these guys because they make a few dollars and then they are back to where they started only there are broke and uneducated and broke up a little bit more.
MMANews.com: Do you see anyone competing with the UFC any time soon?
Frank Shamrock: No, they were the first at everything so I think it will be hard to compete with them at this point., maybe someday but not now.
MMANews.com: With Dana White holding somewhat of a monopoly on the sport do you think that someday we will see champions from one organization facing off against others?
Frank Shamrock: At some point it will happen because they will lose market share and their value will diminish. They are in it for the money so eventually they will sell and then the business model will change. I’m looking forward to that for the real growth of the sport. They tailor and censor the media and try to monopolize it.
MMANews.com: Let’s jump back to your fight this weekend. How did you training go getting ready for the fight?
Frank Shamrock: It went really good. I took a lot more time on this one. I started training in early November. I did a strength and conditioning aspect that I always wanted to do but never really did. So I feel really strong my cardio was great going into the serious training. I really got my striking down and my stand up ready to go since I brought Maurice Smith in a month before the fight like I usually do. I just feel really good because I’m usually going into these fighters injured or I’m hobbled in some way and working on some sort of strategy to protect myself and be as efficient as I can.
MMANews.com: So going into the fight you are injury free?
Frank Shamrock: I am injury free and 100% healthy.
MMANews.com: Must feel good to say that…
Frank Shamrock: [laughing] It really does man. I have fought with some very very serious injuries and it’s nice to be going in healthy.
MMANews.com: What do you have going on around the San Jose area with your schools and such?
Frank Shamrock:You know I got my school down in San Jose across from the Oakridge Mall. That’s where I do all my training and where my team trains and it has been going really well. We have about 300 members where we do private training and outside camps and such. We do a lot of charity work to raise money for good causes so it’s been a good year so far.
MMANews.com: Anything you want to say to your fans?
Frank Shamrock: Just keep on supporting me and watch for more big things in 2008. Also if anyone is interested in fighting I have a management company that is about 10 years old but I am starting to take very seriously this year and you can check that out at www.mmastars.com. Check it out.
MMANews.com: Frank, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me on short notice and look forward to seeing you back in the cage Saturday. Good Luck
Frank Shamrock: No worries. Thanks bro.
Want to contact Chris Howie regarding this interview, you can do so by emailing him at chris.howie@hotmail.com or chatting with him directly on our forums.
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