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UFC & MMA History: Frank Shamrock on Dana White & the Future Stars of the Sport.

Here is Part II of my interview with UFC & MMA Legend Frank Shamrock. To read Part I, click here.BL: Who were some of the younger fighters just making their bones in the sport when you were first leaving that caught your eye? FS: One guy I always t…

Here is Part II of my interview with UFC & MMA Legend Frank Shamrock. To read Part I, click here.

BL: Who were some of the younger fighters just making their bones in the sport when you were first leaving that caught your eye?

FS: One guy I always thought would be a superstar was Vitor Belfort. We were kind of coming around at the same time. I saw in him a new level of striking, his physical ability was off the charts. He was beating guys like Tank Abbott and Wanderlei Silva in devastating fashion.

BL: When you first retired, did you expect to be out as long as you were?

FS: No, I thought the sport would turn around in a couple of years. The sport was right on the edge. We were hired by the old UFC owners to go out and speak with the politicians. The resounding comment was “We love it, but it’s not a sport without rules and regulations.” We were told “As soon as you get that done, you guys will be good.”

Even when we got the rules implemented, the brand and the idea had already been tarnished in the eyes of the general public. The original marketing line of no rules didn’t go away for a long time and held us back. Once the media got a hold of it and we got a bad reputation, it took us a long time to change people’s minds. It took about five-and-a-half years to get things turned around.

BL: When did you first meet Dana White and the Fertitta brothers?

FS: I met Dana when he was Tito’s manager. When they bought the UFC, they flew me out and gave me their pitch. That was the first time I met Lorenzo and sat down with those guys.BL: Was there one main reason why you couldn’t come to terms with them and make your way back to the UFC?

FS: The main reason was they didn’t know anything about the sport—they weren’t martial artists. They were a new company who had bought a damaged brand, but didn’t really know anything about the sport. For me, it was less of a risk to keep doing what I was doing.

Another reason I stayed in Japan was because I was making three or four times the money that they were offering me. At the time, the sport wasn’t that big here, while it was huge over in Japan. I also didn’t believe they were going to make it in the short-term so I decided to go elsewhere.

BL: There is what seems to be some bad blood between you and Dana White. They have chosen to exclude you from their history, including your rightful place in the Top 100 UFC fights of all time. Do you think there will ever come a time where the two of you can sit down and work things out?

FS: I have no problem with any of those guys. I made a business decision a long time ago that didn’t involve them and they didn’t particularly like that. They have retaliated against me since then. I am ok with who I am and what I have done.

I don’t need to be in their Hall of Fame or Top 100. That’s their business; their company and they can do whatever they want. Everyone has an opinion about it, but it doesn’t keep me up at night.

When the sport becomes a real sport and by that I mean a sport with a ranking body, a commission and a union, they have all the elements necessary to protect the public, the athlete and the promotion. It has yet to get to that point; it’s still a one-man show.BL: What was the organization that you decided to join rather than the UFC?

FS: At the time it was K-1, which was a kickboxing organization looking to promote MMA events. They paid me very well to be their man. The UFC was trying to build their brand and, because I wasn’t on their team, they decided to exclude me.

I didn’t take too kindly to being excluded because in all honesty it wasn’t really fair and as you know the rest is history.

BL: Are there any fighters that you regret never having the opportunity to fight?

FS: One guy that I could never seem to make it happen with was Kazushi Sakuraba. Everyone else I had at least one opportunity to face, but he was the one guy I was never able to pin down and come to terms with.

BL: How close did you come to having a rematch with Tito Ortiz?

FS: I had a shot at it when he was a free agent. I sat down with him and broke some bread. We kind of came to what I thought was a preliminary understanding, but I didn’t have the money that we both needed in order to make it come together.

Tito did well for himself; he picked a persona and ran with it. It was all a persona with him. I respected him tremendously, he’s a hell of a nice guy and I respect him immensely. He fought everyone in the world and is one of the main reasons the fighters of today make the money they do.

BL: Can you name one or two fighters of today who you believe are ahead of the crowd?FS: I really like Jon Jones and I think his future is pretty unlimited. I look at a fighter and see who the complete MMA package is. By that I mean they can do it all, punch, kick, wrestle, knee, etc. I think GSP has sort of established himself as the real deal because he is good in all of the areas.

I think Nick Diaz is up there. He has the ability to do everything. It’s just ridiculous how good he is. The world class athletes I like to call version III or generation III who are good at everything and great at one certain aspect. Anderson Silva is good at everything, but great at striking.

We are moving into the next generation where a guy will be great at everything and will continue to get better and better every time out. GSP is that guy and, if Nick Diaz improves his wrestling, he could be in that category. They will always have that one aspect where they are just a little bit better that will get them past their opponents.

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UFC History: Frank Shamrock on the Early Days of MMA & the UFC

MMA legend Frank Shamrock has just about seen and done it all in the sport of mixed martial arts. He has beaten a “who’s who” of the sport’s top fighters and developed himself into a brand, rather than just a fighter.He is a true pioneer and goes…

He is a true pioneer and goes back to a time when there were no rules, no multimillion dollar television contracts and there was a constant threat of the sport going dark.

Shamrock would leave the sport back in 2000 because no one was offering the opportunities that are presented to fighters today. Shamrock had a family to think of and at the time there was more money to be made outside of the sport than there was inside of it.

Thankfully, Shamrock made his way back to the cage in 2003 and not only created opportunities for himself to make money, but for other fighters as well.

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Frank about just how far the sport has come. With UFC on Fox 1 fast approaching, I felt it was important to dig into the darker days of MMA. With the sport getting bigger and bigger everyday, why not get the opinion of someone who has had so much impact on mixed martial arts as a whole?

For that, there is no better man than Frank Shamrock.

Bryan Levick: What are some of your very first memories of the UFC back in the beginning? If you can tell the readers about the differences in how the sport was covered, governed and how the fighters were treated.

Frank Shamrock: Back then we really didn’t have any commissions to oversee the sport like we do today. There was a doctor who would handle your physical and go over all of your medicals. Fighters took care of their own stuff for the most part. We didn’t have locker rooms like the fighters do today, there were eight guys bunched into one room, and because of the tournament style you never knew who you were fighting.

BL: What was the media like back then? I would imagine you didn’t have the elaborate press conferences that are held today.

FS: There were a few regulars at each event. You had Joe Doyle of Full Contact Fighter, there were only about three or four steady guys, most of them were from the internet. Dave Meltzer was always around as was Eddie Goldman. Most of the media that came were first-timers who were usually there to report the bad side of the sport.

A lot of the mainstream media were clueless about the sport—it was definitely a weird time. We had to be cautious because we knew they were looking to report on the negative aspects of the sport. It was easy to pick the guys out, it was a lot of Wild West shit going on that’s for sure!

BL: Was there any type of drug testing done for illegal drugs, steroids, etc.?

FS: I don’t think so, I really don’t remember any testing being done and that can be attributed to the lack of any true commissions regulating the sport. This was well before the unified rules went into effect. When I first came along there was also only two weight classes, so you can imagine things were pretty crazy back then. The only reason they even came up with those weight classes was because the politicians were coming down so hard on them.

BL: Was there a lot of recreational drug use or heavy drinking in the early days of the sport? Was it done out in the open, was it hidden or was their an attitude of don’t look, don’t tell?

FS: I didn’t see any drug use myself, by the time I arrived in the UFC we had commissions looking after us. New Jersey in particular was very strict. I may not have seen any drug use, but you pretty much kept to yourself.

Regardless of what was going on, these guys were still fighters and they still had to take care of themselves. We were pretty serious about the sport and didn’t want to risk getting injured.

BL: Can you tell me a story that happened years ago that if it were to occur today would really shine a negative light on the sport?

FS: I remember when Harold Howard was leaving the Octagon and heading back through the small entrance area that led the fighters to the back. He had just won his fight to get into the semi-finals and he was hit by a rotating light right on the temple. He fell and was completely unconscious. He literally dropped like a sack of potatoes!

His team picked him up and got him on the examination table in the back and woke him up. Fifteen minutes later he was back in the Octagon fighting. I was a young man and I remember thinking to myself, this is freaking crazy! The doctor didn’t see it happen so he couldn’t be at fault, but with the amount of television coverage there is now, things like that would never happen.

BL: What were your initial expectations when you first arrived in the UFC? You had made a name for yourself over in Japan, especially in your fights against Bas Rutten. Could you see the potential for the sport and the organization?

FS: As soon as I saw it, I realized it had great potential. I always thought it would be one of the greatest sports in the world because it was so compelling. I thought the possibilities were endless. It was unfortunate because when I came around it was one of the slowest times for the sport.

I saw a ship sinking right before my very eyes, but I also knew and believed that it would be reborn and eventually take off again. It was crazy, incredibly dangerous and challenging, those were the reasons I stayed involved.

BL: When did you first retire? Was it after your fight with Tito Ortiz at UFC 22 in September of 1999? What was the main reason you decided to leave the sport?

FS: I left the UFC after the fight with Ortiz. Tito was the last super tough guy as I had already handled all of the other guys quite handily. I saw the sport was about to go dark for awhile. I tried my best to promote it and do whatever I could to help, but it was inevitable that there was going to be a period where MMA would go through some really lean years before it could make a serious comeback.

I didn’t want to keep fighting and risking injury to my body when the pay wasn’t where I needed it to be. I made a strategic decision to give it up after I fought Tito. I always planned on coming back when the sport was able to right itself and had a brighter future.

BL: When you first began training you were one of the first guys to concentrate on different disciplines. Who were some of your very first trainers?

FS: My first coach was my brother Ken. He taught me submission wrestling, the catch-as-catch-can style that he was famous for. Then I trained in Japan with Funaki and Suzuki. Then I learned jiu-jitsu and sambo with Oleg Taktarov and Gokor Chivichyan.

After that my main coach was Maurice Smith. All of my previous trainers were basically grapplers, while Smith was the first real striking coach I had. He was one of the best athletes involved with the sport at the time and was breaking into cardiovascular training and how to implement that into my fights.

I then met Javier Mendez from American Kickboxing Academy, and he incorporated the boxing aspect of the sport into everything I had brought with me. We kind of hit it off immediately and worked well together.

Part II of my interview with Frank Shamrock will be posted early next week. Shamrock discusses Dana White and their supposed beef as well as who he believes are some of the best fighters in the sport today.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The 10 Biggest Cry Babies in MMA

The sport of mixed martial arts has come to be the world’s fastest growing sport for several different reasons over the past few years.One obvious reason is the fighters themselves, who dedicate their lives to the sport they deeply love.But it’s the fi…

The sport of mixed martial arts has come to be the world’s fastest growing sport for several different reasons over the past few years.

One obvious reason is the fighters themselves, who dedicate their lives to the sport they deeply love.

But it’s the fighters’ personalities that bring a whole new excitement to MMA.

Every sport has its comedians, those who don’t say a word, and of course, the cry babies.

MMA is no different, as it is home to some of the world’s biggest whiners.

When something doesn’t go their way, these fighters either whine, throw a fit or cry their eyes out.

The following slides display the 10 biggest cry babies in MMA today.

Let’s take a look.

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UFC 140 Fight Card: Will This Be Tito Ortiz’s Last Stand?

Tito Ortiz entered the sport of mixed martial arts in May of 1997 when he defeated Wes Albritton in his UFC debut at UFC 13.After working his way up the light heavyweight ladder, Ortiz finally earned a winner-take-all title shot against Wanderlei Silva…

Tito Ortiz entered the sport of mixed martial arts in May of 1997 when he defeated Wes Albritton in his UFC debut at UFC 13.

After working his way up the light heavyweight ladder, Ortiz finally earned a winner-take-all title shot against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25.

Ortiz won and went on to defend his title in five consecutive fights before meeting Randy Couture at UFC 44.

Couture was declared the new UFC light heavyweight champion via unanimous decision as Ortiz’s career appeared to be heading south.

But, Ortiz battled back defeating Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin and Ken Shamrock before receiving another title shot against Chuck Liddell at UFC 66.

Oritz fell once again, this time by knockout in the third round of action.

It appeared the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had lost his once spectacular skills, losing three consecutive fights after a draw with Rashad Evans at UFC 73.

But, after being off for nearly a year, Ortiz made his return at UFC 132 where he squared off with up-and-coming star, Ryan Bader.

This time it was Ortiz who shocked the world submitting Bader just two minutes into the fight.

For the first time in what seemed like years, the Tito Ortiz we once knew was back.

Or was he?

In attempts to prove to the world the real Tito was back, Ortiz took a fight on the very next card against Rashad Evans in Philadelphia, Pa.

Unfortunately, Ortiz proved to the world he isn’t who he once was as he was knocked out in a mediocre performance.

Now, Ortiz is set to square off with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140 in Toronto, Canada.

A loss to Nogueria will push Ortiz’s record in his last eight fights to 1-6-1.

Even with a win, it’s hard to picture Ortiz making any type of noise in the light heavyweight division as his days as an elite contender have come to pass.

Will UFC 140 be Tito Ortiz’s last stand?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Not This Sh*t Again: ‘MMA JayT’ is Back And He’s Hugging Cheick Kongo’s Nuts Pretty Tight

(Video courtesy of YouTube/JayT 1976)

If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you may recall this dude JayT, who was making a push to become the third man on the UFC broadcast team. Well, apparently MMA’s version of Antoine Dodson realized that Zuffa wasn’t returning his calls for a reason and that his chances of becoming a legit MMA reporter were about as slim as Kenny Florian’s chances of becoming a UFC reporter, so instead “Hotsauce” decided he would head up the Tito Ortiz/Team Punishment fan club. It makes sense, when you think about it since there likely wasn’t a line-up of people wanting the gig.

Anyway, the self-proclaimed Toronto night club pioneer, who says he has “deep roots” in MMA, which, as far as we can muster means he makes his own hats and travels on his own dime to support fighters he likes, is now predicting that our old pal Cheick Kongo will one day be UFC heavyweight champion. He also has some harsh words for Matt Mitrione, who insulted Tito’s (ex?) girlfriend Jenna Jameson. We won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s just say that “Meathead” better hope that he doesn’t run into Jay-T this weekend. And Ben better hope that he doesn’t run into JT “Jiggly Titties” Warsh or “Cup ” Cheick Kongo any time soon, or else his baby-making days may be numbered, nawmsayin?

Check out more from this trainwreck, including an MMA fight challenge he issues to a member of Jersey Shore after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/JayT 1976)

Anyway, the self-proclaimed “Toronto night club pioneer,” who says he has “deep roots” in MMA, which, as far as we can muster means he makes his own hats and travels on his own dime to support fighters he likes, is now predicting that our old pal Cheick Kongo will one day be UFC heavyweight champion. He also has some harsh words for Matt Mitrione, who insulted Tito’s (ex?) girlfriend Jenna Jameson. We won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s just say that “Meathead” better hope that he doesn’t run into Jay-T this weekend.

And Ben better hope that he doesn’t run into JT “Jiggly Titties” Warsh or “Cup” Cheick Kongo any time soon, or else his baby-making days may be numbered, nawmsayin?

Check out more from this trainwreck, including an MMA fight challenge he issues to a member of Jersey Shore below.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/JayT 1976)

Mirko Cro Cop and 5 UFC Fighters We Wish Were Still Young

A fighter’s most important fight can sometimes be his last, and for an aging fighter, it’s sometimes a fight they just can’t win. It’s a risk that only some are willing to take, and it might be more dangerous for them than anything they have ever had t…

Whether or not they remain successful and retire on top or are eagerly risking their legendary status to achieve some form of glory that they once had, there is nothing that stops time from finally catching up to them.

These are five fighters we wish were young, and although they are still fighting among the best, they might not have many fights left. Some may only have one.

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