Frank Shamrock: I Am a Fighter
from a sherdog.com story by Danny Acosta. The story was about Frank saying that GSP is the modern version of the complete fighter, as Frank was back in his prime. But toward the end of the story, Frank talks about his own style and hwo he needs to adapt it, as he has done so many times in the past:
"I'm gonna smash everybody," said Shamrock, never one to lack confidence. "I'm tired of entertaining for the sake of entertainment. Now I'm just gonna destroy everybody, and people can just be entertained by that. I've decided my limbs are too valuable to be breaking for the entertainment of fans. I'm gonna break other people's limbs."
Ted's Take: I've always been a big Frank Shamrock fan. I met him in 2003 in Columbus, OH, at the Arnold Classic, right before his fight with Bryan Pardoe. I remember asking him what he had been up to lately, and he said, "At the end of the month, I'm kicking some guy's ass."
Frank went on to win the fight quite handily, getting an armbar on Pardoe and earning the WEC LHW belt. Frank definitely has a flair for the dramatic, trying to entertain the fans, as well as win fights.
One of the best examples of this is his fight with Phil Baroni. Frank talks - and taunts - Baroni throughout the fight. At one point, Frank puts his hands together and then points at Baroni, as if to say, "I'm gonna put you to sleep." And that's exactly what Frank does. After softening Baroni up with strikes, Frank takes the fight to the ground and chokes Baroni out. Cold. Then he kicks an unconscious Baroni off him.
Frank's plan seemed to have backfired when he took on Cung Le. Frank's a great striker, but even so, going up against a dangerous kick boxer like Le, you'd think Frank would take the fight to the ground, where he would most likely have the advantage. He didn't. He chose to stand with Le, who seemed unaffected by Frank's taunts. Frank lost the fight after it was discovered his forearm was broken from defending Le's powerful kicks.
With the statement above, it's hard to say whether it's more grandstanding from a man who knows how to hype himself, a fight and the fight game, or if he's for real. You'll just have to tune in to Strikeforce to find out. I know I will.
Leave a comment