UFC

[Seabasket]

I'm not around as much as I used to be. No one is posting on the UFC thread in sports and news. Is anyone watching? Caring? http://www.nbcsports.com/ufc/983567/detail.html

 

[Seabasket]

Umm... ah... OK sorry, thought there were a few fans here. Wow, this board has changed.

 

[Angola!]

Umm... ah... OK sorry, thought there were a few fans here. Wow, this board has changed.

I don't care, but you might as well keep posting about it.
Hell, I have honest questions up on the journalism board and no one wants to respond.
Also, JDV is a big fan, so he will be here soon. Never fear.

 

[Mr7134]

Tonight Gary Shaw, the boxing promoter who promoted Tyson/Lewis, has his new MMA group Elite XC début on Showtime. Showtime are also part owners of the promotion.

Ken Shamrock's adoptive brother Frank headlines against Renzo Gracie.

While these days Ken might be the most famous of the Shamrocks Frank was the better fighter. Frank, unlike Ken, was actually the best p4p fighter in the world at one stage and also, unlike Ken, holds a victory over Tito Ortiz. The Frank Shamrock/Tito Ortiz fight is still regarded as one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Renzo is also the best, in terms of completion faced, of the Gracies.

While, Ken might be the most famous of the Shamrocks Frank is still a big time draw. He proved that on March 10, 2006 when his first fight in years drew 18,265 fans to a show in San Jose for the Strikeforce promotion. That number is the North American attendance record for an MMA show. In the main event of that show Frank knocked out Caesar Gracie in 21 seconds.

Anyway, and I realise most members on the board don't care, a “LA Times”piece on Frank Shamrock and the Showtime show can be found at...

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-mmacol9feb09,1,5499308.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

For me the most fascinating things about the Frank Shamrock story is that it was never really supposed to happen. He got crazy good crazy fast. It was one of those things in sports that sometimes just happen. It was over fast as well. Frank effectively retired at twenty-six.

The opening of the Times piece gives you an idea of the nature of Frank Shamrock's rise...

Frank Shamrock never practiced any martial arts growing up. He never did any wrestling, boxing or kickboxing. In and out of trouble, at the age of 21, he was working at a drug store and living in the small town of Lockeford, Calif., not far from Stockton, when his life changed.

Today, at 34, he's perhaps the most polarizing figure on the U.S. mixed-martial arts scene

One of the very sad things about Frank is that a lot of the casual UFC fans have no idea who he is. Frank and the UFC had a very nasty falling out and the UFC, basically, ignore his existence. Sometimes, on commentary, Joe Rogan mentions his name when he's talking about Tito Ortiz's cardio but the organisation doesn't, seemingly as a matter of policy, acknowledge the legacy of Frank Shamrock.

I also like end of the piece.

New MMA promotions are springing up weekly. A television barrage is just weeks away to where there will be MMA events on national television by mid-March five nights per week. Almost every top level fighter is under contract to UFC or Pride.

From a business standpoint, it was suddenly great to be Frank Shamrock, particularly after he drew the crowd in San Jose, a success that no independent MMA organization has ever come close to. While many would say Matt Lindland is the best free-agent fighter on the market, he doesn't have nearly the charisma or potential drawing ability for a new company as Shamrock does. But charisma won't be enough once the cage door shuts. A great deal of the potential of success for the new promotion depends on Shamrock's ability to be the fighter he was.