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InsideFighting: I want to pick up right after Pride 26. You had been training Don Frye for quite some time. When you come back to the States are you then focused on your own training?
Frank Shamrock: No. I don?t train all that much to be honest with you. I only get a couple days a week in when I?m not training for a fight. I teach class every night, which is really my training. I?m really hard on my body so I don?t train much. I?m sort of a businessman and I do the whole celebrity thing. I probably get two good days in and you know I lead a healthy lifestyle so that keeps me preserved.
IF: You had mentioned all the hard-knocks that Mixed Martial Artists take. I made a joke one time equating it to aging in dog years.
FS: (laughs)
IF: It?s the toughest sport by far.
FS: It?s true! I mean, physically as a sport it?s very damaging because there?s so many different things and so many different things can happen to you to injure you while doing those things.
IF: You had mentioned on your website www.FrankShamrock.com calling-out one of the Gracies.
FS: You know? I didn?t. I don?t know what the whole deal is. (laughs) He was making some stink about wanting to fight me, this Gracie guy, and someone went on my website and posted this up and I really wasn?t aware of it. Then one of my fans sent me an email and said ?hey, this is on your website.? So I went in and read the story and I was like, ?huh?? The story was basically that he wanted to call me out and fight me. So I said, ?sure, I?ll fight him.? I asked him to call my office and he did. I?ve got a promotional agreement that I?m trying to get going, and I?m gonna fight him.
IF: Where?s that going to take place?
FS: Well, I figure it will take place in Las Vegas. That?s the only place we can go to make a good chunk of money.
IF: Which promotion are you thinking about? Is this going to be an XFC match-up down the road?
FS: Um? It?ll be something different.
IF: Are you keeping this one quiet?
FS: Yeah, I can?t really tell you right now.
IF: You said you weren?t really aware of it when this guy called you out. What?s the beef?
FS: Personally, I think that he?s just young and he?s probably at a point where he thinks he?s ready. I?ve met him a couple times, you know I?ve met just about everybody in the world it seems but I?ve met him a few times. I think he?s just at the point where he thinks he?s ready to go against the big boys and I?m more than happy to do it.
IF: Well we?ve got to see you back in the ring or octagon eventually.
FS: I enjoy fighting. It?s hard to plan a life around with everything else, and eventually you get tired of it.
IF: You had mentioned that once you feel like you?ve succeeded at something it?s easy to get bored with it. But what was going through your mind before you came back to fight Bryan Pardoe? You mentioned a multiple fight deal possibly?
FS: Well I came back to fight as you know. I basically got bored. After I got bored of fighting, I got bored of not fighting. You know, the industry had kind of taken some bumps and stuff, and so I wanted to try to get back in and help that out a little bit and do some more fighting. Like I said, I was bored.
IF: Clearly Bryan (Pardoe) was a warm-up fight for you.
FS: Yeah. He?s just a big tough guy. I didn?t know anything about him or anything. I?d never heard of him.
IF: It?s been about 4 months? About time for another one I think.
FS: Yeah it?s about time for another one. I think the next one will be this Gracie here.
IF: Are you going to consider defending your WEC Light Heavyweight title?
FS: Sure!
IF: Any forthcoming plans? Anything in the works?
FS: No. I?ll probably fight like only once or twice a year for the next couple years and then I?ll probably stop again.
IF: Is it true that you were told by Pride that you had lost your Japanese fan base?
FS: Um, yeah. Honestly I can see a portion of that and the reason why is I think the fan base has changed since I was fighting frequently over there. It?s grown and expanded in different areas. When I was fighting frequently over there we didn?t have television, we didn?t have Pay-Per-View so it was more of a closed, educated audience. Then when it went mainstream with the pro-wrestling mixing, it brought on a totally different audience. So to say that the audience numbers have changed is correct because those guys are on television every month - national television, and you don?t have to pay for it.
IF: It didn?t seem to me that when you competed in Ultimate Japan that you were at any loss for acceptance.
FS: Oh no. All the old-timers know me. I?m like an old time guy now ? kind of like an old revered guy. (laughs)
IF: Well you have hit that magic 30 mark.
FS: Yeah! (laughs)
InsideFighting: I know you said you?re taking it a day at a time and you?ve got this Gracie lined up, but what about Pride? What about the big stage?
Frank Shamrock: I have an offer from Pride right now that I am very interested in accepting.
IF: Did they approach you about the Middleweight tournament?
FS: You know, they did but they weren?t really serious about it. They were like, ?eehhh.? They weren?t taking it seriously.
IF: Do you still feel that need to fight Sakuraba?
FS: Yes, absolutely. I don?t really know about the need but the desire. I think we have the same style. That?s why I want to fight him. That?s what I think would be fun about it. We have the same Japanese-based, chain wrestling, submission-fighting program. You know, my striking is much better and I think I?d just clobber him. (laughs) The submissions and the movement is just fun. No one in the United States moves like that. They?re either passive or wrestling aggressive. There?re no people that are in-between.
IF: Do you want to do a little word association with fighter names? Basically your quick thoughts, maybe some weaknesses. Let?s make this interesting.
FS: Okay.
IF: Wanderlei
FS: Wanderlei? Caveman. Weaknesses? He comes in with his chin sticking out and leads with his head.
IF: Tito ? the current Tito.
FS: (laughs) The neewwww Tito. Tito is big, large, very large! His weakness is that he doesn?t like to get hit. But his strength is he can take a shot.
IF: Chuck Liddell
FS: Chuck Liddell? He is scary. Yeah, I always liked him.
IF: Chuck seems like the consummate nice guy.
FS: He is, but not as a fighter. As a fighter he?s a completely different person with the Mohawk and the whole thing.
IF: Vitor ? the new Vitor.
FS: I think he?s awesome. I still haven?t seen that [fight with Marvin Eastman at UFC 43]. I?ve seen some pictures of a big hole in Marvin?s head. His weaknesses? I don?t know.
IF: I?d love to see you come back to the UFC and fight this next name, Phil Baroni.
FS: Phil Baroni? I don?t know. I haven?t seen enough of his fights. He?s good for the sport though I can say that.
IF: Come on Frank. A little smack-talk about Phil? Let?s make some papers!
FS: Well I don?t know Phil. Who is Phil? You know what I mean? He?s my kid brother. I don?t know who he is.
IF: Murilo Bustamante.
FS: I think he?s really good. Underrated. I don?t know when he?ll fight again.
IF: Anderson Silva
FS: I like him. I like the jumping and leaping, the kicking. Weaknesses? The ability to block chain submissions.
IF: Carlos Newton
FS: Ah, the Ronin. He?s cool, very cool. His weaknesses are ? there?s just no power in his striking but awesome, awesome grappling skills.
IF: How about Randy Couture?
FS: Randy Couture is Captain America, same story. He?s Captain America. He should run for governor and kick somebody?s ass.
IF: How about Rampage?
FS: I like him. I really like him.
IF: Ricardo Arona
FS: I don?t know much about him but I like the way he fights. He?s got a good tact. I don?t know, I don?t see any weaknesses on him.
IF: If you could wave a wand over Mixed Martial Arts in the United States to change anything, what would you do? What can be done?
FS: I would start over from the beginning.
IF: What changes would you make?
FS: Hmm? I don?t know. I honestly don?t know because although the sport was created by accident, it was still created.
IF: What do you think about an American version of Inoki-Bom-Ba-Ye with the WWE, UFC and one of the kickboxing organizations?
FS: I think it would go over big. I mean it?s all about talent and stars, and selling those people. If you look at all that the networks do, they get one person for 28 million dollars and they capitalize on that by building them into personalities and stars. With people that are already stars, you just have to put them out there in front of people and it sells.
IF: Do you think that if Vince McMahon were to purchase Zuffa it would be good or bad for MMA?
FS: It would be good. But the bad things about MMA are only going to grow, as it gets bigger. You know, it?s not going to get any less dirty like wrestling. Wrestling is the dirtiest industry there is but it has a giant community that supports it, follows it, moves into it and keeps it going. We?re slowly building that. If we can expand that community or go mainstream then it?s all good.
IF: I just wanted to thank you for your time. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
FS: My pleasure! I have a new line of training videos that just came out. We're in just about every martial arts magazine. You can find them at http://www.CenturyVision.com.
You can buy muscles but you can't buy COJONES !!
Mr. Grimy
http://www.mma.sfd.pl/
InsideFighting: I want to pick up right after Pride 26. You had been training Don Frye for quite some time. When you come back to the States are you then focused on your own training?
Frank Shamrock: No. I don?t train all that much to be honest with you. I only get a couple days a week in when I?m not training for a fight. I teach class every night, which is really my training. I?m really hard on my body so I don?t train much. I?m sort of a businessman and I do the whole celebrity thing. I probably get two good days in and you know I lead a healthy lifestyle so that keeps me preserved.
IF: You had mentioned all the hard-knocks that Mixed Martial Artists take. I made a joke one time equating it to aging in dog years.
FS: (laughs)
IF: It?s the toughest sport by far.
FS: It?s true! I mean, physically as a sport it?s very damaging because there?s so many different things and so many different things can happen to you to injure you while doing those things.
IF: You had mentioned on your website www.FrankShamrock.com calling-out one of the Gracies.
FS: You know? I didn?t. I don?t know what the whole deal is. (laughs) He was making some stink about wanting to fight me, this Gracie guy, and someone went on my website and posted this up and I really wasn?t aware of it. Then one of my fans sent me an email and said ?hey, this is on your website.? So I went in and read the story and I was like, ?huh?? The story was basically that he wanted to call me out and fight me. So I said, ?sure, I?ll fight him.? I asked him to call my office and he did. I?ve got a promotional agreement that I?m trying to get going, and I?m gonna fight him.
IF: Where?s that going to take place?
FS: Well, I figure it will take place in Las Vegas. That?s the only place we can go to make a good chunk of money.
IF: Which promotion are you thinking about? Is this going to be an XFC match-up down the road?
FS: Um? It?ll be something different.
IF: Are you keeping this one quiet?
FS: Yeah, I can?t really tell you right now.
IF: You said you weren?t really aware of it when this guy called you out. What?s the beef?
FS: Personally, I think that he?s just young and he?s probably at a point where he thinks he?s ready. I?ve met him a couple times, you know I?ve met just about everybody in the world it seems but I?ve met him a few times. I think he?s just at the point where he thinks he?s ready to go against the big boys and I?m more than happy to do it.
IF: Well we?ve got to see you back in the ring or octagon eventually.
FS: I enjoy fighting. It?s hard to plan a life around with everything else, and eventually you get tired of it.
IF: You had mentioned that once you feel like you?ve succeeded at something it?s easy to get bored with it. But what was going through your mind before you came back to fight Bryan Pardoe? You mentioned a multiple fight deal possibly?
FS: Well I came back to fight as you know. I basically got bored. After I got bored of fighting, I got bored of not fighting. You know, the industry had kind of taken some bumps and stuff, and so I wanted to try to get back in and help that out a little bit and do some more fighting. Like I said, I was bored.
IF: Clearly Bryan (Pardoe) was a warm-up fight for you.
FS: Yeah. He?s just a big tough guy. I didn?t know anything about him or anything. I?d never heard of him.
IF: It?s been about 4 months? About time for another one I think.
FS: Yeah it?s about time for another one. I think the next one will be this Gracie here.
IF: Are you going to consider defending your WEC Light Heavyweight title?
FS: Sure!
IF: Any forthcoming plans? Anything in the works?
FS: No. I?ll probably fight like only once or twice a year for the next couple years and then I?ll probably stop again.
IF: Is it true that you were told by Pride that you had lost your Japanese fan base?
FS: Um, yeah. Honestly I can see a portion of that and the reason why is I think the fan base has changed since I was fighting frequently over there. It?s grown and expanded in different areas. When I was fighting frequently over there we didn?t have television, we didn?t have Pay-Per-View so it was more of a closed, educated audience. Then when it went mainstream with the pro-wrestling mixing, it brought on a totally different audience. So to say that the audience numbers have changed is correct because those guys are on television every month - national television, and you don?t have to pay for it.
IF: It didn?t seem to me that when you competed in Ultimate Japan that you were at any loss for acceptance.
FS: Oh no. All the old-timers know me. I?m like an old time guy now ? kind of like an old revered guy. (laughs)
IF: Well you have hit that magic 30 mark.
FS: Yeah! (laughs)
InsideFighting: I know you said you?re taking it a day at a time and you?ve got this Gracie lined up, but what about Pride? What about the big stage?
Frank Shamrock: I have an offer from Pride right now that I am very interested in accepting.
IF: Did they approach you about the Middleweight tournament?
FS: You know, they did but they weren?t really serious about it. They were like, ?eehhh.? They weren?t taking it seriously.
IF: Do you still feel that need to fight Sakuraba?
FS: Yes, absolutely. I don?t really know about the need but the desire. I think we have the same style. That?s why I want to fight him. That?s what I think would be fun about it. We have the same Japanese-based, chain wrestling, submission-fighting program. You know, my striking is much better and I think I?d just clobber him. (laughs) The submissions and the movement is just fun. No one in the United States moves like that. They?re either passive or wrestling aggressive. There?re no people that are in-between.
IF: Do you want to do a little word association with fighter names? Basically your quick thoughts, maybe some weaknesses. Let?s make this interesting.
FS: Okay.
IF: Wanderlei
FS: Wanderlei? Caveman. Weaknesses? He comes in with his chin sticking out and leads with his head.
IF: Tito ? the current Tito.
FS: (laughs) The neewwww Tito. Tito is big, large, very large! His weakness is that he doesn?t like to get hit. But his strength is he can take a shot.
IF: Chuck Liddell
FS: Chuck Liddell? He is scary. Yeah, I always liked him.
IF: Chuck seems like the consummate nice guy.
FS: He is, but not as a fighter. As a fighter he?s a completely different person with the Mohawk and the whole thing.
IF: Vitor ? the new Vitor.
FS: I think he?s awesome. I still haven?t seen that [fight with Marvin Eastman at UFC 43]. I?ve seen some pictures of a big hole in Marvin?s head. His weaknesses? I don?t know.
IF: I?d love to see you come back to the UFC and fight this next name, Phil Baroni.
FS: Phil Baroni? I don?t know. I haven?t seen enough of his fights. He?s good for the sport though I can say that.
IF: Come on Frank. A little smack-talk about Phil? Let?s make some papers!
FS: Well I don?t know Phil. Who is Phil? You know what I mean? He?s my kid brother. I don?t know who he is.
IF: Murilo Bustamante.
FS: I think he?s really good. Underrated. I don?t know when he?ll fight again.
IF: Anderson Silva
FS: I like him. I like the jumping and leaping, the kicking. Weaknesses? The ability to block chain submissions.
IF: Carlos Newton
FS: Ah, the Ronin. He?s cool, very cool. His weaknesses are ? there?s just no power in his striking but awesome, awesome grappling skills.
IF: How about Randy Couture?
FS: Randy Couture is Captain America, same story. He?s Captain America. He should run for governor and kick somebody?s ass.
IF: How about Rampage?
FS: I like him. I really like him.
IF: Ricardo Arona
FS: I don?t know much about him but I like the way he fights. He?s got a good tact. I don?t know, I don?t see any weaknesses on him.
IF: If you could wave a wand over Mixed Martial Arts in the United States to change anything, what would you do? What can be done?
FS: I would start over from the beginning.
IF: What changes would you make?
FS: Hmm? I don?t know. I honestly don?t know because although the sport was created by accident, it was still created.
IF: What do you think about an American version of Inoki-Bom-Ba-Ye with the WWE, UFC and one of the kickboxing organizations?
FS: I think it would go over big. I mean it?s all about talent and stars, and selling those people. If you look at all that the networks do, they get one person for 28 million dollars and they capitalize on that by building them into personalities and stars. With people that are already stars, you just have to put them out there in front of people and it sells.
IF: Do you think that if Vince McMahon were to purchase Zuffa it would be good or bad for MMA?
FS: It would be good. But the bad things about MMA are only going to grow, as it gets bigger. You know, it?s not going to get any less dirty like wrestling. Wrestling is the dirtiest industry there is but it has a giant community that supports it, follows it, moves into it and keeps it going. We?re slowly building that. If we can expand that community or go mainstream then it?s all good.
IF: I just wanted to thank you for your time. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
FS: My pleasure! I have a new line of training videos that just came out. We're in just about every martial arts magazine. You can find them at http://www.CenturyVision.com.
You can buy muscles but you can't buy COJONES !!
Mr. Grimy
http://www.mma.sfd.pl/
Krzysztof Piekarz
