My Thoughts on Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock

Now, I said that this fight was going to be more interesting than Frank Shamrock getting a takedown. I said that Cung Le was a better wrestler than everyone seemed to think. I said that Cung Le would win the standup game if he could keep the fight standing.

Even I won't pretend that I expected Le to devastate Shamrock the way that he did. I didn't expect him to snap Frank's arm in half. But, now that he did, and the fact that he did it to the King of Pancrase and the great Frank Shamrock, I think that Le has basically solidified his position as a top 185 pound fighter.

Personally, he'll be well into my top seven, and I think that, if he decimates a few more quality opponents (say, Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni), then he should call out Anderson Silva, and I think that that's the toughest matchup for Silva right now.

Anderson wants someone he can strike with, and who can strike with him. Le will make that fight stay standing. He will use his San Shou takedown skill to keep the fight standing (and I don't think that Silva's wrestling is good enough to really resist, and I doubt he would want to), and he will make it a kickboxing match to remember.

This is a fight I want to see because I want to see if Anderson's kickboxing is as good as everyone thinks it is (and I include myself in that everyone). Silva never really established himself as a top kickboxer in the world, and the prospect of him fighting a guy who has makes my mouth a little watery.

The Shamrock fight was a great showcase for Cung Le and I wish him the best of luck, since he's a great guy. I hope he continues to dominate Strikeforce, but I would like to see him push for some serious competition, as the current field of competitors doesn't do much for me.

Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le: FOTY Candidate (and Serious Dark Horse)

The old wisdom about great fights is simple: it's about putting two guys in a cage who have everything to prove.

Rarely does a matchup like that come along between two high profile guys, and even more rarely does it happen between two guys who have already achieved legendary status.

Frank Shamrock may be the greatest champion in UFC history. He was 7-0 in his UFC career and left with his title belt. Never before has the 205 pound division seen a fighter so destructive. Tito Ortiz is sometimes compared, but even he lacks Shamrock's versatility. In case you don't know what I mean, 10 events before Tito Ortiz knocked Evan Tanner unconscious with a slam (and years before Rampage would do it to Ricardo Arona) Shamrock demolished Russian Igor Zinoviev in 22 seconds when he slammed Zinoviev to the canvas with such force that the fight was stopped immediately. Shamrock's strength as a submission fighter is often touted, but his power and ability to knock opponents out with strikes (or even use strikes to draw the submission) is one of the most impressive supplements to his grappling skills in the sport.

Now, on the other hand we have Cung Le, who is not a legend in MMA, and has only had 5 fights in the sport, but Le is a legend in his own right. Despite his youth, he's one of the most established San Shou fighters in the world, and was well respected in K-1, where he was considered one of the most dominant middleweights. His power and explosiveness, not just with his strikes (which have been known to put opponents out, regardless of where they land) but with his takedowns. His ability to explode through moves routinely that most guys never land (like flying body scizzor takedowns) has endowed him with a legendary status in and of itself.

Both train out of San Jose, California, and both are promising to put on a serious show. Shamrock is the larger of the two fights, but Le is the more technical striker and it will be interesting to see if he can keep this fight on his feet.

This is by no means a typical striker vs. grappler matchup, it is a matchup between a guy with incredible striking and takedowns (Le) and one of the most versatile men ever to step foot in the Octagon.

While this fight may not be watched by many, as it is carried on Strikeforce, I can only hope that it impresses those who do, as both fighters are respectable, and at the top of their division. (even if the mainstream MMA media fails to recognize it.

Frank Shamrock: The Legend At 205 Pounds

While people continue to dispute the ranking of former UFC lightheavyweight (then middleweight) champion Frank Shamrock, his legacy as a fighter and champion is really only tarnished as a result of contract disputes.

Foster brother of the man many consider the pioneer of mixed martial arts, Ken Shamrock, Frank began his career in Japan before Ken became a sensation stateside. While Ken started competing first, Frank also came up quickly in the Pancrase organization.

While Ken was a thick, well muscled submission fighter who gained quick fame for his conditioning and leg locks, Frank was a leaner fighter, who showed more finesse. While Ken had already fought at UFCs 1 and 2 when Frank made his debut in Pancrase, his talent quickly became clear, and even though he went 2-2 in his first four fights (though the competition went on to become legends in their own right) he quickly became a staple of the overseas scene.

While there were no weightclasses in the sport, Frank chalked up wins over some of the top heavyweights in the world and was a top contender in the sport until 1996.

In '96, Frank's carreer hit a three fight skid as he first started to change his style to use more standup and not the standard of submission fighting that his blood brother had developed.



He quickly found a niche and at UFC Japan, he made his debut in the organization that his brother had been a spokesman for. Because of his last name and raw talent, Shamrock become a major point for the UFC's first major weight class.

His first fight was against Kevin Jackson (then one of the UFC's most notable fighters, with an undefeated 3-0 record) and the reason why Japanese fans, who had come out to support Shamrock at the event, became clear. It was the first title fight for the belt that is now the UFC lightheavyweight title, and many considered Jackson a favorite because they thought that Shamrock's submission fighting was archaic. Shamrock sunk in an armbar at 16 seconds of the first round. It was the kind of fast paced, intelligent and skillful submission fighting that no one had seen since the Gracies had started receding away from the spotlight.

In his first fight with the UFC stateside, Shamrock was set to fight Russia Igor Zinoviev. While Zinoviev wasn't a well known fighter in the states and didn't have a reputation in MMA, or a serious record to speak of, he was, and is, a legend in the Russian Combat Sambo scene (Igor is also currently an IFL coach as head of the Chicago Red Bears), and many of the hardcore fans of the sport thought that it would be a war for Shamrock.

It would be Igor's final MMA fight, and it would end with a slam in 22 seconds that left the Russian unconscious, but it solidified Shamrock as a force to be tested in the division.

In the context of modern MMA, remember that Houston Alexander has spent more than 3 times as much time in Octagon as Shamrock did in his first two fights. As impressive as Alexander is, Shamrock was even more mindblowing for fans at the time, and his combination of conditioning, technique and physical power was something that hadn't really been seen in any fighter.

Shamrock then went on to destroy Jeremy Horn, John Lober and future champion Tito Ortiz.

Shamrock would announce his retirement after defeating Ortiz, and is the only fighter to retire with a title, not be stripped of it as result of a contract dispute or because of steroids.

While Ortiz would carry the belt for the UFC, Shamrock would return in December of 2000 to fight in K-1, when he defeated Elvis Sinosic.

Since his return, Shamrock has been a mercenary headliner, fighting in World Xtreme Cagefighting, Strike Force and Elite XC. While he has taken many hiatus-es to deal with coaching and his personal health, he has been dominant in his fights, his only loss coming by disqualification when he delivered knees to the head of Renzo Gracie, a move reminiscent of his Pancrase days.

While Shamrock probably won't be inducted into the UFC hall-of-fame for political reasons (mostly a major personal grudge with UFC president Dana White), Shamrock remains a legend of the sport, perhaps even more so than the already inducted Dan Severn.

With his coaching in the Internation Fight League, he'll continue to be an important force in the MMA game for years to come.