Frank Shamrock interivew reveals MMA plans in CA

[no1 jobber]

In the latest total-mma issue they interivewed Frank Shamrock and he confirms that he will have a MMA fight with Cesar Gracie in early 2006. He didnt say who exactly is the promoter that he is making the deal with but he says with CA legalising MMA fights its a "done deal" he and Cesar have both been paid and their contract with the promoter will expire in July so he's sure (because of already being paid) that the fight will happen. He says the venue is secured (where is still unknown) but all that is missing is the date. Exciting, exciting news!

[The Big Man]

So, some time some where a fight will most likely occur? That's great.

[no1 jobber]

Hey better than nothing. And at least (IMO) its a credible source consdering its one of the fighers. Its better than pure specualtion about which company is coming over...if they come over. Here we at least no for sure that a event will happen before July and it will have Frank Shamrock on it.

[Roger Deaton]

I am thinking the contract expires, and Scott Coker is out $20,000, not to mention the money he spent to take a full page ad out in Black Belt Magazine to promote the fight. I am beginning to think Frank vs. Cesar is becoming just like Ryan Gracie vs. Wallid Ismael.

[no1 jobber]

Damn it dont jinx it! Im still sore over the Gracie/ Ismael rematch....

[Steve72]

This will never happen. Frank Shamrock tried to run MMA shows in CA years ago and nothing ever came out of it. And from what I've read, he'd promote these shows in Northern CA and the Bay Area, not SoCal.

[SoCal Tom Walters]

I've been hearing about Frank vs Cesar for like 3-4 years now. I remember it was originally supposed to happen on one of those short lived WFA shows but Frank prices himself out of all these fights. Who's gonna give this dude like 6 figures to fight Cesar Gracie?

[The Loose Cannon]

Well, if it does happen, seeing Frank Shamrock fight in Cali would be pretty damn awesome. Here's hoping the fight does go down and it doesn't stray too far from the San Diego/Los Angeles area.

[The Big Man]

And from what I've read, he'd promote these shows in Northern CA and the Bay Area, not SoCal.


That's the other thing I was going to bring up, So-Cal isn't the only part of California- as much as we'd all like to believe it is. Last time I checked California was a fairly large state and most of it is north of us. This show could happen several hundred miles away from any of us.

[no1 jobber]

Well the thing is Frank ISNT promoting the fight (an outside promoter is) so there shouldnt be any worries there. But yea this fight could very well be northern...though IMO LA would be the better area but hey maybe there could be a MMA scene in SF or SJ....maybe....

[SoCal Tom Walters]

It would be in NoCal for sure. Both Frank and Cesar's schools are located in the San Jose area I believe and they have had a personal rivalry for years.

[Steve72]

I really don't see the appeal in this fight. Frank hasn't fought in years, and I'm pretty sure Cesar Gracie is a pure BJJ guy. To Cesar Gracies credit, though, he's trained a number of top guys, including Nick Diaz. Still, this sort of fight brings down the reputation that MMA is trying to uphold, IMO.

[Roger Deaton]

Show is being promoted by Scott Coker- the K-1 USA / kickboxing promoter out of California. The venue mentioned in this thread (where this show was / is suppose to take place) is the HP Pavilion in San Jose. As far as the money, they each got $10,000 to do the fight (that was reported figure). As mentioned the contract is a done deal, but they keep pushing the date back due to the whole making mma fighting legal in California. Coker / HP Pavilion took a full page ad out in Black Belt Magazine a month or so back. This was the same show where Cung Le was rumored to be doing his first mma fight. Cung Le has a huge following in San Jose. And the kickboxing shows that have been done at Pavilion have been I guess successful. But it still seems this fight might not go down.

As far as the fight itself. Frank has fought 2 times in the last 5 years. And last fought in '03 against a .500 regional fighter Bryan Pardoe. Though Frank hasn't lost an mma since '97. Frank has to be favored just because, but again he hasn't fought in 2 years. Cesar has never done a mma fight. Of course, a Gracie JJ black belt. Cesar has put together a very good fight team, and all his fighters say he is the real deal. A Gracie who is actually very big on training his figthers how to fight without a gi.

[Justin Crast]

It's a pretty stupid match up. Neither of them are relevent in today's MMA world.

Justin

[SoCal Tom Walters]

It's a pretty stupid match up. Neither of them are relevent in today's MMA world.

Justin

That sums up this entire thread perfectly, IMO.

[Roger Deaton]

I'm not sure it is a stupid match-up. I would have it higher than watching Tito fight Ken.

[Da Bean]

I really don't see the appeal in this fight. Frank hasn't fought in years, and I'm pretty sure Cesar Gracie is a pure BJJ guy. To Cesar Gracies credit, though, he's trained a number of top guys, including Nick Diaz. Still, this sort of fight brings down the reputation that MMA is trying to uphold, IMO.
I'm pretty sure FRank Shamrock fought a year ago in Cali

[Steve]

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=284

Last fight was in 2003, and that was his only fight since 2000.

Steve

[Steve72]

Even still, he's about 6 years removed from his "peak."

[SoCal Tom Walters]

Frank Shamrock still fancies himself some "big star" that can call the shots and won't fight for anything less than like "Pride money". I find that laughable that some totally inactive dude who may or may not even be good anymore demands all this shit. Fighting someone like Cesar Gracie who's never even had an MMA fight, at like the Lemoore Fairgrounds isn't going to do anything to raise his stock either, IMO.

[Steve72]

I agree that is an interesting point, Tom.

Frank is an "MMA Legend" but he fought at a time when the talent wasn't as skilled as it is today. With the exception of his fight against a young Tito, Frank, IMO, never really fought anyone on the level of the elite competition of today.

[SoCal Tom Walters]

I agree that is an interesting point, Tom.

Frank is an "MMA Legend" but he fought at a time when the talent wasn't as skilled as it is today. With the exception of his fight against a young Tito, Frank, IMO, never really fought anyone on the level of the elite competition of today.

Yeah, I am interested to see if he would still be good against today's fighters. I don't really know if he is because he's turned down Pride offers a lot. I would love to see him against Henderson, Bustamante, etc.

[Justin Crast]

Frank was always overrated. He probably had some good wins in Pancrase but we'll never really know since the promotion was part work/part shoot during his time there. His stuff in UFC was impressive and obviously his win over Ortiz showed just how tactical he could be, a brilliant win. But then he quit, and that was that. He also wasn't the most gung ho champ in UFC in the first place. When he fought John Lober at UFC Brazil, Vitor Belfort was far and away clearly the #1 guy the fans and UFC wanted to fight Frank, but he shied away from that match so that he could beat up Lober, which everyone knew was never in doubt.

Justin