Shamrock

Frank Shamrock is considered by many as MMA royalty. Not only because of what he has accomplished in his illustrious career, but also because he and his family were the pioneers when the general public considered Mixed Martial Arts as inhumane. Through it all, he fought, he learned, he won and most importantly he changed the game.Shamrock had a thunderous start to his MMA career, compiling a 20-7-1 record and numerous titles along the way. After a three year hiatus, he has returned to see that the MMA game has change, and surprisingly not completely for the better. Shamrock is currently under contract with Showtime’s promotion Strikeforce, which also runs EliteXC.  After spending his entire career to change peoples’ negative perceptions of the art that is MMA, his current employer’s biggest headliner is best known for his street fighting prowess.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson became a household name a couple years back when his street fights became one of YouTube’s most popular hits. As rumors swirled that Kimbo was going to attempt an MMA career, it was Shamrock’s employer that jumped at the chance, much to the dismay of the MMA legend. 

“Personally, I think it’s a step back to where we were 10 years ago, which is the big, tough scary guy fighting, but he’s very, very popular with the young generation, Shamrock told CBSSportsline.com. “I think he is the absolute worst role model we could have for our events. This is coming from someone who has been here since the beginning.”

A lot has changed since Shamrock first stepped onto the MMA scene, the sport has quickly become the fastest growing sport in America, and in less than a month EliteXC will be the first MMA promotion to broadcast an event on a major television network, CBS.

But the question is, who will be headlining this groundbreaking event? Will it be Shamrock, the living legend that has helped get this sport to where it is today? Actually, EliteXC has decided to throw all of their eggs in Kimbo’s basket. Focusing on his underground marketability and exciting style, even if his style is not what true Mixed Martial Arts is about.

“Having Kimbo as a representative as a face for the first big event on CBS is a step back,” stated a confused Shamrock. “His story is very interesting and appealing to people, but I also think they will quickly grow tired of it because it is kind of that gimmick story. The problem with Kimbo is the more he learns — the worse he’s going to get. He’s going to lose that raw, crazy, angry power that he is using to beat people.”

You can’t really blame the guy for passionately speaking out when he sees the sport that he loves heading in the wrong direction, I mean he has spent his entire career fighting to legitimize it.

Make sure to tune in to Showtime this Saturday to watch Frank Shamrock take on Cung Le in San Jose, CA.  Help Frank in his lifelong fight in making sure that the sport continues to head in the right direction.