Fighter Profile: Frank Shamrock
Overall Record: 23-10-2
Hometown: Santa Monica, CA
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 185
Age: 36
Frank Shamrock is a mixed martial arts fighter that specializes in wrestling and kickboxing. He has been involved in MMA competitions since 1994 when he competed as a 22 year-old in a Pancrase tournament.
Originally, Frank was a part of the famed Lions Den fight team, which is managed by his adopted brother Ken Shamrock. After a falling out with his brother Ken, Frank moved on and broke away from his brothers’ team.
Frank now runs a series of MMA schools named Shamrock Martial Arts Academy with the main school located in his adopted hometown of San Jose, CA. He also manages his own fight team, Team Shamrock and a former coach of the San Jose Razorclaws of the International Fight League.
The 36 year old legend of MMA began his career competing in Pancrase tournaments outside of the United States. He fought in these tournaments for 2 years totaling 18 fights and facing tough competition along the way. He fought Bas Rutten three times going 1-2 against the Holland native. He also faced and defeated Brazilian Allan Goes during his time there.
After a solid two years in Pancrase competing against some of the best international talent, Frank brought his fight game back to the United States and to the UFC. He had a very successful run in the UFC, going 5-0 and was named the first ever UFC middleweight champ in the process. After his last title defense, a four round submission victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 22, Shamrock abruptly retired and vacated the belt.
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After his short retirement, Frank only fought 2 times in a span of six years. He fought and won in the K-1 tournament as well as with the WEC defeating Bryan Pardoe at WEC 6: Return of a Legend. Also during his retirement Frank worked in training several fighters, including BJ Penn, for a short period of time. He also served as a commentator for MMA events and had stints as an actor.
He could not stay away from his true calling for long. He was back in the ring in March of 2006 for Strikeforce fighting legendary trainer Cesar Gracie. The fight was a mismatch and was over in 21 seconds.
Bad blood was developed when Shamrock was victorious over Cesar Gracie. A year after that fight he was in the ring for the brand new Elite XC against Renzo Gracie. Although Shamrock dominated the fight, it was ruled a loss by way of disqualification when Gracie could not continue after knees were delivered to the back of his head. Shamrock did not agree with the decision but accepted nonetheless.
After that fight with Gracie, Shamrock developed the name “The Legend” and has been using it ever since. His Strikeforce career continued as he fought Phil Baroni at a June 2007 event for the Middleweight championship. He dominated Baroni and eventually choked him unconscious. With the win, he became the Strikeforce Middleweight champ.
As the Strikeforce champion, he next was matched up against talented Cung Le. The fight turned out to be very competitive with Le and Shamrock exchanging combinations for three full rounds. At the conclusion of the third round, Shamrock could not answer the bell and was defeated by Le. It was later found out that Shamrock has suffered a broken arm during the fight.
The Legend, now a loser of 3 of his last 4 fights, after a comeback fight loss against Nick Diaz at the April 11, 2009 Strikeforce show. With a new stable of fighters added to the promotion, Strikeforce seems to be a legit promotion with talented fighters.
With or without another title Frank Shamrock will go down as one of the best fighters in MMA history and a “Legend” in every sense of the word.
Recent Frank Shamrock MMA News:
- Lost to Nick Diaz at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs Diaz on April 11, 2009 - Strikeforce Shamrock vs Diaz results
By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Updated August 2009
Frank Shamrock photo courtesy of Strikeforce®