Mann Talk – Frank Shamrock, the self-proclaimed legend

In a lot of ways, Strikeforce simply does not get it. On Saturday, we were treated to one of the most awkward retirement ceremonies of all time. Of course, viewers were forced to watch Frank Shamrock talk about himself instead of one of the four unaired preliminary fights.

Naturally, I could devote an entire column to the ridiculousness of boosting Shamrock’s ego, when Strikeforce could have introduced their dwindling fan base to Yancy Medeiros, one of the most exciting prospects to come out of Hawaii in a long time. However, that has been done more times than the “Court McGee conquered his drug addiction” feature story.

Instead it is more necessary to break down the self-proclaimed legendary status of Frank Shamrock. This is not because I have an axe to grind against everyone’s favorite candidate for Invisalign. No, there is a greater purpose. The sport is less than twenty years old and yet everyone finds it necessary to declare legends. At this rate, MMA may soon have more legends than fans.

When I look at the career of Frank Shamrock, I see the MMA version of a less-accomplished George Mikan. For those of you who are not basketball historians, let’s take a look at what superstar columnist Bill Simmons had to say bout the old Laker great in the aptly titled The Book of Basketball.

“Calling someone the greatest pre-shot-clock force is like calling One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird the greatest computer sports game of the early eighties. In other words, you’re not saying much. The six-foot-ten Mikan peaked with a tiny three-second lane, no shot clock, no seven footers, no goaltending rules and barely any black players… and it’s not like he was throwing up Wilt-like numbers”

In order to correctly gauge the status of Shamrock’s career, it is necessary to examine the three phases of his career individually and then compare his career accomplishments to his contemporaries.

Stage 1: Frank Shamrock before the UFC

Shamrock entered the UFC with a 14-7-1 record. He had competed almost exclusively under the Pancrase banner. For the most part, Pancrase is accepted as an early example of MMA. However, grabbing the ropes would break a submission hold, the fighters wore knee-high boots and only open-palm punches were allowed. This is the MMA equivalent of being able to get a base runner out by hitting him in the head with the ball.

Shamrock picked up 12 wins under the Pancrase banner. Of the 12 wins, only four came against quality opponents. If we eliminate his wins against Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki (twice), his other eight wins came against fighters with a combined record of 180-188-52. That is a lot of experience and not a lot of dominance. It isn’t enough to give him “can smasher” status, but it does lower the value of more than a third of his career victories (that is 8/23 or 35% for our math geeks out there).

In between Pancrase and the UFC, Shamrock picked up a nice pair of wins against Tsuyoshi Kosaka and Enson Inoue. However, I believe it is safe to say that at this point Frank “The Legend” Shamrock has not accomplished anything too legendary.

Stage 2: The UFC Run

Ken Shamrock’s adopted brother, Frank rose to prominence during a five-fight run in the UFC. From Dec. 21, 1997 to Sept. 24, 1999 Shamrock defeated Kevin Jackson, Igor Zinoviev, Jeremy Horn, John Lober and Tito Ortiz. He then forfeited his title and retired from MMA at the age of 28.

As they do on Top Chef, it is time to deconstruct this so-called string of dominance. Olympic gold medalist Jackson ended his career with a 4-2 record and now is an outspoken opponent of U.S. wrestlers pursuing MMA dollars. Zinoviev did have some nice wins over Enson Inoue and Mario Sperry, but he is still a career 4-1-2 fighter. Lober has a 5-9-4 record and is only really known for defeating Shamrock back in 1997.

That leaves Horn and Ortiz. These two wins do not really make Shamrock a legend. On top of that, he was losing both fights and managed to pull out the victories late. You could even take it a step further and say Horn made a mistake and Ortiz gassed out.

At the time, Shamrock was the most accomplished champion in UFC history. However, the sport had not come into its own yet. He had dominated a sport that was still making baby steps, just like Mikan used to elbow his way into the tiny painted area and throw up lay-ups over smaller guys. When Shamrock retired, Pat Miletich was the lightweight champion and two months later Kevin Randleman would win the heavyweight title from Bas Rutten.

Stage 3: Living off the legend

From 1999 to 2006, Shamrock fought only three times against Elvis Sinosic, Bryan Pardoe and Cesar Gracie, which is to say he fought meager opposition at best. From 2007 to 2009, he plied his trade for Elite XC and Strikeforce and went 1-3. Now, at the tender age of 37, he is done fighting.

Shamrock came back to MMA, but only fought two legitimate opponents Cung Le and Nick Diaz. Even without signing with the UFC, he had the chance to fight in big promotions and take on big names and he did not. When he did face top fighters it was clear that he could not compete.

Mikan also decided to give basketball another try after he retired. As Simmons explains “After his ’56 Lakers floundered to a 5-15 start and attendance petered. Big George stepped down as general manger, made an ill-fated return and couldn’t handle the game’s increased speed. As Koppett described it, the plodding Mikan ‘simply wasn’t equipped for the 24-second game. The widened foul lane he could handle; the constant running he could not.’ And I’m supposed to rank Mikan as one of the top thirty players of all time?” To make matters worse, Shamrock is actually younger than many of his contemporaries.

Career Breakdowns

Frank Shamrock
Age: 37
Career Record: 23-10-2
Quality Wins: Tito Ortiz (1999), Jeremy Horn (1998), Minoru Suzuki (1996) (1995), Masakatsu Funaki (1995) and Bas Rutten (1994)
Record against UFC and Pride FC veterans: 12-6-2

Chuck Liddell
Age: 40
Career Record: 29-8
Quality Wins: Wanderlei Silva (2007), Tito Ortiz (2006) (2004), Renato Sobral (2006) (2002), Randy Couture (2006) (2005), Jeremy Horn (2005), Alistair Overeem (2003) and Vitor Belfort (2002)
Record against UFC and Pride FC veterans: 26-8

Randy Couture
Age: 47
Career Record: 18-10
Quality Wins: Brandon Vera (2009), Gabriel Gonzaga (2007), Vitor Belfort (2004) (1997), Tito Ortiz (2003), Chuck Liddell (2003), Pedro Rizzo (2001) (2001) and Jeremy Horn (2000)
Record against UFC and Pride FC veterans: 17-9

Dan Henderson
Age: 39
Career Record: 25-8
Quality Wins: Michael Bisping (2009), Rich Franklin (2009), Wanderlei Silva (2007), Vitor Belfort (2006), Renato Sobral (2000) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2000)
Record against UFC and Pride FC veterans: 21-7

Calling Shamrock’s victories over Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki and Bas Rutten prior to 1997 “Quality” is a bit of a stretch in and of itself. Although Shamrock rose to prominence earlier than these three fighters, it is still safe to call them contemporaries. He had the opportunity to fight and beat high caliber fighters and he chose to do neither. Determining the best in MMA can only be done by rating their accomplishment, and not by what might have been.

Shamrock’s status as one of the first dominant champions in UFC history sets him up for pioneer status, but not legendary status.