Frank Shamrock Interview by Jay Cisco Jay: First off Frank, I would like to thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk. Congratulations on your "OZ" performance as well. Frank: Thanks. No problem. I have a couple of movie deals I am trying to close on but I really can’t talk about those right now. Jay: Ok, let’s go ahead and kick things off with this one: We understand from various sources that you are going to make a return sometime this year. Correct? Frank: Planning to comeback to kick everyone’s ass. Jay: Any word of who your opponent might be? Frank: No idea. They have different people they are running around with. There is a big name they are trying to get but I’m not supposed to say who it is. Jay: Will your return be on PayPerView? We have heard some rumors from various sources that ESPN or Showtime is considering airing the event. Any truth to that? Frank: That is supposedly what’s going on. Not really supposed to talk about that. ESPN and Showtime are interested. I get in trouble when I talk so they tell me to stay quiet. Jay: Now, I know we just talked about who your opponent might be. Is there anyone out there right now that you would like to face if you could pick your opponent? Frank: Nah, I don’t really care. I’ve fought everybody in all weight classes. Jay: One of the things we love to do at IronLife is get a fighter’s opinion on "hot" names in the sport today. I wanted to start off with a name you have unfortunately heard a lot of as of late, Phil Baroni. Frank: Yeah,he’s a dork. I don’t care. I’ll knock him out. It sounds to me like he is a little fish in a big pond. He wasn’t saying all that when he was kissing my butt, asking for training advice. He’s all "steroided" up. Jay: Ok, next name for you. Tito Ortiz. He has looked very impressive. Your thoughts. Frank: I like Tito Ortiz. Good guy, good fighter. My thought is he will be champion for quite sometime. Unless he fights Chuck Lidell, then he will get knocked out. I think that Lidell has his number. I don’t think that Tito is quite used to getting hit yet. He is still used to being on the offensive. Chuck Lidell is going to hit him very hard. Jay: Here is a personal one for you, Ken Shamrock. How is your relationship with him at this point in time? Do you think we will see him fight again? Frank: Yes, he is going to fight again. Do I think he should fight again? No. His time is past. I think he should take a step back. Hey, even I’m getting old. The numbers don’t lie. They still will have to pry my belts from my dead hands. He should go back to WWE, that was his first love anyways. Jay: To close out our little word association game, I would like to give you a few moments to comment on a fighter you have trained, Richard "Clete" Crukleton. Frank: He is very impressive. He is the future of MMA. He’s got athletic ability that is far above most; his desire and technique are amazing. As long as he stays focused, no one is going to beat him. Jay: Now, I know you have talked about fighting your comeback fight in the WEC. Is there any chance of you fighting for the UFC again? Frank: No. Absolutely not. I don’t have a problem with them. For some reason, Dana White doesn’t like me. He likes to tell people that. I don’t think that their in for the athletes or the sport, they are in it for the money. They don’t take care of their athletes. They don’t understand champions or the legacy. They are doing damage to our sport. We’ve gone from getting approved by the NSAC to Tank Abbot. Don’t get me wrong; I like Tank Abbot as person. But bringing Tank back is really doing nothing but shooting this sport in the foot. We are only portraying the sport in a negative light with bringing Tank back. Jay: I know there were rumors a while back about you possibly fighting in PRIDE? What happened with that? Frank: Yeah, I was gonna fight for PRIDE. I was under contract with K-1. A representative came back and said the negotiations went bad. They wanted me to fight Vanderlei Silva on 30 days notice. I told them no way. Don’t get me wrong, if I am in shape I don’t think that Silva can take me. I’m not saying that he couldn’t beat me, it’s just that when I am in top shape, I don’t think he can. But Silva would probably have the greatest intent to crush my skull in like a caveman. I mean, he is the Axe Murderer. They (PRIDE) kept me on hold for 2 years. I made personal sacrifices in my life such as flying constantly to Japan and they told me my name wasn’t big enough in Japan. I wanted to fight Sakuraba but they told me I didn’t have a big enough name. It left a very bad taste in my mouth. They had no weight classes and they weren’t going to pay me much either. Jay: There have been rampant rumors about a new promotion here in the U.S. known as "Battleship". Have you been contacted about fighting in such a promotion? Frank: Yeah, I have. It’s been a while now. I had initially said yes and threw my hat in the ring. The representative started changing the deal and I pulled my hat out. It sounded like they were gonna use a bunch of names for profit. It is not that good to have people shop your name around. There was no structure to it at all. I think all the shows should get together for a super show. But you know that will never happen, everyone is holding on to his or her pennies. Jay: Ok, I would like to close out this interview by allowing you a moment to send a message to your fans. Frank: To all the fans, I really appreciate their support. I appreciate the respect they give to the athletes that train so hard and work so hard. I see that respect everyday. Jay: You know who has immense respect for you? Enson Inoue. I talked to him a few weeks ago and he had the nicest things to say about you. Frank: Really?! Well he is a great guy and is great for the sport. Him and I had a war a few years back. I think we gained a lot of respect for each other after that fight. He deserves everything he has earned through the fight game. Jay: Enson is trying to come back too. But no one will give him a deal. Frank: Really?! That is a shame. The fight game is truly a weird place. Maybe I should send him some money or something (Frank laughs). If anyone deserves a deal, it is him. He is a great guy. Jay: Well, Frank, I’m all out of questions. Thanks again, this has truly been an honor. Maybe we can do this again when you get closer to your fight? Frank: My pleasure. Yeah definitely, whatever I can do to help the sport and help the site. I say let’s get the new fans and line’em up. Let’s show them what this sport is all about. [back]