Frank on Dana White and Where He Goes From Here: by Jay Cisco With Frank Shamrock’s comeback fight successfully behind him, I had a chance to sit down with Frank this week to discuss a few things. Among them, his reaction to a recent interview done with Dana White on Sherdog.com (http://www.sherdog.com) where Dana White proceeded to lambaste Frank and his accomplishments in the sport of MMA. Also covered is where Frank sees his future and who he will possibly fight against and what promotion he may fight for in the near future. Jay: Hey Frank how’s it going? Congratulations on your recent victory in the WEC. Did it feel any different being back in there? Frank: No, sure didn’t, it felt good. I felt great. Jay: Now I’m not going to lie to you. I wanted to sit down with you today to discuss some things that were recently disseminated about you from Dana White (President of the UFC) in a recent interview with Sherdog (http://www.sherdog.com). To start off, Dana said the following regarding the animosity between their organization and yourself: "Do we have animosity toward him? No, whatever. I mean it's unfortunate that Frank feels the way he does, but at the end of the day, I'm not too concerned about what Frank Shamrock thinks about me at all." What is the real cause of the animosity? Frank: I don’t really know. I don’t want to know. My feeling about Dana is that he let’s his emotions get in the way of his business. I read it all from him and what he says about me. I just don’t think that Dana White likes me. Jay: Mr. White then went on to say that you were "delusional" in some way. He said that you think you are bigger than you really are in the MMA world. Comments? Frank: Well, basically Dana White tries to belittle people. I do know that Dana has lost $20 million dollars of Lorenzo’s (owner of the UFC) money and that he is frustrated. I know what goes on with him and his business deals but he doesn’t know what goes on with me. That makes him angry. Jay: Mr. White then went on to say this which I thought you might like to comment on: "The hardcore fans know who Frank is, but if you ask any of the mainstream people, they think you're talking about Ken. I think he has this kind of thing where he lives in his brother's shadow. I think that kind of rubs him the wrong way. I don't know. When he beat Tito Ortiz, like 2,500 people saw it. He did some good things when nobody was watching." Frank: Yeah, it sounds like he is an uneducated businessman. Dana White reminds me of a child and I don’t have to explain myself to him. It would be easy for me to fire back and say, "Oh, I’m delusional. Well Dana White is fat and bald," but that would make me look like him, a 10-year-old child. Jay: When you told me Frank that the UFC was badly managed apparently that got under Dana’s skin. He turned it around and said that you are killing the sport by charging small promotions insane amounts of money to compete. He said if anyone is killing the sport it is you. How does that differ from your opinion? Frank: I read that. Dana White doesn’t know my business. I think that is silly. Here is a guy sitting at the head of a million dollar company calling people names. He doesn’t care one iota about the sport or the athletes. I don’t really give a shit about Dana White. Jay: When Mike Sloan told Dana that you said you were donating half your purse back to the show, Mr. White responded with a smug laugh and said, "I’m not interested in that." Call me quick to jump, but I don’t think he believes your generosity. Did you actually donate half the purse back to the show? Frank: I actually took half my purse and put it into the production of the show. I made $50,000 and put $25,000 back into the production of the show. I made $60,000 to fight Tito Ortiz. I don’t know what Mr. White considers a lot of money. Dana White acting like a child is ruining the sport. I don’t think that is cool. He has a position of power and uses it to feed his ego. Jay: Do these kinds of statements permanently burn your bridge back to the UFC? Frank: There is no bridge. I have no desire to do business with them. They don’t understand this business. They don’t promote me and they don’t care about the sport. I wish they would treat the sport better. This is what Dana White doesn’t get: every promotion has offered me a good deal except those knuckleheads. PRIDE has a really nice offer on the table for me now and I am considering it. It would be a multi-fight deal with PRIDE. I want to fight Sakuraba or Vanderlei Silva. I want to fight fighters who scare me. Jay: Would I be merely assuming in saying that PRIDE would possibly use you for their first American show in January? Frank: No, it is definitely what they want and what I want as well. Jay: Any ideas who your next opponent will be? Will the fight be in the WEC? Frank: We did a one-fight deal with the WEC. WEC is great to work for. They care about the sport and the athletes. It doesn’t matter about their size. They are pushing the sport to the next level. It is very possible that I will fight for them again. They really want me to fight a Gracie. It is up to whatever they want and what draws. I mean, they are the ones paying the bills. Gil Castillo and Caesar Gracie have expressed interest. Jay: I noticed you kind of called out Tito Ortiz at the end of your fight. Would you fight Tito again? At what weight? Tito says you want no part of him. Frank: Yeah I would fight him again. We would have to figure something out on the weight. I feel most comfortable at 185 lbs. I think this fight would be bigger than any weight class restrictions if you know what I’m saying. Jay: Thanks once again for taking the time to talk with us. Any last comments for your fans or for the haters, such as Mr. Dana White? Frank: To Dana, get a life, quit lying to the fans, and move on. I would warn future fighters to not do business with Dana White. Oh and just for the record, I read the Sherdog interview and the part where Dana said he flew me out to Vegas and put me up in a hotel to train with them. That is a total lie. No such thing ever happened. He made that up. I think that is very reckless of him, to lie like that. To the fans, I hope that they will believe in me and I will keep giving them what they want. [back]