The SHAMROCK File
Age: 35
Record: 22-8
Next fight: Cung Le, March 29th
Last fight: beat Phil Baroni by rear naked choke in the second round for Strikeforce on last June
Best win: beat a young and game Tito Ortiz to defend the light heavyweight title in UFC 22 (1999)
Notes: Shamrock won the UFC light heavyweight title in 1997 and defended it four times before retiring from the UFC. He fought only once between 2000 and 2006, to win the WEC light heavyweight title.
Jordan Arnold
By Jordan Arnold
MMA Madness
March, 19, 2008 - MMA Madness: You have an upcoming fight against Cung Le on March 29th. Can you tell us a little about your gameplan for the fight?
Shamrock: I'm pretty much going to do the same thing that I always do, which is stay in the center, cut him off, and force him into a knock-down, drag-out fight.
MMA Madness: What worries you the most about Cung Le?
Shamrock: Well he's got good kicks, and he's got good distance with his kicks. So that's definitely a strength of his. I'm good with kicking, but really my forte is with my hands.
MMA Madness: What do you think that Cung Le is most concerned about in fighting you?
Shamrock: I think he's definitely worried about the ground. I don't think that he has the skill set on the ground. But I don't really take anyone to the ground. Everyone seems to take me to the ground. So I think that this one is going to fall into one of those "who's the better standup MMA guy?" fights.
MMA Madness: Can you maybe take us through a day of your training?
Shamrock: I pretty much do the same thing all the time: focus on my boxing. I did do a little more counter kicks in this training session just so I can get ready for them timing-wise. Other than that, it's business as usual. I just continuously work on the areas where I'm weak. And my biggest focus has been getting my hands laser-sharp.
MMA Madness: There's obviously a lot of tension between you and your adoptive older brother Ken Shamrock. Can you talk a bit about the conflict between you?
Shamrock: Sure. It's just two really strong guys who are really successful in the same sport. There came a time when we were both really believing in our ways and our training systems and it caused a big rift between us. To me it wasn't a personal thing, I just felt like I had to do certain things to be successful. I think that he took it personally since I was his student. One of the biggest things from him was that he didn't think that I could be successful without him and when that happened I think it made it a little worse for him. But I don't know. I think that there's some jealousy in there and I think that there's a little bit of "I told you so" in there, and that's hard to live with.
MMA Madness: Ken stated that he taught you everything you know and that it's wrong to proclaim yourself "The Legend." How do you respond these comments?
Shamrock: (laughs) Well I didn't really say that I was "The Legend." Somebody else said that. As for Ken teaching me everything I know, he taught me about five percent of what I know. Unfortunately for him, he was a great fighter but a terrible teacher.
MMA Madness: You recently stated that you two will fight in early 2009. Some would say that this would be a mismatch due to the fact that he is almost 10 years older and he has lost 7 of his last 8 fights. Do you think that this would be an easy fight for you?
Shamrock: No. I don't think that any of the fights are easy, especially with a guy like Ken who you know is not going to give up. He's going to override any good sense on when to tap. I certainly don't think it's an easy fight. I don't think that he understands my skill set. Very few people understand what my real skill set is. I consistently keep learning and I consistently keep getting better, whereas most people at my age are getting worse and worse. I think it's going to be a great fight personally with an amazing storyline and heat behind it.
MMA Madness: What weight class and under what promotion would the fight take place at?
Shamrock: The promotion is yet to be determined. It's something that Ken and I are working on in private between the two of us. I think that this story needs to be told for the good of the sport and for the success of the sport. As for the weight class, Ken wants to fight at 205 because he thinks that he has the advantage at 205. It doesn't really matter to me though. Whatever weight class is fine with me.
MMA Madness: We also know that you don't necessarily agree with what the UFC is doing, in terms of it taking a big business perspective towards MMA. Dana White was quoted saying that you guys have talked many times and that you don't hate each other. Can you comment on this?
Shamrock: Well I don't hate Dana, I could care less. He's just some guy that I don't plan on doing business with. I don't agree with their business model and the way they do it. They're in the business of promoting their company above the sport and promoting their company above the talent. While that's a successful business model in many ways, it's short-sighted when it comes to the future of the sport itself and the health of the sport itself. It's not ingrained to take care of the community when you're only taking care of your company. I just don't agree with them, and we agree to not agree. We just don't do business together.
MMA Madness: Can you compare the UFC to an organization like Strikeforce or Elite XC? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each promotion?
Shamrock: Well (the UFC has) the clear advantage of market majority. They have a much bigger marketing dollar and a stronger brand name, mainly because they were first and also because they have television. Most people go to work because they believe in what their job is doing. They believe in what the mission of the company is. The biggest difference between (the UFC) and Strikeforce or Pro Elite is that they have a different mission in mind. (The latter two’s) goal truly is the success of the sport and it truly is the health and the growth of this young industry. This is my 14th year as a professional and I don't want to go work for somebody who doesn't believe that what we're doing is the most important thing. I don't want to work for somebody whose bottom line is the dollar as opposed to what's good for people and what's good for the community.
MMA Madness: Steroids have become a huge issue in mixed-martial-arts. Do you think that the steroid-testing policy that's currently in place is adequate?
Shamrock: No, no I don't at all. The reason why I don't is because none of the steroid policies that are in place are put in place by the companies themselves. The policies in place are the ones that are put in are put in by the commissions and they are only there to protect the state because of the state's liability. If the UFC and everybody else were very serious about steroids, they would implement their own steroid policies. And I know this because 1) I've never done steroids, but I've seen people do it and 2) in my business and on my team there is a no-steroids and no-drugs policy and we still see tremendous success and tremendous growth.
MMA Madness: You say that you've seen guys take steroids. Could you maybe give us any names?
Shamrock: Sure, my brother Ken did them his whole life.
MMA Madness: Really?
Shamrock: Yeah. Why do you think that his mind is so fried? Why do you think he crumbles before the big fights? He's got no psyche. He let steroids give him a false sense of security and the moment that stuff is gone he's no longer superman. He's just a regular man. But without all the hard work and without all the belief in himself that a regular man would have if he got up to that point. He's the only guy that I'll tell on, because he's always in trouble anyway.
MMA Madness: Obviously a lot of big names have been tested positive for steroids such as Royce Gracie, Hermes Franca, Sean Sherk, etc…What would you say is the percentage of fighters that use or have used steroids?
Shamrock: I wouldn't know in this day and age because I don't hang around guys who do. I can say that in my era it was probably about 50 percent. I definitely think that percentage has gone up. It's sad. But we're in a sport where the company doesn't care about you unless you win. We're in a society where you have to look good every time and you have to have the right build. Unfortunately everything that we are doing is supporting those guys who are taking shortcuts to gain fame.
MMA Madness: You have said that you would want to keep fighting until 2018. What are you going to do to ensure that you will stay successful as you get older?
Shamrock: I'm going to do what I do every day: go to the gym for a good three or four hours and study the art of fighting. I'll treat my body like the machine that it is. That's it. There's no secret. I've been doing that for 14 years, and for the first 10 I had no idea what I was doing. (laughs)
MMA Madness: Well there are guys out there like Randy Couture who have been very successful in their mid-40s. However there are guys out there like Ken Shamrock who haven't been very successful at this age. How are you going to ensure that you become a Randy Couture?
Shamrock: Learning better techniques and learning better strategies. The art of fighting grows and changes as your body grows and changes. I'm not the fighter that I was 10 years ago. I'm smarter, stronger, in better shape, I have better conditioning, better understanding and I have a better mindset. Some guys never evolve in their style. They let their bodies run out doing the same thing. Same techniques and same strategy. Mine will change as my body changes.
MMA Madness: You have a charity event coming up. Do you want to mention that?
Shamrock: We've got a big charity event coming up March 22nd this Saturday in San Jose at Fuel Restaurant. One of my employee's mothers has breast cancer and we're going to raise some money for her. It's this Saturday, March 22nd. If you want to check it out you can go to
www.shamrockmma.com. All the info is there. I will be there with my belts. We're giving stuff away and we'll be having a good time raising some money for charity.
