Savvy east coast fight fans were not shy about broaching tough subjects to UFC president Dana White during a UFC Fight Club Q & A session Friday. They grilled him on Brock Lesnar's behavior, the recent rift with Strikeforce, the breakup of Pride, and a network TV deal.
They also asked about mending fences with old enemies. For anyone not named Strikeforce, White has been in the make-up mood lately, burying the hatchet with Tito Ortiz.
A fan asked if Josh Barnett or Frank Shamrock--two guys not on White's Christmas card list--would get the same treatment.
"Josh Barnett's gonna be a tough one," White said with a laugh, no doubt thinking about the heap of trouble the former UFC champion caused due to his third positive test for steroids.
For Shamrock, who didn't make the UFC's top 100 fights of all time list (White said fans didn't vote him in), he was a little more positive.
"Made up with Tito? Maybe I can make up with Frank."
Shamrock was not available for comment, as he was fending off the advances of pundits who felt MMA should be buried under a rock and forgotten.
Burgeoning mixed martial artists will get the chance to join renaissance man Frank Shamrock's fight team on March 21 in San Jose, Calif.
For 75 bucks (or nothing if you've got five pro fights on your resume) you can show your striking and grappling stuff to Mr. Shamrock. If good enough, you might even win a contract to fight in Strikeforce at an upcoming event.
"We do a team tryout at least once a year and we're really rolling every quarter," Shamrock told MMAInsider. "They're our opportunity to find new talent, and build their careers and promote them effectively.
"It's actually the old tryout from the Lion's Den, made much more technical and scientific, so we can cull new talent."
More than a particular type of training or attitude, Shamrock wanted to provide his team with the right opportunities to grow in the sport.
"To give them the experience I have, and for it to be a positive one," said Shamrock. "My goal is for them to be the best they can be. Whether that's being a champion, or being a fighter, or whatever they want to do, I want to have the opportunity to support that for them."
Meanwhile, Shamrock is hard at work preparing for his fight with Nick Diaz at Strikeforce's "Shamrock vs. Diaz" on April 11. He says he has delegated all his company's management responsibilities to employees, and is focused solely on fighting in 2009.
"I'm feeling the 36 years, but other than that, it's going really well," said Shamrock.
With his focus now turned directly at Nick Diaz in anticipation of their April 11th main event fight on Showtime, Frank Shamrock told MMAWeekly Radio recently that if he had to pick between Cung Le and Tito Ortiz for his next fight, he'd prefer the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy."
"I think I'd be up for Tito just because I think there's a time limit on that match," said Shamrock. "Both with Tito's fame and his body, and also for me. I love Cung, he's a great guy, but frankly I made nothing on the pay-per-view, and financially it wasn't a big money maker. He doesn't have the personality that gets over, he's just a difficult guy to promote. He looks like a great guy."
The time factor is the biggest reason Shamrock feels that a rematch against Ortiz makes more sense if it gets put together, but he doesn't deny that having a fighter who will promote the fight the way Ortiz can makes a big difference on the back end when it comes to money and fan fare.
"We're in the business of sports entertainment and we're all entertainers. We just happen to fight," Shamrock stated. "If you're not entertaining both in the fight and leading up to the fight, you're not a good entertainer, and there's a lot of fighters we have that are not good entertainers. Unfortunately, Cung falls into that category."
Ortiz is currently still recovering from back surgery, but has said in the past he believes he will be ready to fight again in mid-2009. If a deal can be made to put the two former UFC champions together in a rematch, it could be a super fight that could garner major numbers for either Showtime or CBS if Strikeforce promotes the bout.
Shamrock also knows that the rematch against Cung Le is bound to happen, but he's not rushing it for now.
"I'm not worried about Cung," said Shamrock. "We'll try to get him in this year and if not I'll get him in next year."
Adoptees Frank and Ken Shamrock haven't much got along since younger Frank stepped out from the elder Ken's shadow.
As Ken's career has entered its sub-twilight phase, Frank has gotten more and more vocal about a possible fight between the two. And according to a conference call announcing his next bout against Nick Diaz on Apr. 11, he still hasn't given up the idea.
"It's a fight I've always wanted to do," he said. "I think it's an exceptionally compelling story. Ken's going through some personal and emotional problems right now, so we're letting him do that. But this fight is something very personal for me, and I think it's very important that we tell the story of the sport and the Shamrock family what type of influence that family had on the sport. But right now, we're putting it on the backburner."
Indeed, with Frank booked for Apr. 11 with assurances to fight Cung Le if he wins against Diaz, the fight could stay on the backburner for a while. Not to mention, Ken is scheduled for a return on Friday in a co-promotion between his company and Wargods in Fresno, Calif. The 45 year-old is set to face the nearly 400lb. fighter Ross Clifton.
Ken's emotional problems may also take the backburner when he's trying to wrestle 400lbs. to the canvas on Friday.
An oldie, but a goodie. Check out this 1995 battle between a 23-year-old Frank Shamrock and 24-year-old Vernon "Tiger" White. Yes, this is pre-UFC for both fighters, while they were still fighting for Pancrase in Japan...
Many of us spend Thanksgiving Day with family watching football and filling our stomachs with excessive amounts of well-prepared food, enjoying time with friends and loved ones. MMAInsiderBlog spoke with several fighters and broadcasters to find out how they'll be spending holiday. And we found out they're just like us.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Chuck Liddell will be spending Thanksgiving at his California home with his family and his fiance's family. The former champ said, "It's usually a pretty good time."
UFC lightweight No. 1 contender Kenny Florian is excited to celebrate Thanksgiving in Boston with family. "The best part of the holiday is I get to eat. I don't have to worry about fights coming up," said Florian. "My family, we do it right. There's a lot of food that's not good for you. I like to get fat through the holidays. I put my winter coat on."
World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight titleholder Jamie Varner will spend the day of football and feast with his immediate family. "I'm going to spend time with my immediate family for Thanksgiving," said the Arizona Combat Sports trained champion. "But I have two workouts that morning and taking the rest of the day off for the family!"
No. 1 ranked bantamweight and WEC bantamweight titleholder Miguel Torres defends his belt against Manny Tapia on Dec. 3, but that isn't going to stop the 135-pound fighter from fully partaking in the assortment of holiday grub. "I'm going to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner," stated Torres. "My weight is perfect right now...I'm going to eat my tamales, my turkey some rice and potatoes man."
Legendary mixed martial artist and broadcaster Frank Shamrock's holiday plans revolve around his wife and baby daughter (Nicolette). "I'll be staying at home with my wife and new baby," Shamrock told MMAInsiderBlog. "It's the first Thanksgiving for Nicolette. No work for three days and lots of turkey and dressing."
"I was going to spend it with Bill Goldberg," he added. "But too much travel."
Dean Lister faces YushinOkami at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 in Las Vegas and due to his training schedule and diet, this Thanksgiving will be a little bitter sweet for the middleweight fighter. "I will be in Phoenix to meet up with my family. Going to be a little bit of torture since I will be limited to eating vegetables since my fight at UFC 92 will be only a month away. Gotta watch what I eat around the holidays. But I'm hungrier for Anderson's belt."
Asked what edibles he'll miss the most, Lister quickly responded, "ham and pies."
Broadcaster and fighter Frank Trigg will be spending the holiday at his Las Vegas home with friends, cooking for his wife, Nici, while she watches the Dallas Cowboys game and helps prepare the turkey and vegetables.
"I am cooking. I cook a lot, believe it or not," Trigg told MMAInsiderBlog. "We're all coming over here to the house to have a little home cooked turkey, potatoes and carrots, French green beans. Of course you've got to have gravy and cranberry sauce."
UFC welterweight TamdanMcCrory's Thanksgiving plans are simple. "I'm visiting family then possibly getting drunk on the town with some old homies."
The Ultimate Fighter 7 finalist CB Dollaway will spend Thanksgiving with his girlfriend. "I'm just going over to my girlfriend Gabs' house for the last feast before I have to start trying to get down to 185 . Hope everyone has a great holiday."
UFC welterweight fighter Matt Brown gets to actually enjoy this year's holiday, but plans to immediately get back to the gym on Friday. "I feel like I am extremely fortunate this year in that this is the first Thanksgiving in maybe 3 or 4 years that I am actually able to pig out," commented Brown. "I have been in training camp for fights the past few years so I wasn't able to really tear it up. I am planning on eating a decent amount of food, but I want to be careful not to overdo it as I want to train on Friday."
"I don't have a fight in the near future or anything, but I want to maintain a high level of cardio and stay light and improve as much as possible so that when my next fight comes around you guys see the best Matt Brown you have ever seen. I plan on being in the best shape of my life and being as strong as I have ever been and my skills being as sharp as anybody's in the world," added Brown. "I am now 2-1 in the UFC and the one fight that I lost I felt like I won. I have always been confident in my abilities and always believed that I belong in the UFC, but a lot of people are just simply unfortunate and things just seem to go wrong for them once they get in the octagon. I have been fortunate that this is not the case for me and I feel like in the next 2 years I will be prepared to start making a serious run for the title."
"The point is, this holiday I get to pig out, but it is just one day," continued Brown. "Friday I will be back in the gym and doing everything in my power to improve my skills, cardio, strength, and speed so that I can be the best fighter that I can possibly be. I'll let everyone else get fat. As for me, I will take one day, pig out, and be back at it within 24 hours."
Dale Hartt fights Corey Hill on Dec. 10 at UFC Fight for the Troops. He won't be spending the holiday with is family due to his dedication to fight preparation. "Honestly I thought about driving up to my sponsors guy's house for a real Thanksgiving as I'm 400 miles from home. Pretty much that would be me driving 5 hours to watch people eat, fun. But ultimately I'm pissed no gyms are open as that is my last week of work for Corey Hill. I will probably go for a run on Mt. Charleston and have a small meal."
Tim Boetsch emerged in the UFC light heavyweight division by dismantling David Heath at UFC 81. He has a 2-1 UFC record finishing in each of his wins. Boetsch will spend a portion of the day hunting followed by eating. "I am going to be hunting whitetails all day, then I am going to devour a turkey in the evening," said the 205-pound fighter.
"The Fight Professor," Stephen Quadros, will follow a long tradition he's established for celebrating Thanksgiving. "When I'm in town, I have a long standing tradition of going to my friend Rhonda's for Thanksgiving. She is a record/film company exec. who I have known since the 1970s, yes, before there was MMA on TV. During this time of year, I just resign myself to getting FAT...without guilt. "One more chocolate brownie please." SLuuuuuRP!"
"It's a great time to spend with loved ones and close friends, a time to NOT talk about business...too much, hahaha," added Quadros. "Her son is a pretty rockin' guitar player and wants me to play drums on his album. We'll see... The whole time I'm there, in between eating, drinking, hugging, kissing, talking, I will have an internal narrative going constantly, planning 2009. I can't wait!"
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