Frank Shamrock Comments On Why He Wanted To Fight Kimbo Slice, Possible Bout With Tito Ortiz, More
Posted by Dustin James on 10.10.2008
Why was Frank willing to replace Ken last weekend?
During a recent interview with Sherdog.com, EliteXC's Frank Shamrock discussed why he was willing to fight Kimbo Slice at EliteXC "Heat" on such short notice, a possible upcoming bout with Tito Ortiz, and more:
On why he was willing to replace Ken Shamrock on such short notice:
"I think it was a mistake to not let me fight [Kimbo Slice]. When I realized we would have to cancel the show, I said, ‘Look, I'll fight the guy. You know, it's a great story -- little brother steps into the spot, comes out of the booth. It's very compelling, but we need a fight to happen that's compelling. That went around for hours. Then I put my shirt on and went to work. No one committed to it, so I just kept talking.
"Kimbo is great, great for ratings. But Kimbo fighting a star, a superstar, somebody who's going to elevate him or knock him down in a good way … that's what we needed that night. We didn't need a nobody to beat Kimbo.
"Everybody knows that Kimbo [Slice] is not very good. He hasn't had time to mature. He's a new guy. The worst thing that could happen to Kimbo happened to Kimbo. If there was a provision on that scale that said worst area, he was there."
On a possible rematch with Tito Ortiz:
"It looks like it'll happen, and it looks like it'll be with EliteXC."
On Jake Shields:
"He's a nice guy; I genuinely like him. He doesn't have that aura of stardom about him."
On EliteXC's financial problems and co-promoting with Affliction:
"All these things come with money and time, and they don't have money and time," he said. "I know they have serious financial troubles and they have lots of indigestion over there. I don't know if the future of the company will hold. I know that they have very savvy money people in charge, so I don't see it going away.
"[Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson] was more of an opportunistic thing of just bringing someone in at the time. I don't know where they'll go from here. But you know there's one 800-pound gorilla in the industry, and there's a bunch of other guys. I think all those other guys should really be working together for a common good."
On The UFC:
"[The UFC is] white collar. It's all or nothing, you're either with us or against us kind of business, and that's not how I see the sport."
I hope EXC stays in business long enough to have Frank/Tito and Frank/Ken fights. Actually, the fight with Frank is the only bout Ken should have left.
If they can't compete with UFC, at least have fun showcase matches like those, beats Kimbo main eventing any day!
Posted By: Jamie (Guest) on October 10, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Why was Frank willing to replace Ken last weekend?
Same reason anyone else would be willing to- $$$
Posted By: cyks (Guest) on October 10, 2008 at 11:06 PM
Kimbo is the future and face of MMA. His match with Petruzelli was a ruse. He tripped and hit his face on the mat (the mats in the arena hadn't be dried well, had lots of blood and water from the prior matches). Slice has absolutely amazing cardio and excellent ground game. He could take Anderson Silva and Fedor on the same night.
Posted By: KimboSlicedbread (Guest) on October 10, 2008 at 11:32 PM
Frank is joking and say "Everybody knows that Kimbo [Slice] is not very good" no,no, it must be misunderstand, I mean........... Kimbo is HEEEELLLLLL like a Beast, was unbelievable, Slice GONE Wild while hot sexy female spank his butt make him say "ohh, I love EliteXC" and is still remain undefeat. Don't you see Jason's comment? Check it was in "Dana comment about EliteXC" im sure you all will agree with Jason.
Posted By: Penis-Don't-Talk (Guest) on October 11, 2008 at 12:14 AM
I think its more then just the money, cyks. If you are or know anyone who trains and fights for a living you will know that EVERYONE would just love to be the guy to knock Kimbo out on national tv. Kimbo is a joke and every real fighter knows this. They hate that this no talent gets the money, gets the spotlight, and gets everything else just because he had some street fights on the internet. The same reason everyone wanted to beat up the TUF guys (only magnified 10 fold since the TUF guys actually dedicated their life to this for the most part). I cant imagine any trained fighter who watches Kimbo NOT wanting to be the guy to show the world that hes a no talent bum.
Posted By: Champ (Guest) on October 11, 2008 at 11:33 AM
