MMA Legend and First-Ever UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Frank Shamrock. Photo courtesy of: James Manalisay/Strikeforce

By Joshua Molina

Who says Frank Shamrock has been written out of the UFC history book?

In the promotion of the Cung Le. vs. Rich Franklin fight in China, there he is, live in front of the whole world to see, getting his butt kicked by Cung Le.

Apparently Shamrock only exists if the UFC can make him look bad in a one-minute video to hype one of the guy’s fighting.

Here’s how it goes on the video:

“Cung’s matchup against Shamrock is legendary,” says Rich Franklin.

Mauro Ranallo screams, “Down goes Shamrock”!
(Le, by the way, had dropped Shamrock with a leg sweep, not a punch or kick).

“Broke his arm,” Franklin says, as an image of Shamrock scrambling to get up is played.

Yes, Le broke Shamrock’s arm, but it wasn’t from the knockdown or even a submission. Shamrock broke his arm defending his face from Le’s devastating kicks. Shamrock didn’t come out for Round 4.

The video is remarkable for a few reasons. First, you haven’t seen Shamrock on UFC TV in a long time, regardless of how he is portrayed. Since UFC boss Dana White and Frank Shamrock despise each other, Shamrock has been erased from Great Fight or Great Knockout highlight reels.

Shamrock was one of the UFC’s early pioneers. He fought for the company in the late 1990s, even submitting Tito Ortiz.

White often calls Shamrock “irrelevant” and Shamrock often calls White a “douchebag.”

So it’s pretty amazing to see Shamrock used to promote a UFC fight. They are essentially saying that “Le beat the legendary Frank Shamock so Rich Franklin is in trouble.”

It’s weird to hear Franklin call the Le vs. Shamrock fight “legendary.” It was a big fight in the San Jose, California area because both fighters lived there. The fight sold out the HP  Pavilion. The actual fight was good, but not legendary. In fact the ending was a bit anti-climatic since Shamrock ended the fight unable to come out for the round.

UFC had Strikeforce footage that show’s Le winning far more impressively. They could have showed him hammering Scott Smith, whom he actually knocked out with a kick.

Le’s battle with Wanderlei Silva was a way more exciting fight than the one with Shamrock.

So is the UFC just trying to make Shamrock look bad (it actually never mentioned his first name).

Or is it actually acknowledging that Le’s victory over Shamrock was a significant moment in MMA because Shamrock’s a big legend?

Whatever the reason, Frank Shamrock is back on UFC TV, even if it is just for a few embarrassing seconds.

Now for a look at the world of MMA media . . .

411Mania has a fairly unintentionally humorous column ranking the Top 10 Strikeforce fighters of all time. The “list” is more like a random collection of Strikeforce fighters than an analysis the best to ever step inside the hexagon.

All that needs to be said about this list is that the writer left off Jake Shields, who famously upset Dan Henderson and then left the company as Middleweight champion.

Shields may be the most boring fighter in the world, but he was one of Strikeforce’s best.

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva

By Joshua Molina

Let’s get one thing clear:

Anderson Silva is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. He COULD be the greatest of all time.

But when Dana White says it, we all should be skeptical. That’s because White after UFC 153 Saturday night said Silva is the greatest fighter of all time in combat sports.

Why does he say things like that? Because he’s really trying to market the UFC as the superior brand in all of mixed martial arts.
The fact is you just can’t make those comparisons. Is Silva better than Roy Jones Jr.?
Honestly, no.

Jones went 49-0 (the only loss was a DQ for hitting an opponent behind the head) to start his career. Silva is 33-4 -and he’s lost by tap out twice.
Jones during the 1990s moved up from middleweight champion to undisputed light heavyweight champion eventually to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

Jones fought more consistently and against higher quality of competition.

And back then, Jones was widely regarded as unbeatable and the best fighter in the world.

What about Aaron Pryor, the awesome junior welterweight from the 1980s who started his career 39-0 with 35 knockouts?

Or Evander Holyfield, who won the heavyweight title four times – more than anyone else – or even Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

Larry Holmes defended his heavyweight championship 20 times, twice as many times as Silva. What about undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao? These fighters are considered among the greatest too.

The UFC hasn’t been around long enough to really make claims that any of its fighters are the best ever in combat sports.

White should learn his combat history or shut up.

Speaking of Silva, if he’s going to fight a ham-and-egger like Stephan Bonnar, the UFC should at least put him in the cage with fighters who will come to win.

Before Silva fights Jon Jones, the UFC should give former Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Cung Le a shot against Silva.
Let’s see Silva survive Cung’s San Shou kicks. Cung Le would need to keep the fight standing to keep it competitive, but Le is one of the few guys who would bring the offense to Silva. Book the fight at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, and give the warrior Le a shot and making magic.

Cung Le (right)

By Joshua Molina

Cung Le is a fighter, but he’s first and foremost a family man. That’s one of the main reasons why the Vietnamese-American fight so often in San Jose, California, where he lives.

Nine out of the fighter’s 10 professional bouts have taken place in San Jose. All 17 of Le’s kickboxing fights took place in the United States, with six in San Jose, another six in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and the rest in Chicago, Hawaii and Florida.

He likes the home field advantage.

So it will be intriguing to see how he performs in China, as part of the UFC’s first show in that country. Le will headline the event, battling Rich Franklin, in what should be an outstanding fight between the two combat veterans. According to fcfighter.com, the fight will take place on Nov. 10 at the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel’s Cotai Arena and will be broadcast on FUEL TV.

Le, who is also a Hollywood actor, is one of the sport’s most exciting fighters. His dazzling kicks from any and all angles, and vicious spinning backfists have made him one of the most feared strikes in the business. At 40, however, his time to strike for a UFC championship is now and the only way he gets there is through Franklin.

From a promotional standpoint, the UFC needs to stop holding big UFC cards a week before big Strikeforce cards. The company did it in July and will do it again this month.

A week after Chael Sonnen battled Anderson Silva on July 7, Luke Rockhold wiped out Tim Kennedy at a Strikeforce show on July 14. There’s only so much any company, even the UFC, can do to promote two big cards that close to one another.

The Strikeforce show was stacked with great fights, yet, not a lot of people knew about it, and even the fighters complained about a lack of promotion for the event.
Now, a week after Jon Jones defends his light heavyweight championship against Vitor Belfort, Strikeforce will be live on Showtime with an event headlined by lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez battling Pat Healy.

The other big fight on that card will be Josh Thomson vs. Caros Fodor, in a fight that hopefully Fodor wins, for no other reason than not wanting to see a fourth wrestling match between Thomson and Melendez.

Strikeforce had a strong and growing brand before the UFC purchased it. It’s too bad that their shows feel like afterthoughts to the big UFC shows.

Jon Jones continues entertain the world by accident. Jones hasn’t said much about Vitor Belfort, but he has plenty to say about the canceled UFC 151 card. After Dan Henderson pulled out of the fight because of an injury, Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen. UFC president Dana White then canceled the card, attacking Jones and questioning his manhood for refusing to fight.

Jones, however, isn’t helping matters, by constantly backpedaling in his apologies and his snooty attitude over anyone suggesting that the champ should have just stepped into the cage and fought.

He told the Associated Press this yesterday.

“I had to do what’s right for myself by turning down that fight, Dana had to do what was right for himself by putting the blame on everyone else except for himself,” Jones told the Associated Press. “The lesson to be learned is, at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself and your family.”

That’s a funny statement from Jones, considering that Jones was arrested and convicted for drunken driving earlier this year.

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JoshuaMolinaMMA