EliteXC Strikeforce Shamrock vs Le review

The Frank Shamrock Oscar?



Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the EliteXC event EliteXC Strikeforce Shamrock vs Le, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

It is always very talkative when an organization chooses NOT TO come up with various caption titles for an event, noting instead the combatants to deliver the peek attraction. Amazingly: Shamrock vs Le is such an occasion. Frank Shamrock is among the primal pioneers to popularize mma, - I totally like his brother Ken Shamrock too, regardless how that charismatic veteran gets his ass kicked around these days - this is always respectable, even if someone was not exactly at the top of the game during the early days, yet had what it took to find it out. But! Frank Shamrock WAS massively successful all the time, dominating and crunching opposition back in the days when and where there were no weight classes or notable restrictions as far as deconstruction goes.

The first occasion I seen Frank Shamrock perform in was his second match against legendary Bas Rutten, taking place in 1995 via a Pancrase event. The superfluid, massive musculature and excessively mean ring charisma Shamrock possessed by the day was a primal factor to devote my attention to mma. Shamrock took quite a thorough break from pro level mma competition in the early 2000's, stating physical risks were way too immense compared to the cash that was at stake. Fortunately though, he made a comeback for EliteXC Strikeforce in the organization's debut event, silencing all doubters whom stated that he might be not the fighter anymore that he once used to be.

Believe me: he STILL is. Even better: he is meaner and mentally stronger than ever. An "evil" fighter, in the "good" sense of the word. I know this is a paradox, but it feels appropriate in Frank Shamrock's case, who should definitely take the nickname: "Lion." Disposing quickly of his first Strikeforce opponent Cesar Gracie, Shamrock claimed the Middleweight Champion Belt, then got disqualified out of his next bout against Renzo Gracie due to a knee to a grounded opponent, which is a no no in pretty much all mma contests. Are you familiar with Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni? A veteran of the sport, who seen quite much in quite a few organizations, including nights arranged by the UFC. Shamrock outclasses him with his mean, excessively sober gameplay, choking The New York Badass out in the second round. KUDOS to Baroni, as he never tapped out: instead, he passed out.

While it is quite enjoyable to see Frank Shamrock taking opposition apart mentally via his excessively rude but undoubtedly entertaining ring behavior, what you truly want to witness is a match to answer massive questions and offer the highest stakes as far as Shamrock's current capabilities are going - yet you need a fierce competitor, no doubt, one to ask the proper questions from the Legend so he is forced to deliver answers via sheer skills, legitimizing a claimed cage superiority.

Your questioner for the night is Cung Le, a Vietnamese native who left his war thorn home with his mother by the age of 3, now pursuing the American Dream, even better: being superclose to it, as there is but one man standing between him and the realization of the Dream itself. One must choose one's biggest words carefully to ensure they will be not overused and lose proper meaning, yet you should not and even CAN NOT escape the need of admission that

Cung Le is: absolutely amazing.

A relatively fresh addition to the world of mma, he built a reputation as a fighter representing the San Shou Kickboxing style he is Champion of, and even scored a 3-0 record in K1 prior to his transition to mma. Watching Cung Le's five mma fights he has by the day he is to face Shamrock is similar to watching a decent Kung-Fu film, no joke. He takes apart the opposition with very unorthodox and extremely precise kicks, furious attacks coming out of nowhere with ridiculous speed. Add a very sober readyness to dodge from harm's way in a very fast fashion, and you have an idea of the primal building blocks Le's game organizes itself from. Critics say Cung Le never faced top level mma competiton before and give little if any chance to him against such a complete, whole fighter as Frank "The Lion" Shamrock.

Funny thing is: Shamrock claims he will stand there and bang it out with Cung Le as this is what the fans want to see - regardless of the advantage Frank could probably claim on the ground as a submission specialist, he promises a toe to toe collision, and that is a promise which is quite sweet to hear and anticipate to fulfill.

Joey Villasenor vs Ryan Jensen

A veteran mma fighter with intense ups and unfortunate downs, Villasenor already claimed occasions to collide with uppermost forces in various organizations, losing though when stakes were crucial to solidify himself as a fighter everyone must count with. His latest significant appearance was a loss against Ninja Rua for the EliteXC Middleweight Championship, now he arrives to establish himself as top contender once again, facing his second redemption-collision after a successful first one against Riki Fukuda.

Fresh opposition is offered by Ryan Jensen, a talented mma individual arriving on a trail of bad karma (?) composed of three losses. It is evident that Jensen is in dire need to score an impressive victory, as he commits the mistake of getting evidently emotional in the first round, a period characterized by an acceptable ground sequence of nice defense action from Jensen's part, yet he gets rocked shorty after they decide to wage war in the standing position again. This is the part where Jensen loses his sobriety, delivering intense yet only mildly effective opposition to Villasenor, who starts with a nice left double jab just to introduce a right hand afterwards that knocks Jensen out in the: bouncy-bouncy fashion. First bounce is: for the glove, second bounce is: for the floor. Nice, intense show to start the night up. Villasenor looked quite good and quite mature, and Jensen was quite memorable too with his mildly frustrated ring behavior, in my opinion. Not exactly professional, but has the entertainment value to it. Villasenor is getting better and better, as for Jensen - he absolutely must score a win if to remain in the sport, let us hope he will have the chance to prove himself again, as the kid definitely has the talent and the passion.

Mike Kyle vs Wayne Cole

Mike Kyle is not exactly the primal representative of what the spirit of mma and the essence of mercy is all about. This heavyweight man comes off a disqualification he earned himself by blasting the nose of a grounded opponent via a headkick unleashed from an absolutely illegal position, following up with consecutive strikes to the head of the unconscious rival. Two referees had to stop this rampaging heavyweight idiot. While I am not entirely happy to see EliteXC offering chance to him to compete in it's rankings, I do inform you with considerable delight that veteran All American Wrestling competitor Wayne Cole submits Kyle via armbar at 0:45 in the first round. Hope to NOT TO see Mike "KHILL!" Kyle ever again as his intolerable, senseless cage behavior is the maximum harm the sport itself can suffer, yet very much hope to see Wayne Cole soon who outclasses opposition by sheer skill and sobriety.

Gilbert Melendez vs Gabe Lemley

Gilbert Melendez is your current Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, and with weighty reasons he is. Coming to a match as an underdog is always has some charms to it, as you do not have to put significant effort into inventing some badass lines to deliver in prefight interviews, instead you can simply state how much you could win if you do and virtually should lose nothing if you fail to emerge victorious. Gabe Lemley is a friendly, fervent individual with an acceptable mma record, the impressive five wins triumph streak he is on even earned him the chance to collide with Melendez. Complete domination by the Champion, boiling down mainly to the air-to-ground deconstruction of Lemley. The challenger deserves all respect to withstand a furious assault foam lasting through almost ten minutes, yet eventually the referee is forced to interfere and put a stop to the contest. Impressive display of skill and passion by the Champion Melendez, now it is the most proper time to seek out and introduce massive forces he shall emerge against.

Drew Fickett vs Jae Suk Lim

As a submission specialist ready to catch his rivals by the most improbable occasions, Fickett is also a showman who projects an entirely different, yet highly entertaining image of himself compared to what I suspect him to be like naturally. This is just an impression of course. His top notch fighting skills are straight and existent things we should never doubt though, as he forces a tap out of former Korean Special Forces Soldier Jae Suk Lim prior to the first round could come to a conclusion.

Frank Shamrock vs Cung Le

Mma history came to San Jose and chose to unravel in front of your very eyes. Nice, yes? Frank Shamrock stays true to his word: he bangs with Cung Le. And yes, he is even a potent rival to the Dragon, a rival to seem tenacious and mentally strong enough to solidify a cautious start-off impression that he indeed might emerge triumphant playing the Dragon's own game. This is all nice and cool, as playing Cung Le's game and not catching the floor in the next minute is an accomplishment already, no exaggerations here. What you truly like Frank Shamrock for is what the Legend gets slowly yet surely threatened by as the match progresses, though.

Shamrock enjoys fighting the opponent by whatever way his rival is best at, let that be the form of stand up or the ground game. Shamrock is a significant showman and I think his readyness and willingness to wage war via the way his opponent is masterful at builds his significance even more. Some consider it as an egomania trait of him - as he would necessarily consider himself a better fighter than his opponent in every aspect, but let me tell you: this is NOT the case in my opinion. Considering yourself BETTER and exhibiting, delivering the WILLINGNESS to combat in whatever way the opponent prefers are two entirely different things. Frank points his fingers at the core of the matter anyway in the mentioned prefight interview, stating that at the end of the day, fans do want to see how a stand up bout between Cung Le and Frank Shamrock turns out.

Epic battle. I dare say the Nerd variant, even: this is some

Epic Shit, Dude!

Cung Le throws his improbable kicks with the lethal precision and speed they are famous of, while Shamrock exhibits rampant proving ground presence and delivers the stable impression - oxymoron there? - that this man simply CAN NOT eat a kick in powerful enough to send him to sleep or even into a slight desperation. Shamrock is the cocky, haughty Lion in this fight, you can see he taunts the Dragon as Le delivers his dangerous attacks, yet the extremely integral composure Cung possesses both as a warrior and as a human being offers no receptors whatsoever to take this bout to the emotional territory.

Mutual respect dominates the air as a thick layer of ozone, a very cautious yet paradoxically very eventful fight you witness in which Cung steadily claims the first two rounds via attacks that connect on the Lion, remaining without answers of convincing qualities. The third round delivers definite peek moments from the Dragon, a huge right hand, a spinning backfist and a leg sweep to send Shamrock to the ground are of highlight qualities here. By the 4th minute of the third round Frank manages to catch Le and immediately smells blood - yet Cung is able to evade the raining attacks and even counter strikes convincingly with two massive head kicks to wrap the round up at the fence.

Thing is: Frank is unable to answer the bell for the forth round, thus Cung Le claims the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Belt for himself. Shamrock is reported to suffer an arm break due to the massive kicks Le delivered, and this is the point where I will probably be superclose to make Shamrock fans mad at me. Just for the record though: I am a Frank Shamrock fan myself. But let us see:

The Lion eats in two quite maaaaassive kicks to the head prior the third round could reach the conclusion, notice how Frank uses the supposedly injured arm to deliver an attack directly before the final kick lands on his head - also using that supposedly injured arm to execute a failed block attempt. The moment the bell rings and the two contestants are eyeballing it out is a truly epic vibe. They turn away, and

Frank effectively collapses on the ground due to exhaustion, no doubt.

Never forget he just ate in two brutal kicks , the fact he could walk up to the position to take a rest at is amazing on it's own merit. This man has exceptional punishment resistance. But my personal theory is this: I think Frank KNEW he would be not able to regain composure in that 1 minute flat warriors get between rounds. And:

Giving up is not something you allow yourself if you are an mma Legend.

Thus, my personal theory: Frank Shamrock got so exhausted and so massively affected by that two powerful kicks that he was unable to continue and decided to offer a faked broken arm for an excuse. I know this is superharsh to hypothize, yet I absolutely fail to see how the kick in questions could break the arm - that kick connects on the HEAD, as Frank is late with the block. He then shakes his arm as would start to give you to "oh! me arm!" act already, yet the very next moment delivers you almost the exact same sequence, Cung Le unleashes a very similar kick to wrap the round up, and Frank uses the supposedly injured arm to block, even to connect with a jab.

Now this is a "huh?", isn't it? I would think you feel immediately if your arm gets broken, at least, you would definitely conclude that it is not necessarily safe to attempt to block yet another furious kick let alone attack with a battered limb. Mind you that the "second final kick" NEVER touched the arm, though I am not sure if the FIRST did at the first place.

Anyway - of course I am not in the position to deliver the One Truth about the matter, yet I felt I must voice this strange controversy I felt concerning the end process of this truly epic bout. I might be completely mistaken of course, in this case I can't help but hope that Shamrock does not read this review ever, if I am right: I hope even MORE that he does not read it.

Regardless if Shamrock delivered an acting sequence for you OR did that not, one thing remains crystal clear: he put up one helluva' fight with Cung Le, a fight I find the Best 2008 had to offer to this very moment. Strikeforce EliteXC Shamrock vs Le: a True Classic between True Legends.

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