Controversial End Greets Showtime’s MMA Debut
Controversial End
SOUTHAVEN, Miss., Feb. 10 — Frank Shamrock (Pictures) fancies himself the best
middleweight in mixed martial arts history. The rest of us were
supposed to have the veil of uncertainty lifted from our eyes
tonight when the former UFC champion dismantled veteran Renzo Gracie (Pictures).
Instead of becoming a star in his coming out party on premium cable, Shamrock turned into an excuse-making blowhard after being disqualified Saturday for an illegal knee to the head while the middleweights were on the floor.
Afterwards, Shamrock suggested that Renzo had somehow lost the will
to compete, seemingly forgetting the fact that he had been
controlled during their round and a half in the cage.
The battle of last names was intended to be the culmination of an important night, as Showtime jumped headfirst into MMA during a period in which ink can’t dry fast enough in the sport’s history book.
With Gracie controlling from the side, Shamrock, who earlier in the fight had been warned for rabbit punches, fired a short knee to the head — a foul under today’s widely used North American MMA rules.
As if to hammer home the point, both figuratively and literally, Shamrock again delivered a knee that forced referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to intercede on the Brazilian’s behalf.
“He held my head to set up for the knee,” Gracie said at 4 a.m. after being discharged from Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto. “He knew that I was dominating him and he wanted a way out.”
Gracie was in fact control of the bout. Whether Shamrock’s knees came as a response is impossible to say.
Clearly Renzo and his camp have their theory. And Shamrock wasn’t shy with thoughts regarding Gracie, the head coach of the International Fight League’s New York Pitbulls, and his inability to continue.
“Listening to his breath and hearing the way he was grunting when I was hitting him, he was ready to give up and he was ready to get knocked out,” Shamrock, 34, said in his locker room after the fight. “I was telling him I was going to knock him out. He was about 30 seconds away from going to sleep, and I think — this is my personal opinion — I have a lot of respect for Renzo: he took the easy way out.”
The easy way out? For a man that once had his arm snapped in two by Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) but refused to tap — never mind scream or wince?
“How was I on the verge of going out?” a puzzled Gracie asked. “If I could knee from where I was that fight was over in 10 seconds. I had all the control. I could throw knees as much as I want, and I didn’t because I obeyed the rules.”
Gracie, who weighed 180 pounds on Friday, made the Adonis-looking Shamrock look bad in the opening five-minute frame in front of a purported 7,200 spectators inside the DeSoto Civic Center and an unknown number watching at home. Twice the respected New Yorker put Shamrock on the canvas. It was an impressive display, one even Gracie’s most ardent supporters had to think was unrealistic heading into the contest.
Shamrock and Gracie are throwbacks to a different time, when the discussion of rules centered on the lack thereof — not their application. The fact of the matter is that in today’s MMA world Shamrock’s blows were blatantly illegal — regardless if he acknowledges that or not.
“There was no dirtiness to that move,” said chairman of the Mississippi Athletic Commission, John Lewis (Pictures). “It was a fair call. It’s going to go on his record as a DQ loss, of course. It was one you start to question, but when you look at the video that was a blow that cannot take place in this game which disabled Mr. Gracie to where he couldn't continue.”
Gracie rolled off Shamrock after the second knee, which replays confirmed had connected to Renzo’s head, though admittedly not with an incredible amount of force.
Twice Gracie failed to stand and he remained on the canvas under the supervision of Dean and ringside medical staff. Shamrock brazenly paced around the cage, jawing with fans, the Showtime broadcast team and Gracie’s corner.
“I thought we was fighting,” Shamrock was overheard to say. For those who missed it the first time, he happily repeated that sentiment during a post-fight interview with Jay Glazer, as well as for the media backstage several minutes later.
Beyond ridiculous was Shamrock’s assertion that he was unfamiliar with rules outlawing knees or kicks to the head of a downed fighter.
The veteran backtracked in his dressing room.
“I was just blowing hot air,” Shamrock said of the comments. “It just seemed so ridiculous to me that it went down like that. I mean, come on, I’ve fought monsters and had my head bashed around and twisted around. I know what it is when you take a really hard shot and what it’s like to be near unconsciousness — and that wasn’t it.”
Gracie (13-6-1, 1 NC) finally regained his footing and was helped out of the cage. Upon moving backstage, he said he fell ill and began vomiting — an obvious symptom of a serious concussion.
“I didn’t intend to knee him,” Shamrock swore. “I was just throwing knees. He was just holding and hugging me. I never break the rules. I’m a clean fighter, you know that. I’ve never been disqualified. I’ve never broken a rule. I live by the rules. But I was fighting and he was holding me and hugging me. I had my feet elevated on the cage and I couldn’t see where my knees were going. I was just trying to make space and make him tired.”
Perhaps Shamrock would have been better served by fending off takedown attempts instead of so easily acquiescing. It was obvious that when the fight played out on the feet the former UFC champ had a distinct advantage. But that didn’t matter so much because Gracie seemed capable of putting the fight where he wanted, when he wanted.
“To be honest it was an easy fight,” Renzo said. “I couldn’t believe how easy it was. The fight was mine all the way. I couldn’t believe that it turned out this bad. I think it was him trying to find a way out. That’s the only explanation I have.”
After taking early warning for illegal punches to the back of Gracie’s head, the referee could not ignore Shamrock’s outlawed knees and he moved in to deduct a point.
With Gracie in bad shape, he was given five minute to recover.
“If it had been me, I would have Super Glued my face together and gotten back in there and fought,” Shamrock said. On this night, however, Gracie was, depending upon whom you listen to, unable or unwilling — and considering his history one would think it was the former.
“It’s anti-climactic,” said EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw, who waited in the lobby as Gracie returned from the hospital. “[Fans] came to see Shamrock and Gracie, and hopefully a knockout or submission. … It just wasn’t that type of night. But I’m proud of this card.”
“I definitely want to fight him again,” the 39-year-old Gracie said of Shamrock. “I hope he has better training and is better prepared technically, because it was a walk in the park. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.”
Instead of becoming a star in his coming out party on premium cable, Shamrock turned into an excuse-making blowhard after being disqualified Saturday for an illegal knee to the head while the middleweights were on the floor.
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The battle of last names was intended to be the culmination of an important night, as Showtime jumped headfirst into MMA during a period in which ink can’t dry fast enough in the sport’s history book.
What unfolded, however, was an ugly attempt by Shamrock (21-8-1) to
explain away his first loss in almost 10 years.
With Gracie controlling from the side, Shamrock, who earlier in the fight had been warned for rabbit punches, fired a short knee to the head — a foul under today’s widely used North American MMA rules.
As if to hammer home the point, both figuratively and literally, Shamrock again delivered a knee that forced referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to intercede on the Brazilian’s behalf.
“He held my head to set up for the knee,” Gracie said at 4 a.m. after being discharged from Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto. “He knew that I was dominating him and he wanted a way out.”
Gracie was in fact control of the bout. Whether Shamrock’s knees came as a response is impossible to say.
Clearly Renzo and his camp have their theory. And Shamrock wasn’t shy with thoughts regarding Gracie, the head coach of the International Fight League’s New York Pitbulls, and his inability to continue.
“Listening to his breath and hearing the way he was grunting when I was hitting him, he was ready to give up and he was ready to get knocked out,” Shamrock, 34, said in his locker room after the fight. “I was telling him I was going to knock him out. He was about 30 seconds away from going to sleep, and I think — this is my personal opinion — I have a lot of respect for Renzo: he took the easy way out.”
The easy way out? For a man that once had his arm snapped in two by Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) but refused to tap — never mind scream or wince?
“How was I on the verge of going out?” a puzzled Gracie asked. “If I could knee from where I was that fight was over in 10 seconds. I had all the control. I could throw knees as much as I want, and I didn’t because I obeyed the rules.”
Gracie, who weighed 180 pounds on Friday, made the Adonis-looking Shamrock look bad in the opening five-minute frame in front of a purported 7,200 spectators inside the DeSoto Civic Center and an unknown number watching at home. Twice the respected New Yorker put Shamrock on the canvas. It was an impressive display, one even Gracie’s most ardent supporters had to think was unrealistic heading into the contest.
Shamrock and Gracie are throwbacks to a different time, when the discussion of rules centered on the lack thereof — not their application. The fact of the matter is that in today’s MMA world Shamrock’s blows were blatantly illegal — regardless if he acknowledges that or not.
“There was no dirtiness to that move,” said chairman of the Mississippi Athletic Commission, John Lewis (Pictures). “It was a fair call. It’s going to go on his record as a DQ loss, of course. It was one you start to question, but when you look at the video that was a blow that cannot take place in this game which disabled Mr. Gracie to where he couldn't continue.”
Gracie rolled off Shamrock after the second knee, which replays confirmed had connected to Renzo’s head, though admittedly not with an incredible amount of force.
Twice Gracie failed to stand and he remained on the canvas under the supervision of Dean and ringside medical staff. Shamrock brazenly paced around the cage, jawing with fans, the Showtime broadcast team and Gracie’s corner.
“I thought we was fighting,” Shamrock was overheard to say. For those who missed it the first time, he happily repeated that sentiment during a post-fight interview with Jay Glazer, as well as for the media backstage several minutes later.
Beyond ridiculous was Shamrock’s assertion that he was unfamiliar with rules outlawing knees or kicks to the head of a downed fighter.
The veteran backtracked in his dressing room.
“I was just blowing hot air,” Shamrock said of the comments. “It just seemed so ridiculous to me that it went down like that. I mean, come on, I’ve fought monsters and had my head bashed around and twisted around. I know what it is when you take a really hard shot and what it’s like to be near unconsciousness — and that wasn’t it.”
Gracie (13-6-1, 1 NC) finally regained his footing and was helped out of the cage. Upon moving backstage, he said he fell ill and began vomiting — an obvious symptom of a serious concussion.
“I didn’t intend to knee him,” Shamrock swore. “I was just throwing knees. He was just holding and hugging me. I never break the rules. I’m a clean fighter, you know that. I’ve never been disqualified. I’ve never broken a rule. I live by the rules. But I was fighting and he was holding me and hugging me. I had my feet elevated on the cage and I couldn’t see where my knees were going. I was just trying to make space and make him tired.”
Perhaps Shamrock would have been better served by fending off takedown attempts instead of so easily acquiescing. It was obvious that when the fight played out on the feet the former UFC champ had a distinct advantage. But that didn’t matter so much because Gracie seemed capable of putting the fight where he wanted, when he wanted.
“To be honest it was an easy fight,” Renzo said. “I couldn’t believe how easy it was. The fight was mine all the way. I couldn’t believe that it turned out this bad. I think it was him trying to find a way out. That’s the only explanation I have.”
After taking early warning for illegal punches to the back of Gracie’s head, the referee could not ignore Shamrock’s outlawed knees and he moved in to deduct a point.
With Gracie in bad shape, he was given five minute to recover.
“If it had been me, I would have Super Glued my face together and gotten back in there and fought,” Shamrock said. On this night, however, Gracie was, depending upon whom you listen to, unable or unwilling — and considering his history one would think it was the former.
“It’s anti-climactic,” said EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw, who waited in the lobby as Gracie returned from the hospital. “[Fans] came to see Shamrock and Gracie, and hopefully a knockout or submission. … It just wasn’t that type of night. But I’m proud of this card.”
“I definitely want to fight him again,” the 39-year-old Gracie said of Shamrock. “I hope he has better training and is better prepared technically, because it was a walk in the park. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.”
