Shamrock: After Buying Strikeforce, UFC Is MMA
Sherdog.com Staff Mar 24, 2011
Frank
Shamrock has been an outspoken critic of the
UFC, but after the company bought Strikeforce recently, he’s
giving them credit.
“I would say that the sport is now officially the UFC,” Shamrock (Pictured) said during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “Which has been their plan and strategy all along. Good on them for achieving it.”
Shamrock was a UFC middleweight champion in the 1990s. He spent the
last years of his career competing in Strikeforce
and now serves as a commentator for the promotion.
“I knew [Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker] was having financial trouble. Not financial trouble -- I knew that he needed more money to expand and to compete in the marketplace,” Shamrock said. “We had high-level talks over the past few months. I was trying to help him. People were trying to help him. I knew he had to make a decision or make an exit or something. I knew something was coming. I was pretty shocked it was the UFC, but it is what it is: big business.”
Shamrock does not fault Coker for selling to the UFC.
“This is business,” he said. “I supported the brand of Strikeforce because I believe in the dream of martial arts and I believe in Coker’s vision and in his passion, and he was honest. To me, that’s all I need to do business with people. I believed in that.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 26:56).
Reader comments are active below. Chime in with an opinion or thought by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! account.
“I would say that the sport is now officially the UFC,” Shamrock (Pictured) said during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “Which has been their plan and strategy all along. Good on them for achieving it.”
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“I knew [Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker] was having financial trouble. Not financial trouble -- I knew that he needed more money to expand and to compete in the marketplace,” Shamrock said. “We had high-level talks over the past few months. I was trying to help him. People were trying to help him. I knew he had to make a decision or make an exit or something. I knew something was coming. I was pretty shocked it was the UFC, but it is what it is: big business.”
Shamrock does not fault Coker for selling to the UFC.
“This is business,” he said. “I supported the brand of Strikeforce because I believe in the dream of martial arts and I believe in Coker’s vision and in his passion, and he was honest. To me, that’s all I need to do business with people. I believed in that.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 26:56).
Reader comments are active below. Chime in with an opinion or thought by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! account.
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