MMAConvert.com

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Cold War between the US and Russia essentially ended. Despite the cooling of political relations, in the last couple of years we have witnessed the growth of a Cold War in mixed martial arts. On one side is the UFC, the superpower of MMA organizations; on the other, stands Fedor Emelianenko, an MMA superpower in his own right. The problems between the Russian and the US-based UFC came about for many of the same reasons that the political conflict existed: a mixture of pride, misunderstandings and lack of communication.

Walking up to the Crazy Cow Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club in the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, there is a small paper sign on the door and an empty room with only mats lining the floor. In such a sparse space, one would hardly expect to find one of the UK’s best grapplers, William Watson, a purple belt under Ricardo Rivera, running the place. Watson, who recently earned second place in a prominent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Edinburgh, lies alone on the mats and rises to greet me as I walk into the gym. The affable instructor’s gym is his second home and though he holds regular classes, he often just goes to the gym everyday and waits for one or two of his students to show up. If it’s a nice day outside, he understands that his students will be off doing other things and probably won’t show up. Over the years, he’s gotten used to enthusiastic students who come in claiming that they will be showing up everyday, dedicated to becoming great martial artists; while some stick to their word, most people end up losing the passion after only a few weeks or leave to follow their girlfriends around the world. It’s not something that Watson takes personally because he’s aware not everybody has the type of passion for the sport that he does.

Damien Stelly isn’t like most other mixed martial artists. His first battles didn’t come in a cage, with gloves, an opponent and a referee to ensure his safety. His battles came in the dry rugged mountainous terrain in Afghanistan, oftentimes in the pitch black dark of night not always knowing who his enemies actually were. Stelly served three tours in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger. He and his fellow troops were one of the first groups to be deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom following Sept. 11, 2001.

Image courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com

In what will surely be a fast-paced and explosive fight, legendary fighter Frank Shamrock faces off against the durable Nick Diaz at the upcoming Strikeforce card on Showtime, April 11th.

Recently, we had the opportunity to talk to Frank and he filled us in on a number of important issues in his career, including the feud with the Gracie Camp, a probable move to professional boxing after rematches against Tito and Cung, the death of Tapout’s Mask, and what kind of books he reads to pump him up for his fights.

MMAConvert.com: Thanks a lot for taking time to talk to us Frank.
Shamrock: Not a problem at all, my pleasure.

MMAConvert.com: First off, how did the fight with Nick Diaz come about? Was this a fight you wanted or was it Diaz that was calling you out?
Shamrock: Well I got a call from Scott Coker and he said that he had just signed the Showtime agreement. He needed a big main event so I said, “Count me in.” Then, Scott called back about two days later and said, “What do you think about Nick Diaz?” and I said, “Uh, Nick who?” [Laughs]. Scott asked, “Well how about fighting him?” and I said, “I’d be happy to fight him.” And that was it.

MMAConvert.com: Do you feel you still have anything to prove against the Gracie camp? Is this fight with Diaz still an extension of that feud?
Shamrock: Well, I think I already proved everything; I knocked one of them out standing up and knocked one of them out on my back. I don’t what else there is to prove. I think that just stepping in their with a young guy who’s got a lot of good skills is enough for me these days.

MMAConvert.com: Despite the fact that you’re the one going down in weight and Nick’s the one going up, you’re being touted as the smaller fighter. What’s your reaction to that?
Shamrock: I think I’m the smaller fighter [Laughs]. I think I’m the little guy. Nick’s like 6’3. The last time I saw him he was easily 185 pounds and I’m only 5’10 and 183 pounds.

MMAConvert.com: How much weight are you cutting to get down to 179 pounds?
Shamrock: Well my natural body weight is about 183 pounds. I’ll be at around 186 pounds so I’ll probably have to cut about 5 or 6 pounds.

UFC 99 “The Comeback”, scheduled for June 13 in Cologne, Germany, features a very intriguing match-up between former Pride 205-pound champion Wanderlei Silva and former UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin. The fight is interesting not only because both guys are in serious need of a win after recent losses but also because the bout is taking place at a unique catchweight of 195-pounds. Personally, I think a catchweight bout is a great idea for both fighters. Silva and Franklin are both legendary veterans who are popular enough to headline a pay-per-view, yet both are facing the problem that they are not in title contention in their particular weight divisions.

Franklin especially, but Silva as well, have been loyal, marketable stars for Zuffa and deserve a bit of a break from the UFC. In the past Franklin has been quite open about how miserable cutting weight makes him. In fact, when approached by UFC President Dana White about fighting at UFC 99, Franklin was adamant that he wanted to fight at 205 pounds and had no interest in dropping to 185. Instead of forcing Franklin’s hand, White came up with a compromise. After a devastating loss at 205 pounds to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei Silva was being forced to consider a drop to 185 pounds in hopes of reinvigorating his recently slumping career. Dropping from 205 to 185 is a big drop for Wanderlei so White suggested that a fight at 195 was a good way for Franklin to save himself ten pounds of weight cutting, and for Wanderlei to incrementally adjust to dropping a significant amount of weight for the first time. A catchweight fight between the two may have no title implications but it makes sense for the UFC because it rewards two of their older and more loyal fighters with not having to drop as much weight, and yet it still offers the UFC an exciting and marketable main event featuring two proven pay-per-view stars.

As a backlash against all of the hoopla concerning GreaseGate, there has been an increase of people lately saying, “Who cares about a little Vaseline…BJ Penn got his ass kicked by St. Pierre and showed a lot of previously unnoticed holes in his game in the process.” The fact that Penn seems unable to keep his mouth shut and stop trash talking his opponents certainly hasn’t helped divert the renewed focus on his less than stellar performance.

Penn’s cockiness was more endearing in the past because he was doing it to sell fights. There are a lot of people out there who like their fighters to have a street mentality like Penn and the Diaz brothers, and I happen to be one of them. I enjoy it when fighters are passionate about fighting and not afraid to speak their minds. However, trash talk only works when you’re winning fights. Otherwise, it just becomes empty words and fans just start writing you off as a bad sport. I could deal with Penn licking Joe Stevenson’s blood off his hands and calling Sean Sherk a “fake champ.” It’s understandable when Penn talks smack before a fight to increase the hype. Then, he looks like a honorable guy when he shakes hands and buries the hatchet when the fight is over. Lately though, Penn has been going overboard with the trash talk.

The UFC’s promotional team loves it when they have some bad blood to help promote one of their cards. UFC 94 had pre-fight smack talk between Clay Guida and Nate Diaz while UFC 92 featured plenty of hostility between Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. At first it seemed as though UFC Fight Night 17, which takes place Saturday in Tampa, was going to be a card filled with exciting fights from up and coming fighters but one that was void of any pre-fight animosity. However, thanks to a popular online mixed martial arts forum, the Underground, UFN 17 has suddenly developed a storyline of ill will in its main event.

Years ago, many top fighters used to post on the Underground but eventually internet tough guys started disrespecting the fighters and slowly the number of professional fighters who posted dwindled. Hermes Franca and Joe Lauzon are two fighters who have continued to post on the Underground, taking the odd negative comment in good-humored stride. However, this time it’s not the keyboard warriors stirring up the pot; it is Franca and Lauzon who have been dishing out the trash talk in their exchanges with each other on the forum.