The YouTube channel of Fight! Magazine recently posted a video that saw Dana White say the following: “Frank Shamrock’s an irrelevant idiot…This guy’s the biggest two-faced jerk-off that I’ve ever met in my life. What Frank Shamrock doesn’t talk about is how he flew out to my office last month, and tried to make up and make everything all right. Hey Frank: you’re a liar and you’re a two-faced chump.”

Apparently bad blood dies hard when you’re Dana White, despite the fact that you’ve buried the hatchet with the man (former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz) that you hated so much that you once agreed to fight him. Frank Shamrock famously left the UFC in 1999 after becoming the first UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and successfully defending his belt four times. After defeating Tito Ortiz in September of 1999, Shamrock announced his retirement. According to Shamrock, he did this because the UFC had no worthwhile competition for him. Shamrock would go on to return to MMA a little over a year later.

The reasoning behind Shamrock’s retirement back in 1999 was famously referenced in a montage made for him during his days in the now-defunct and quickly-forgotten International Fight League. The promotional video insinuated that Shamrock’s last words to the UFC were along the lines of “Call me when you have somebody that can beat me.” While it may not have been that melodramatic, Shamrock quickly fell out of favor with the new UFC owners when Zuffa, with Dana White at the helm, purchased the failing company in 2001.

I think it’s a little unfair of Dana White to be taking a shot at Frank Shamrock after the man retired so humbly and with so much class and dignity. But then again, I’d expect nothing less from Dana White. Dana has seemed downright delighted to take as many potshots at his enemies as he can, no matter where they are in life. Dana White doesn’t just burn bridges, he napalms them. It’s one of the biggest reasons he’s so controversial, it’s one of the biggest reasons he’s so hated, somehow it’s even one of the biggest reasons why he’s so beloved.

Dana White speaks his mind no matter what you think or have to say about it, and it’s obvious that he doesn’t like Frank Shamrock one single bit. At least the man has the pure stones to publicly voice his negative opinion, you’ve got to give him that. I do still think this is very childish of him, though. Whether Dana White wants to admit it or not, Frank Shamrock was the best UFC fighter of the early era and he’s rightfully earned his place in MMA’s history. Dana White’s refusal to admit this is irrelevant, and maybe that’s one of the big reasons why Frank Shamrock bothers him so much.

And what about you, fans and friends? What do you make of Dana White’s comments?

But first, here’s how the Middleweight roster breaks down. Looking at the title picture from left to right, the EA Sports Middleweight roster features Benji Radach, Lyman Good, Matt Lindland, Luke Rockhold, Frank Trigg, Joe Riggs, Kazuo Misaki, Scott Smith, Murilo Rua, Tim Kennedy, Pat Miletich, Jake Shields, Nick Thompson, Melvin Manhoef, Robbie Lawler, Dan Henderson, Gegard Mousasi, Jason Miller, Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Frank Shamrock, and Ronaldo Souza.

It should be noted that eight fighters in the Middleweight division are carry-overs from the already-announced Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. There’s some debate going around the internet gaming forums as to whether or not this is a cheap move in order to cut the time down on coding and creating different fighters, or a good way to ensure quality cross-division super-fights. I personally think it’s a little of both: I think the roster is a little limited, but the fact that you can play as your favorite fighter in several different weight classes mostly balances that out. Plus, with download-a-fighter being included, I think this game’s roster will be massive once people start creating famous MMA fighters are putting them online for anybody and everybody to download.

Much like the UFC including the famous Madison Square Garden in their “UFC Undisputed” games, it’s recently been confirmed that EA Sports MMA will have the Cowboys Stadium as an in-game venue despite the fact that a major Mixed Martial Arts event has never been booked there. An online image has already surfaced, which you can view here. Even as a huge fan of UFC Undisputed 2009, I think Madison Square Garden was really under-played in both UFC 2009 and 2010. Not so with Cowboys Stadium- the images revealed so far look downright amazing. I may actually get goosebumps when my Create-a-Fighter either defends or tries to get at the Strikeforce Championship in that mega-arena.

The last time I was this excited for a sports game, my hopes met quite the rude awakening. So, even with all the hype I’m buying into, I know that there’s still a chance for EA Sports MMA to let me down in much the same way that UFC Undisputed 2010 let me down. But until that day, I have to say…this is shaping up to be a genre-defining game. Every time I hear something new about this game, it’s something I think I could find myself enjoying immensely. When October 19 hits, I’ve got a pretty good feeling that there’s going to be a new Undisputed Champion of Mixed Martial Arts video games.

But what about you, fans and friends? How high would you rate your anticipation of “EA Sports MMA”?

“We were hoping to put together a fight in March, but now it looks like that may not happen. We might have to wait for April or May. Who knows if it will ever happen. Frank Shamrock and I have verbally agreed to fight each other, but from what I understand he’s being difficult in the negotiations. For whatever reason he may have, I think it’s too bad because I think it’s the type of fight that would draw a lot of attention. It would be two guys that were UFC champions and have done a lot for that organization, and now they’re involved with Strikeforce. I think it just made sense. But for whatever reason I think he’s having trouble pulling the trigger. He may be nervous about getting slapped around, but that’s the way it sits right now. Hopefully I can find someone else to fight if he doesn’t want to do it. I want to get in there before Summer.

I think he knows what is most likely going to happen. We’ve rolled before so I have a sense for what he’s got. Obviously I’ve watched him fight for years and he’s a talented guy, but I don’t think he has anything to hurt me with. Maybe he knows that.

He definitely doesn’t have the power to hurt me, he’s not going to submit me, he can’t out-box me, and he definitely can’t take me down. Maybe he’ll pull off something like he did in the Renzo Gracie fight so he can get out alive. Who knows.

I would prefer to fight at 170 pounds, but I’d fight Frank anywhere. I don’t care what the weight is. It doesn’t matter. But I think I’d like to try to snag something from somebody at 170 pounds. I look at the 170 pound rankings and I see a lot of guys that I can beat.”

This is a fight that makes sense for Strikeforce, Shamrock and Pat.

Strikeforce would be getting two ex-UFC champions that were scheduled to enter the Octagon is a super-fight over ten years ago. The UFC and Shamrock ran into contract issues and Frank ended up leaving so the fight never took place. Both men have done a lot for the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) and with the smack talk already coming from Pat, Frank will surely have much to say. Frank can sell a fight and Strikeforce would garner viewers to see his return to the ring as well as the return of Miletich.

Pat needs a good test and Frank is a perfect match for him. Hopefully Frank comes to terms with Strikeforce and the fight agreement gets signed because I am already looking forward to seeing these two legends go toe to toe.

UFC President Dana White never misses an opportunity to point out his frustrations with boxing, being a former boxing manager himself.  He touts how his management of the UFC has transcended boxing’s chaotic system which often leads to disappointing match-ups, padded records, and confusing rankings.

But, performance enhancing drugs is an area where boxing beats MMA, at least in numbers of fighters who test positive in a urinalysis given by state athletic commissions.  Most concerning is the number of fighters at the top of the sport who’ve tested positive, including UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie (14-3-3) and “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock (26-12-2).

Gracie tested positive after defeating “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (22-13-1) at K-1 HERO’s Dynamite!! USA in June 2007 and Shamrock tested positive after defeating Ross Clifton (6-10) at War Gods in February 2009.

And, at this point I’d like to emphasize that both Gracie and Shamrock deny using performance enhancing drugs.  In fact, I’d like to make a blanket statement that nearly every fighter who tests positive denies use.

The UFC even presented a lightweight title fight between Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked lightweight “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (33-4-1) and Hermes Franca (18-6) at UFC 73 in July 2007 after which both fighters tested positive.  (Franca actually admits using banned substances.)

The UFC is just the most prominent and active promotion; and, to White’s credit, under his leadership the UFC has worked with U.S. states not sanctioning MMA to put in place mandates on testing and the UFC implements its own tests when promoting events not within a sanctioning framework that mandates tests.

MMA’s problem with performance enhancing substances extends outside of the UFC.  The biggest heavyweight fight of 2009 between Fighters.com Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) and eighth-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5) at Affliction Trilogy in August was cancelled when Barnett tested positive for banned substances before the fight.  It was the former UFC champion’s second positive test during his career.

Now, think of all the boxing champions who’ve failed a urinalysis.  Coming up a bit short?

I’m not naive.  Perhaps boxers are just more adept at techniques that obscure their use from a urinalysis; and, a blood test is beatable too.

But, a blood test administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency or a subsidiary, like the United States Anti-Doping Agency that Mayweather is requiring before he’ll fight Pacquiao, is the best contemporary sport has to detect banned substances.

And, blood tests can determine use of human growth hormone (HGH) in particular, which Mayweather is suspicious of Pacquiao using.

So, why shouldn’t the greatest athletic endeavor also be the cleanest?  It should, I think.  In fact, MMA deserves the strictest standards to match the prestige of the sport.

And, the Pacquiao-Mayweather debate has created a golden opportunity for White to step up to a podium and announce that the UFC will implement Olympic-style blood testing, eating the prohibitive expense to ensure the pinnacle of MMA is willing to go farther than boxing and ensure the integrity and honor of the sport.  Then, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker should match White and the UFC.

It would be the first major professional sport to go that far.  That would cement MMA’s growing legitimacy in the West and give MMA the air of prestige it deserves.  And, probably more importantly to White and Coker, it would draw attention from frustrated combat sports fans watching the Pacquiao-Mayweather negotiations break down over a request that should be acceptable.  The spotlight on drugs in sport is searching for a hero, and MMA fighters should be the heroes.

Frank seems to be looking for an exciting stand up war which casual fans seems to thirst for today. I feel  the most exciting fights are ones where we see the actual definition of mixed martial arts. The continued rise of this sport and the very future of it depends upon fighters and promoters working to show what a true mixed martial artist is and not focusing on only one aspect of that,specifically the stand up wars.

I noticed that many times during a pay per view we get to see the knock out of the night even when it is not a main card fight. Seldom to we get to see the submission of the night when it is an under card fight. This is a travesty to the sport. We can’t continue to promote the sport, the fighters and the evolution of it while focusing on the stand up aspect and essentially ignoring the other aspects.

Promoters tout mixed martial arts as the combination of boxing, muay thai, kick boxing,wrestling and jiu jitsu. This is the evolution of the sport. We see fighters working hard to evolve into complete mixed martial artists. Guys like Fighters.com and UFC lightweight champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (12-4-1) and UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2). Yet it is the strikers that are getting the biggest headlines in the national media.

On ESPN’s website today we see former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. A man highly touted yet has faced not one top tier middleweight. He is known for his striking and this gets him publicity. That and his new found movie career. I would much rather see fighters such as Strikeforce interim lightweight champion “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (14-2) and “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (9-2) get publicity. Both of these men train hard to become well rounded. Cowboy is known as a submission fighter but has worked hard recently to clean up his stand up. This is what the sport is all about.

Spike TV has done a great job of promoting mma but look at one of the shows they like to run, Ultimate Knock Outs. This is run over and over while Ultimate Submissions is a show I have never seen. We seem to be promoting the stand up and ignoring the ground game. It is an injustice to pander to the new fans who tune in to watch someone get knocked out using the four once gloves. I understand that many new fans want to see a knock out but it is our job to make sure we educate them and a show like Ultimate Submissions would do just that. When  watching the reruns of fights on Spike, instead of showing us a fight with great stand up I say show us a fight with great transitions. Maybe then we will see a fight go to the ground and not have to listen to fans boo even while one fighter is passing guard.

This education of fans is also a responsibility fighters must take seriously. Frank is dodging a fight because he feels it would not be exciting. It is the fighters job to work to be the best and in doing so one must take fights that put them against the best. Even if a fight may end up being a fight like we saw when Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields (24-4-1) took on “Mayhem” Jason Miller (22-7). The fight was a five round wrestling match with Jake doing very little striking and Mayhem unable to look for subs due to the great top control of Shields. There will be times when these things happen. Fighters seem to be more worried about how they look in the cage then if they win or lose. How many times do you see a fighter lose and then ask the crowd if they enjoyed the fight? Yes, promote yourself but let’s allow our sport to turn into a Jorge Gurgel (12-4)

Jorge is a black belt in jiu jitsu yet has decided to put all that aside to be an “exciting fighter” who focuses on stand up. This has led to him being cut from the UFC due to loses. Jorge may have the ability to be a top lightwieght fighter but it is his insistence on putting on a show that has been his downfall. Do not abandon one aspect of this amazing sport just to be exciting. Seasoned mma fans know and new fans will find out that the most exciting fights are the ones that transition from stand up, to wrestling , to jiu jitsu and then back to the feet. Fights such as Fighters.com ninth ranked light heavyweight “Axe Murder” Wanderlei Silva (15-1) versus Hidehiko Yoshida (9-6-1) or Fighters.com third ranked light heavyweight “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-4) versus fourth ranked heavyweight “Lil Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1).

We can use knock outs to bring people new fans to the sport but without educating them ikn all aspects of the sport fighters like Frnak Shamrock will continue to refuse fights they don’t feel will be exciting and we could miss the next Shogun versus Lil Nog fight. There comes a time when one needs to shut up, step inside the cage and let his skills speak for themselves and the fans will surely be pleased.

“Exactly!  That’s what we want to convey,” Kahl repsonded to the comparison of Emelianenko to bona fide world sport legends Jordan and Woods.

Kahl also said he’s “excited to have CBS return to mixed martial arts in a big way” with their partnership with Strikeforce and M-1 Global.  Kahl has no regrets about promoting street-fighter-turned-pro-fighter “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (3-1) during CBS’s partnership with now-defunct EliteXC which brought MMA to primtime American television and Kahl believes that MMA fighters have received more mainstream media attention as a result.

However, Kahl was also hesitant about the future of MMA on CBS.  “We are looking at this one show at a time,” Kahl said, and wouldn’t rule out a future partnership with the UFC.

It’s safe to assume there’s a lingering bad taste left from the EliteXC debacle and both CBS and Strikeforce are relying on Emelianenko and Rogers to put on a show that will lock in a long-term deal, or at least a more definitive future.

A confident Frank Shamrock (23-10-2), CBS’s on-air MMA analyst, said, “It’s going to be magic!”  He declined to make a prediction.  “I’m done with predictions,” he said.

In analysis, Shamrock noted that although Fedor “doesn’t show many weaknesses,” the key to beating him is “in the feints and forcing him to make mistakes in his punching game.” Shamrock explained that Rogers is in California now training and has been training top heavyweight wrestlers like eighth-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5).   Shamrock speculated that Rogers’s ground game will focus on escapes and using sheer power to get the fight back to the standing game.

CBS broadcaster Mauro Ranallo chimed in too, saying that although there are high expectations for this bout, pressure wouldn’t play a role in Emelianenko’s preparation and performance.  “I don’t know if he feels pressure.  He is so even-keeled.  I don’t know if he knows what pressure is.”  But, Ranallo insists Rogers has more than a puncher’s chance.  “Brett Rogers has the power to defeat Fedor and needs to pursue Fedor and show patient aggression.”

One thing for is that this fight card has the ability to knock down doors for MMA and gain access to mainstream public attention.   CBS is excited to take another stab at attempting to bring the most exciting combat sport to primetime. Strikforce is happy to have a high level partnership.   At least for now…

In an interview, Shamrock called Le “boring” and claimed he was “beating the hell” out of Le until Shamrock broke his arm.

Le took issue with how exactly Shamrock’s arm was broken and sent a personal message back to Shamrock.

Thanks to the Throwdown crew for allowing me to interview Cung Le at their headquarters.

Fighters.com: Your MMA career has always been leading to the battle of San Jose with Shamrock. Now it’s over. Is there relief, a sense of accomplishment? Are you thinking about what’s next?

Cung Le: Relief and accomplishment. I’m just trying to take a break, but no break yet. I’m not thinking about what’s next. There’s a lot of negotiating and setup in an organization to schedule a fight; and, I’m just letting Strikeforce handle that.

Fighters.com: It didn’t look like Shamrock had much of a strategy more than “let’s see what happens”. Did you perceive he was trying to set-up anything or had a notion of a particular weakness?

Cung Le: My coach, who used to coach Frank, said [Shamrock] looked as good as he’s ever seen him. He was looking for openings and I just didn’t give him any.

Fighters.com: Did Shamrock do what you expected?

Cung Le: Yeah. The only problem was that my coach told me he dips when he punches; so, a couple of times I got caught because I thought he was going to take me down.

Fighters.com: It seems like your kicks snap more from the knee than the kicks taught to most mixed martial artists, which are more the roundhouse Muay Thai kick. Do you notice that? How do you analyze that?

Cung Le: That’s my secret! I’m not giving that up.

Fighters.com: Let’s be objective. How’s your ground game?

Cung Le: I’m just trying to be the most complete martial artist. No one comes to see me submit people. People want to seek knockouts and kicks. I can submit people. I took Sam Morgan to the ground and had him in a crucifix.

Fighters.com: Shamrock was grinning. Do you think he didn’t take you seriously?

Cung Le: I was having a good time too; but, never was it not a fight.

Fighters.com: Shamrock is going to ask for a rematch, if he hasn’t already. Is there any reason to rematch him immediately?

Cung Le: I will give him one because he gave me this opportunity. I owe him that.

Fighters.com: After the fight you mentioned your helicopter flight out of Vietnam under gun fire. Was that something you thought about immediately or something you planned to say?

Cung Le: Definitely, it’s apart of my training. It helps motivate me.

Fighters.com: Have you been back to Vietnam since leaving? Do you enjoy returning?

Cung Le: I’ve been back twice. My dad lives there. I enjoy it. It’s very emotional for me.

Fighters.com: Under the ProElite umbrella, you have fellow middleweight champions Robbie Lawler and Kala Kolohe Hose. Would you like to call either of them out?

Cung Le: No. I haven’t even thought about fighting them.

Fighters.com: Have you faced anyone in MMA tougher than your toughest San Shou fight?

Cung Le: Frank Shamrockis my toughest opponent. San Shou is different. The referee stops you after each take down. MMA is much harder.

Fighters.com: San Shou is an exhibition sport at this Summer’s Olympics. Any plans to go to Beijing?

Cung Le: No. There’s a lot of politics. They decided they want to play politics and I decided I didn’t want to be involved. Under me we got four bronze and two silver. Under the current coach, no one placed.

Fighters.com: Now that you’ve got some downtime, how do you split up your time between training, your gym, your acting career, and family?

Cung Le: I’m just trying to find some down time! I’ve got two boys that are sick; you can hear in the background. I’m sure everyone knows about my divorce and I got full custody. I’ve got a lot of great people around me. I don’t mind doing interviews. Media and my fans are what got me here.

Congratulations Cung on being Fighters.com featured fighter!

Fickett was signed to challenge Shields on tonight’s Showtime-televised card; but, Shields injured his back heaving a sledgehammer during training.

Fickett drew Lim after Shields’s partner, Diaz, was denied a license by the California State Athletic Board.

The title fight has reportedly been rescheduled for 14 June in Hawaii.

The absence of Shields and Diaz, popular Nor Cal warriors,  agitated thousands of hungry fight aficionados at HP Pavilion.

They packed in to feast on a middleweight mixed martial arts title fight between Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock (24-9-1) and Cung Le (6-0), heroes from opposite sides of the Capital of Silicon Valley.

What they were fed was two-and-a-half rounds of brisk San Shou sparring and two-and-a-half minutes of MMA.

Le remained undefeated when Shamrock quit with a broken arm after the third round, relinquishing his belt to the Vietnamese kung-fu stylist.

 ”He kept blocking,” Le explained,  ”so I kept aiming at that part of the wrist.”

With local street cred on the table, both fighters answered the opening bell cautious of the other’s prowess.

Shamrock circled in a crouching stance while pumping a lazy jab in Le’s general direction, while Le waltzed warily from a safe range.

When the hammer did fall, beginning with a Shamrock kick to Le’s midsection countered by a Le left hand, it was in single-strike spurts followed by congratulatory high fives.

They grinned at each one-off as the crowd chanted “Boring!”

Shamrock closed round one with a knee busting Le’s lip, but lost the round in range of Le’s snapping kicks.

Le opened the second frame knocking Shamrock’s mouthpiece out with a left high kick.

As Le learned Shamrock wasn’t interested in taking him to the mat, he became more comfortable launching left and right middle kicks to setup punches to Shamrock’s head, catching Shamrock with a right hook towards the round’s final bell.

Le topped Shamrock in round two as well.

Midway through the third round, a fight broke out and the champion and challenger traded flurries against the cage.

A hard left kick to Shamrock’s core backed the champion into the fence and Le followed with a spinning back fist as Shamrock advanced.

Shamrock walked through the worst of Le’s attack and pounded punches in a flurry marked by a right fist that staggered Le against the cage.

Le countered with another lightning strike body kick followed by a flurry of hooks as the bell signaled an end to the round and, as Shamrock chose not to answer the fourth round’s bell, the end of the fight.

“This is a dream come true,” Le said after the fight.  “Coming from Vietnam under gunfire and now world champion, I love it.”

In undercard action, top ten lightweight “El Niño” Gilbert Melendez (14-1) shook-up and opened the anticipated can of whoop ass on last minute opponent Gabe Lemley (11-7).

Referee Herb Dean showed mercy on the seemingly awe-struck Iowan and called an end to Melendez’s G’n'P onslaught at 2:18 of the second round.

Melendez returned like a typhoon from a loss to “The Endless Warrior” Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1) in Japan, the first of “El Niño’s” career.

Strikeforce newbie Wayne Cole (11-6) surprised “MAK” Mike Kyle (9-7-1) in an armbar 45-seconds after the opening bell.

Kyle, win-less since 2005, was rusty from a two-year absence from professional competition.

In a sloppy, but entertaining 4:45 minute punch-up, middleweight Joey Villasenor (25-6) of Jackson’s Submission Fighting popped late replacement Ryan Jensen (11-4) with a right hand, knocking the former UFC fighter out in his third consecutive first-round stoppage loss (all against tough competition).

Team Oyama welterweight Tiki Ghosn‘s (10-7) takedown defence kept his scrap with young Luke Stewart (5-1) where Ghosn could pick at Stewart’s stand-up.  The veteran nickle-and-dimed his way to a unanimous decision of 29-28 twice and 30-27.

Stewart picks up his first “L” after five stoppage wins, all in Strikeforce affairs.

Team USA grappler Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) broke bantamweight Strikeforce regular Anthony Figueroa’s (4-2) two-fight win streak by sweeping from half guard into a guillotine choke, enticing the tap at 1:27 of the first frame.

Undefeated Jesse Jones (2-0) exposed Jesse Gillespie (1-1), transitioning in back control from a rear naked choke to G’n'P for a 35-second TKO.

Lightweight Billy Evangelista (6-0) knocked out Marlon Sims (3-3) at :39 of the third round to end the night.