Nickname: The Legend

Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez III on December 8, 1972 in Santa Monica, California) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight championship (renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight championship) and retired as the five-time defending undefeated champion. Frank was also crowned an Interim King of Pancrase. He has also been the Strikeforce Middleweight champion. He is the adopted younger brother of mixed martial arts fighter and former professional wrestler Ken Shamrock.

He holds notable wins over Bas Rutten, Jeremy Horn and Tito Ortiz.

Biography

Childhood

From the age of 12, Frank Juarez was placed in various foster homes, group homes, and crisis centers. Eventually he went to live with Bob Shamrock, who had taken in hundreds of troubled boys (including Frank's older stepbrother Ken). Juarez went to live with Shamrock at his home in Susanville, California, and was officially adopted by Shamrock at the age of 21. As his brother Ken did previously, Frank would later change his legal name to Frank Shamrock.

Pancrase

In 1994, Ken began to train Frank in submission fighting. Frank accompanied his brother to bouts in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and grew to love the sport. He became a member of Ken's training school, the Lion's Den, and made his debut in the Pancrase organization in December 1994.

He debuted as a fighter in Pancrase on December 16, 1994, winning a decision victory over Holland's Bas Rutten. Shamrock went on to defeat Minoru Suzuki on January 28, 1996 to become the provisional King of Pancrase. Before a sellout crowd in Yokohama he managed to lock a kneebar on Suzuki to secure the win and gain the provisional title that had been created because Rutten was unable to defend the title due to injury. He later lost to the returning Rutten in May 1996. Shamrock found success in Pancrase, but after his brother Ken departed the company, following a falling out, Frank was fired.

Post Pancrase

On 17 January 1997, he lost to John Lober in Hawaii's Superbrawl by split decision, having dominated the fight until his lack of cardio became a factor. After his loss to Lober, Shamrock shifted the focus of his career exclusively to mixed martial arts.

Within the "Lion's Den", Frank trained up-and-coming stars such as Jerry Bohlander, Pete Williams , and Guy Mezger. He also developed a close relationship with Maurice Smith, who trained him in kickboxing with Javier Mendez. Shamrock went on to compete in the RINGS promotion, as well as in Vale Tudo Japan '97 and UFC Japan.

In 1997, Frank had a falling out with Ken and Bob; they would not communicate again until Bob became terminally ill years later. In separate interviews aired Jan. 18, 2007 by Sherdog.com's Beatdown radio show, both Frank and Ken said they remain estranged — Frank claimed Ken has spurned all attempts at reconciliation; Ken accused Frank of treating their adoptive father badly [1].

In an interview with Sam Caplan of sportsline.com, Frank revealed he felt concerned with Ken's training methods, and when he confronted Ken, he was told "You don't have what it takes, you're not going to be a world champion and I want you to run my gyms for the rest of your life." This spurred him on to leave which led to the estrangement both Ken and Bob (who took Ken's side in the disagreement) He also stated that he would be happy to fight against Ken, should the opportunity arise.[2] Ken feels the same way, stating on Sherdog radio network, that Shamrock vs. Shamrock is a distinct possibility, stating that he taught Frank everything he knows and that it's wrong to proclaim yourself "The Legend," a moniker Frank has been using since his return at WEC 6.

UFC

Shortly afterwards, Shamrock fought the undefeated Kevin Jackson for the newly created UFC Middleweight title. Enson Inoue had been due to fight Jackson, because the event was scheduled for Yokohama, Japan and the UFC were seeking Japanese fighters to take part, however Shamrock was scheduled to fight Inoue in between, so it was decided that the winner of that fight would meet Jackson for the title. Shamrock knocked Inoue out with a knee. He later said, that his toughest fight ever was against Enson Inoue. [2] Later, Frank forced Jackson submit to an armbar in 22 seconds to take the middleweight title (which the UFC later renamed the light-heavyweight title). He went on to defend the belt successfully against Igor Zinoviev, Shamrock took Zinoviev down with a powerful slam that knocked him unconscious and broke his collarbone, finishing his fighting career.

In October 1998, Shamrock avenged his earlier loss to John Lober by beating him in 7 minutes at UFC Brazil.

Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz

In September 1999, Frank Shamrock defended the UFC Middleweight Championship against Tito Ortiz at UFC 22. Shamrock won after elbows, punches, and eventual hammer blows to force Ortiz to tap out. He has stated that Tito Ortiz was his toughest opponent physically due to his weight advantage and style of fighting. [3]

Shamrock then relinquished his title and retired from the UFC. After retiring, he initially acted as a consultant and commentator but fell out with the owners of the UFC and is seldom mentioned on their broadcasts. He has stated that Dana White telephoned him after his fight against Cesar Gracie to try and get him to return, but said he will not return as long as Dana runs the company[citation needed]. In an interview, Dana White said:[3]

"I've talked to Frank Shamrock many times. Frank Shamrock will lead you to believe that we've never talked and we completely have hated each other forever and everything else. He's a weird guy. He's a very, very weird guy. I can't explain it. Frank is a weird guy."

Acting

After his retirement, Shamrock landed a guest role on Walker, Texas Ranger and the main role in a Burger King commercial. He was also featured as Damien in the 2005 movie No Rules.[4]

Also was uncredited in an episode of Oz.

Return to fighting

After a brief retirement, Shamrock returned to mixed martial arts as a career. He signed a deal to fight jiu-jitsu standout Elvis Sinosic at K-1, the premiere kickboxing event in the world. Shamrock beat Sinosic via unanimous decision after five three-minute rounds. Later, when Sinosic faced Tito Ortiz for the UFC light-heavyweight title (formerly the middleweight title) at UFC 32, Shamrock served as guest commentator. On August 11, 2001, he took on his former student, Shannon Ritch in a kickboxing match for K-1. Just 56 seconds into the first round, Shamrock broke Ritch's arm with a roundhouse kick and thereby won the match.

Shamrock helped to train UFC veteran B.J. Penn for his early bouts with the UFC at the American Kickboxing Academy and produced his own events Bushido and ShootBox. His first MMA match since 1999 was winning the WEC light-heavyweight championship in under two minutes from Bryan Pardoe by submission in March 2003.

On March 10, 2006, at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie, the first MMA event sanctioned by the state of California, he knocked out Cesar Gracie in 21 seconds. Gracie had never fought an MMA match and was 40 years old, so the fight was considered a serious mismatch. However, Gracie is an elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor with years of training under his belt as well being the mentor of students such as Nathan Diaz and Nick Diaz

On September 14, 2006, it was announced that Frank Shamrock had signed a multi-million dollar contract with startup MMA organization "The World Fighter" and was said to be scheduled to fight in January 2007. However, Shamrock told Sherdog that the World Fighter contract no longer applied because it was entirely contingent on the organization getting a television contract with Showtime; the cable network instead agreed to air fights for the EliteXC promotion.

On February 10, 2007, Shamrock lost his fight by disqualification to Renzo Gracie during the EliteXC event which was televised on Showtime. Shamrock delivered two knees to Gracie's head while both men were on the ground. After a five minute injury time out, Gracie was unable to continue. Referee Herb Dean disqualified Shamrock due to a foul (illegal strikes to the back of the head, and knees to the head of a grounded opponent). Dean had already warned Shamrock once earlier in the fight about striking to the back of the head--an illegal move under the American Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

Trainer and IFL coach

In December 2005, Shamrock opened his first school, Shamrock Martial Arts Academy in San Jose, CA. Shamrock trains his students in kickboxing and submission wrestling. He also manages Team Shamrock, his own fight team. In June 2006, Shamrock was chosen as a coach for the San Jose Razorclaws of the International Fight League. Debuting against Carlos Newton's Toronto Dragons on September 23, 2006 at the Mark in Moline, Illinois, The Dragons won 3-2. The Razorclaws subsequently lost 2-3 against the Ken Shamrock coached Nevada Lions on a January 19, 2007.

Frank Shamrock vs Phil Baroni

Frank Shamrock and Phil Baroni had engaged in a war of words following Shamrock's fight with Renzo Gracie. The two faced off at Shamrock vs. Baroni, a co-promotion between EliteXC and Strikeforce on June 22nd, 2007 on Pay-Per-View.[4]

Frank went on to out-strike Baroni in the first part of this fight in the stand-up. Frank was deducted a point for using strikes to the back of the head while he had Baroni's back. In the second round Frank took some strikes from Baroni, but he was able to regain control and drop Phil, transition to his back and end the fight with a rear naked choke. Baroni refused to tap-out and was choked unconscious. As soon as he regained his senses, he walked over to Frank, congratulated him and left the cage. By winning the match, Frank became the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.

Frank Shamrock vs Cung Le Frank Shamrock entering cage for fight against Cung Le

On January 11, 2008, it was announced that Shamrock would face Cung Le in a match on March 29, 2008 for the Strikeforce Middle Weight Championship during the joint Strikeforce-Elite XC event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. Throughout the fight, Shamrock kept his promise to keep standing up. Cung Le arguably controlled the fight, at times outstriking the more MMA-experienced Shamrock. At one point in the later stages of round 3 Shamrock appeared to have Le hurt but was unable to finish him with a barrage of punches against the cage. Le recovered and responded in the closing seconds of the round with more kicks and a spinning backfist. Frank was unable to answer the bell to begin round 4 due a broken arm caused by one of Le's kicks and the fight was ruled a TKO as a result of corner stoppage. Frank indicated post fight that these kicks had broken his right arm.

Frank Shamrock vs Ken Shamrock

Shamrock has publicly stated that he'd like to face his adopted brother Ken Shamrock in the first quarter of 2009.[5]

Private life