If so, they deserve that television contract.
With three rounds of nearly non-stop action, Frank Shamrock and Cung Le helped to solidify EliteXC as worthy of prime time MMA viewing. Why, you ask? Well, there’s quite a few reasons.
1. Frank Shamrock is hilarious in the cage. Cung Le wasn’t too bad himself. Whenever there was a chance to showcase some personality, both fighters didn’t waste any time. With finger pointing, hit counts, and smiles between the fighters, there wasn’t a time during the fight that I wasn’t laughing at the antics between both fighters. The casual fan could enjoy the display of personality and hopefully it could help some people see that both men were more than just punching and kicking machines.
2. A standup war that went 15 minutes. Who can complain? Sure, you might want some technical BJJ every once in a while, but were you really expecting a ground battle between these two? Shamrock and Le went the distance and delivered a great performance to an eclectic crowd.
3. Mutual respect that left me doubting whether Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva are the only two fighters these days who can actually show casual fans that MMA is not evil. Throughout the fight, both were more than willing to touch gloves and the post-fight interviews displayed enough class to make up for Bill Goldberg’s ramblings.
EliteXC would be doing the right thing if they put a Shamrock vs. Le rematch on one of their upcoming CBS cards, but will they do it?
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I do still love MMA and have...
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 am
“Nearly non-stop action”
“Stand-up War”
I wouldn’t describe Shamrock vs Le as a stand-up war. More like a technical sparring match. They went the distance?!? They only fought 3 out of 5 rounds. While I applaud Frank’s effort to keep the fight standing and exposing Cung Le’s so-so hands, he should tried a better tactic in the 2nd round. Walking right in front of Le’s kicks(jabs) just to get inside for better position obviously wasn’t working. All in all it was a great fight and a rematch would be very interesting. The end of the 3rd was GREAT!
The entire card was a night of good fights, minus Kimbo’s WWE entrance that offered no new information or news.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Well, a difference of subjective opinion certainly won’t kill me. I thought Shamrock and Le did more than most fighters these days by keeping the fight standing even though Shamrock could have easily went to the ground. As far as your comment regarding 3 out of 5 rounds, it was physically impossible for Shamrock to continue, so I contend that they did go the distance during the fight. Shamrock almost ended it, but Le fought back and took the win. I do agree it was a great fight and I hope to see a rematch on CBS later this year once Shamrock is healed up.