Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Strikeforce Fights

3 Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock | March 29, 2008

Because it didn't happen in the UFC and the promotion has blackballed its greatest early champion Frank Shamrock, this fight hasn't received the attention it deserves, but it is a milestone battle in MMA history. As I detailed in my longest op-ed ever, in two years from 1997 to 1999, Shamrock went from a failure, told to manage adopted older brother Ken's gyms, to the greatest fighter ever. In the process, Shamrock achieved a new level of MMA excellence, years ahead of his time, and was the easy No. 1 on Sherdog's list of greatest fighters of the 90s. In fact, at the beginning of 2008 Frank had not truly lost since the defeat to John Lober in January 1997, with 12 victories, a draw, and a disqualification against Renzo Gracie that involved some play-acting on the Brazilian's part in a fight Shamrock was clearly winning. As noted under an earlier entry, it is unfortunate that Le started MMA as late as he did. A junior college wrestling standout who was one of the best, most unique strikers in the world as a former san shou world champion, Le may have been one of the greatest fighters ever had he begun in the mid to late 90s. Instead, he debuted in early 2006 when he was about to turn 34. In fact, Le was seven months older than Shamrock, though he had far less mileage on his body. Le was 5-0 in MMA but had never faced anyone close to the level of his legendary foe when they met in early 2008. After the bell rung and a failed early takedown attempt by Shamrock, both men settled into a kick-heavy striking battle. Watching this again now, it was a shockingly high-level stand-up duel for its time and holds up well today. There was a lot of good footwork and movement as well as solid defense, including checking or avoiding heavy leg kicks and skillful blocking. The kicks, especially Le's, were fast, powerful, and accurate, accentuated by it being a southpaw versus orthodox battle, and both men attempting to time counters. Le even landed wince-inducing side kicks to the obliques, a tactic Jon Jones would make use of in the years to come.

The first round was nearly constant action, with Le not only getting the better of it with his kicks, but proving his punches were nothing to sneeze at, firing off solid combinations and catching Shamrock behind the ear with a stinging right hook. Shamrock had his moments, briefly getting Le down off a spinning back roundhouse before splitting his lip open with a knee and landing a few partial right crosses as the round expired. Shamrock appeared to be gaining confidence as Round 2 began, landing a hard body kick and then two flush straight rights to the chin. However, Le started moving his head well, dodging Shamrock's offense, while scoring with a variety of kicks and the occasional punch. Incidentally, Shamrock spent the whole fight making mocking faces and gestures towards Le, a strategy that had actually worked, once upon a time, against his early nemesis Bas Rutten. The taunting reached its apex in the second stanza, drawing boos from the crowd but never seeming to affect Le in the slightest. Near the end of the frame, Le delivered the best sequence of the fight so far, slamming a hard left cross into Shamrock's breadbasket before smashing him over the head with a right hook that left him on shaky legs, but still didn't end his clowning. In the third, Le really started to take over. He landed at will with kicks on Shamrock, including a gorgeous right head kick to left head kick combo that I've never seen in MMA outside this fight, and very rarely in kickboxing. Shamrock sought to land a big right cross, but it was predictable, and Le evaded well, while punishing him with nifty combos, most of them ending with a right hook. However, the legend was not done, blasting Le with a huge right cross after being hit with a body kick. Le was clearly hurt and Shamrock stalked him, landing several more right hands. They reach a clinch against the cage and Shamrock shellacked Le with a couple of huge right elbows to the reaction of “OH” from the crowd each time. Could Shamrock come back and win? Suddenly, Le started fighting back effectively despite clearly being tired, including a tremendous body kick into a spinning backfist to the face. Le then uncorked a thunderbolt of a left head kick and while Shamrock blocked, he was still badly stunned, backing up—and shockingly, no longer clowning. As Shamrock, with blood pouring down his face, reeled and rocked against the cage trying to dodge Le's punches, he was saved by the bell as the crowd roared with delight. Between rounds, Frank was forced to retire due to a right arm injury, the result of the countless monster kicks he sustained, causing Le and his team to celebrate in rapturous delight. This was a tremendous stand-up duel, among the best that 2008 had to offer, with numerous changes in momentum. It also had one of the greatest rounds of fighting I've ever seen in MMA. And it was an important milestone for the sport as a whole. The greatest fighter of the 1990s, who had run years ahead of the rest of the MMA world, was finally vanquished in 2008.

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