thaFormula.com - So how does it feel to not only be back in the fight scene, but headlining a major event like "Extreme Combat" on Showtime this Saturday man?

Frank Shamrock - It feels great man. You know I love competition and to be back in the game at this point when the sport is so hot, it's a real honor.

thaFormula.com - To me, one of your most important fights was your fight with Olympic wrestler Kevin Jackson. He was one of the first real world class athletes in the UFC and I felt that win would really convince a lot more people that the UFC was the real deal. When you got offered to fight Kevin Jackson, did you take that fight immediately or did you think about it for a second?

Frank Shamrock - Well, the fight had stipulations. I had to win about 15 days before, where I would be fighting Enson Enoue in Japan. So the winner of that match was gonna fight Kevin Jackson. So they offered me that match but they said I had to win this other match beforehand and I was hungry man, I wanted it so bad. I had wrestling coaches that wrestled up at Stanford and used to wrestle with Kevin Jackson and I knew that I could beat him because I would beat these guys so quickly with submissions, they just had no idea and I knew in my heart and soul that I could beat this guy. So when they gave me the shot and I had to get through Enson first, but they gave me the shot, I mean I was all over it.

thaFormula.com - To me the Enson fight was not only your best fight ever but one of the most action packed fights I have ever seen...

Frank Shamrock - It was the toughest fight I ever had.

thaFormula.com - Was that one of the main reasons you never really gave up in that fight man, because there were times in that fight when it looked like he had you?

Frank Shamrock - Well I mean I would never give up in a fight anyways because I'm just too stubborn and I wanna win so bad, but there were times in that fight honestly when I thought he was gonna beat me to death. But I never looked past the fight, and I knew I had the chance to fight Kevin Jackson next but I put my heart and soul in that Enson fight. That one damn near killed me.

thaFormula.com - I remember at the end of the fight how exhausted you were when the fight ended?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah I could barely stand up and I honestly have never had a fight so challenging physically and mentally and Enson really pushed me to the edge and made me question myself and made me dig really deep inside.

thaFormula.com - Do you and Enson ever see each other and talk about that fight man?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah we do. It was a pivotal fight in both of our careers because it was his entrance to the UFC or it was my entrance into the UFC and we sort of grew up together fighting in Japan in different shows but when your in the circuit you see each other and you kind of have camaraderie and what not, but yeah we talked afterwards and even after that we hung out and you know it created this weird bond between us 'cause we both fought so hard for something that we really believed in and somebody had to lose, thankfully it wasn't me.

thaFormula.com - When you look back at how his career ended up, do you ever look back and wonder what would have happened if it would have been him winning and entering the UFC instead of you?

Frank Shamrock - No, I mean he chose his path and he finally did make it in the UFC and had some success and did the things he wanted to do. He made it to Pride and became a big superstar in Japan. I have no regrets about my past and I always do everything I can at that moment to live up to what I believe is right and what I believe is gonna make me successful. I was just blessed on that day, I refused to die and thank goodness he did.

thaFormula.com - So you knew for sure that if you had the chance to fight Jackson you would beat him easily?

Frank Shamrock - I did. I knew it in my heart and soul and you know as soon as I began studying his body and in particular his fighting style, I knew exactly how I would beat him and I even started dreaming it weeks before. When I get to training and I'm really focused, I'm so deep nothing else effects me and I dream about these things and I dreamt that arm bar every night for about a week straight. I went in the gym and I told my coach "I'm gonna arm bar this guy," and he just kind of laughed at me. He said, no and I said "I dreamt it I'm telling you."

thaFormula.com - But did you ever imagine that you would have finished him in seconds?

Frank Shamrock - No, I thought he was gonna beat me up a little bit and throw me around but in training with my wresting coaches and with the Stanford team, I felt uh, every time a strong wrestler takes you down he posts his arms and uses those arms to keep his base nice and strong. So I just knew it was there, I just didn't know when I would get it.

thaFormula.com - Now as far as the deep breathing goes man and stretching, are you still really big on that?

Frank Shamrock - Oh yeah, everyday.

thaFormula.com - What made that such a big part of your training?

Frank Shamrock - Well for me it was pretty organic. You know if would get done after a hard day of training and sparring and I would feel real tight. My muscles would be tight and my lungs would be fatigued and my back muscles would be fatigued and I started looking for ways to kind of get through that fatigue and feel strong the next day and I just started kind of stretching myself and as I started stretching, I realized I was holding my breath and that was making me uncomfortable. So I started breathing as part of my stretching and I eventually made it part of all of my workouts and now that's how I warm up and that's how I cool down. After five years of this kind of organic training I ran into a student of mine who was a yoga instructor. He's like "man your doing yoga," and I realized I was. I had created this kind of yoga fighting concept to help relax and relieve the stress of straining my body and like I said I've been doing it ever since.

thaFormula.com - Did you feel a big difference in your fights? I mean did it help you recover a lot quicker during your fights?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah, 100 percent. I felt the difference in how I could control my breathing and at what pace and capacity my lungs could hold, and also it taught me how to relax in what would be considered strange and uncomfortable positions and now that's one of my biggest strengths. No matter where you put me, I know your not gonna hurt me and I could just relax and just accept positions and I can accept movements so that I don't take damage to my body.

thaFormula.com - How much has your training changed since you were UFC champ? I mean after you retired as UFC champ undefeated and saw the sport really evolve, have you added certain things to your training that you knew you had to add in order to compete with the fighters of today?

Frank Shamrock - I did man. I really focused the last few years on my striking. It had always been a weak point of mine and it's always been something that I wasn't as confident about because I didn't understand it that well. My first study was all grappling and wrestling so the past I would say 5 years, I focused exclusively on striking. Kicking, punching, clinch fighting and stuff like that and brought my game to a new level to where before I was well rounded, now I am perfectly well rounded.

thaFormula.com - But how do you know for sure that you've taken your striking to another level seeing that you really haven't fought but one or 2 times in the last few years?

Frank Shamrock - Well I guess it's all theory, but what I do is I travel and I teach a lot and during my travels, I wrestle and I spar with anybody and everybody that will allow me to do it and I keep my game sharp by traveling the world and seeing what other people are doing, testing myself against them and I keep my techniques sharp by training everyday. I mean this is my life and this is my lifestyle.

thaFormula.com - Even though it was your biggest weakness man, you still had pretty good striking for that time in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah, well the truth is I would throw punches and I would do all that but I didn't understand it. I just did it because I knew it was part of the game and I knew I had to cause damage and get inside. So now I understand the angles and I understand the distance and the timing of the game. When you talk about punching and kicking and attacking the brain and the body, you know it's really a very scientific defined art and it just took me a while to figure it out. Now I'm more mature, physically stronger, I'm in fantastic shape and with my understanding of stand up and my comfort and love of the ground, I mean it's ridiculous now.

thaFormula.com - Now the past few years many people have compared you to Rickson Gracie in how you have talked about fighting all the great fighters of today, but have only fought "B" level fighters since your retirement, going through this, do you kind of see now what Rickson Gracie has been going through the past decade?

Frank Shamrock - Well I don't really pay attention to most folks and I don't go on-line and read all the BS. It's a big waste of time for me. But you know the problem with being really good is that everyone wants to see you lose. I could beat everybody in the world like I did before and I could beat every top champ and every undefeated champion and there is still gonna be a new group of people that say "yeah but what if he fought so and so." I mean they still are saying "what if Bruce Lee fought so and so." Bruce has been dead for 40 years. The problem when you get really, really good is people love you or the hate you and the ones that dislike you, they wanna see you beat and they are always gonna have a story.

thaFormula.com - Do you view Rickson differently now though? I mean do you now see what he has faced all these years?

Frank Shamrock - Nah, because the truth is Rickson never fought real champions.

thaFormula.com - Even for the time and era he was fighting, you don't think he fought the best?

Frank Shamrock - No! First of all his 400-0 record is BS. You know he fought a bunch of unskilled guys that didn't know how to fight or he fought "B" level guys and I fought the best fighters in the world, undefeated fighters. Kevin Jackson had never lost, Igor Zinoviev had never lost, Jeremy Horn is still fighting and he has had over 100 fights, and Tito Ortiz. I fought real people and I started training with no martial arts experience at 22 years old. So I just look at it differently. Everyone wants to talk and everyone wants to tell a story and do whatever. I get in the ring and I do my talking there.

thaFormula.com - Eating wise, are there any foods that you eat during training that helps your recovery time or are your habits pretty much the same all the time?

Frank Shamrock - It's just a little different. I try to stick by eating good food most of the time. So if it's fried or processed I don't eat it. I try to eat live food, good food, fresh food. The rest of it I try to avoid. I don't drink sodas. I'm not a big dessert guy. I just try to eat clean and eating clean is like putting good fuel in your body.

thaFormula.com - Did you yourself ever really try to set up a fight with Rickson or Royce?

Frank Shamrock - Oh man, I tried all those. You know a fighter doesn't want to fight you when he throws out the most ridiculous sum of money in the world. "I'll fight you for 5 million dollars." That's when you know they don't wanna fight you.

thaFormula.com - But then on the other side of it though, people say the same thing about you and how you throw out ridiculous numbers to fight?

Frank Shamrock - But I don't, I throw out what I'm worth and what the industry can support and that's why I'm fighting now. The industry can support it. People are always gonna have an answer for whatever. Get in the ring and talk about it.

thaFormula.com - With the speed that the sport has evolved, do you really feel that you can still compete against the Lidell's, Silva's, Ortiz's, etc.?

Frank Shamrock - Oh Yeah! I'm a young man, my body is in the best shape it's ever been in and I have gotten more mature. I'm punching hard enough to break my hand, I'm kicking hard enough to break my own leg. I'm more patient and just a different type of fighter. You know I would like to think that I evolved with the times, we will see. I honestly think that there is not a fighter out there that can touch me.

thaFormula.com - A while before the fights ever went down, you said that you were pretty sure that Chuck (Liddell) had Tito's (Ortiz) number man and that he would be the one to beat Tito. Why were you so sure of this and how did you know that he would be the one?

Frank Shamrock - Because when I was 190lbs and Tito was 218lbs, he was scared of me punching him in the head. Tito does not like to get hit, he's deathly afraid of it. He doesn't understand it and he doesn't like it. So all Chuck wants to do is punch you in the head and he is a good wrestler, Tito is an okay wrestler. When I watch Tito's face when he's getting punched at, he is deathly scared of getting hit and you can't be that way. You get in a fist fight, your gonna get hit with a fist. I ain't scared to get hit, I just don't like it.

thaFormula.com - Now that you are back, do you ever regret retiring and do you wish you could have fought all the fighters that came up during the time the sport really evolved?

Frank Shamrock - No way, never. It was the smartest move I ever made.

thaFormula.com - Why do you say that?

Frank Shamrock - Because right now I would be 34 years old, I'd be crippled, broke and I wouldn't wanna fight anymore. I took that time to spend time with my family, start businesses, learn more about fighting and become educated as a martial artist and as a business man. Now I'm walking into the sport and I know what I'm worth. I know how to do the deal, I know how to make it, and I know how to make the sport better. I'm not a young guy anymore and I know how to make the world a better place and I know how to make a statement and that's what I'm doing.

thaFormula.com - And all these years what stopped you from going to Pride and what made you eventually fight Ceasar Gracie and finally really settle in on Extreme Combat?

Frank Shamrock - Well for Pride, they would never give me the fight I wanted and that was to fight Sakuraba.

thaFormula.com - Yeah I know that's what you always wanted man…

Frank Shamrock - That's what I wanted! You know I realize at the time that there wasn't really any money in the sport. There wasn't a lot going on. I busted my hump and you know I spent most of my money marketing myself because no one else was marketing fighters back then cause they were making the money on Pay Per-View so they weren't worrying about anybody else, but I knew what my brand was worth and I knew what I wanted to do with Frank Shamrock. I wanted to fight Sakuraba and every time I would start a negotiation with them, they would promise me Sakuraba and at the end of the day they would give me some goofy contract. So I never took it, I never bit. I worked with K-1 a little bit, I did pro kick boxing and then Ceasar Gracie thought I was old and washed up and he started to get on-line and challenged me to build a name for himself.

thaFormula.com - So I'm sure you thought that was a great opportunity for you seeing that you had always wanted to fight a Gracie right?

Frank Shamrock - I have always wanted to fight a Gracie and they would never, ever, ever fight me. So here was a Gracie who was publicly challenging me and saying he would do it and I called him on the phone at his school and said look if your serious, I'll put it together and make it happen and he said he was and it took me a little shy of 2 years to put it together, but we got it done and I knocked him out and the rest is history.

thaFormula.com - Now with that fight with Ceasar, did you imagine it ending that quickly?

Frank Shamrock - No. I was prepared for a drag-out fight, but I was really confident on my stand up and he went and made one tremendous mistake. He came in and decided that he was gonna stand up with me. That's just crazy at that point. My level and understanding of striking was ten fold of what his was.

thaFormula.com - Were you nervous at all for that fight though?

Frank Shamrock - A little bit, but mostly because I had put so much in the show and it was such a big deal because it was the first show in the state of California, I had done every news station within a hundred miles, and I really, really worked my butt off promoting that show and you know when your out of the ring for a while and you work so hard on something you just want it to be as good as it can be. So I was a little nervous but it was part of the game.

thaFormula.com - Do you think your fight with Allen Goes prepared you also for what it would be like to fight a Gracie seeing that he was such a great grappler?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah, I think he still is one of the best. Honestly though, I did not take that fight with Goes seriously though. When we were in Pancrase, if you weren't fighting a Japanese fighter that month, you usually took the month off. Because they were light years ahead of everybody else in submission wrestling and in grappling and you know I got my roster 6 weeks out and it said Goes and I said "that ain't Japanese" and I barely trained for that and he about got me. I broke his leg and we have been friends ever since, but that was a wake up call for me.

thaFormula.com - So what made you finally get down on a big show like Extreme Combat on a major channel like Showtime, and is this fight this Saturday night, Feb. 10th on Showtime against Renzo Gracie a one time thing with Extreme Combat or are you in it for the long haul?

Frank Shamrock - I'm in it man. I'm in it for 3 years with them. I will do a couple of fights a year. You know being on Showtime to me is a childhood dream. I used to watch Mike Tyson and all those guys on Showtime and being a part of that has always been one of my aspirations and you know one of the other reasons I didn't fight is because you know I'm fighting the same people over and over and the same shows over and over and it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't do anything. But fighting on Showtime, it's a prestigious network known for high quality events. You know that got me excited, and ProElite and EliteXC they are a great company. They got a great vision for the future in the live promotion and in the Internet concept and they are a real company. They treated me with respect and they gave me what I wanted and you know we jumped into bed together.

thaFormula.com - Was Renzo Gracie who you wanted to fight originally?

Frank Shamrock - I have always wanted Renzo. I have wanted Renzo Gracie for years. I'm just glad I got him before he gets too old. I just wanted a Gracie also and Renzo was the only one that would step up and take it.

thaFormula.com - Now fighting Renzo is gonna be different because he is probably the best of all the Gracie's that have fought. I think it's gonna be a real good fight...

Frank Shamrock - I think it's gonna be a great fight and I think it's gonna be a war and I know he's coming for me. He's got game. He's got a little bit of standup, he's got a great ground game, he's a very active ground fighter, he's a very active clinch fighter and I see this being a race to who does the most amount of damage first and or who gets caught and I'm throwing bombs at him man. I'm gonna see what he's got in his chin and I'm gonna see how he likes the taste of my knee on his chin. I think he's gonna suffer some serious damage trying to get through my hands and getting me to the ground.

thaFormula.com - Are you gonna approach the fight like Dan Henderson did with Renzo?

Frank Shamrock - Yeah, same concept. Stand him up, bang on him and make him work. You know he's weakest when he's trying to get somebody down or when he's trying to stand up with somebody and I been working exclusively with my wrestling team and with my boxing coach and with Maurice Smith and I've got some deadly hands and feet right now.

thaFormula.com - So seeing as you visualize your fights a lot, how have you seen this one going?

Frank Shamrock - Stick him fast with a quick jab, get him to duck that head down, hit him with the right uppercut and the left knee to feed to him. He lifts his chin a little bit when he throws that hook, I'm gonna pick off that hook with a right hand over the top, right hand, left hook, right hand and make him wrestle man. On the ground it's all anti-Jujitsu. I'm gonna make him work. I'm just gonna ball up and beat on him and pop up to my feet and punch him in the head.

thaFormula.com - How do you see organizations like Extreme Combat and Pride entering the scene and making major moves in the U.S. affecting the fight game where it has been all UFC for the last ten years or so?

Frank Shamrock - It's changing it for the better because the more competitors the better. There has got to be more brands out there then the UFC. It means the sport is growing, it means MMA is growing, it means it's a viable functioning industry and there are plenty of fans, plenty of fights and there is plenty of market place for everybody. I think in the future and hopefully it will happen within the next year, is to get some sort of undisputed champion. You need to get the champions from all these shows and get them in one spot and have them fight and see who the real deal is.

thaFormula.com - Do you think that's what is stopping it to where it will finally get to the point where you pick up the newspaper and it's on the front cover of every major newspapers sports section?

Frank Shamrock - That's the next stage for us because right now, we got a bunch of players and everybody's hoarding their pennies to themselves. There's enough money out there, there is enough fans so you know what, open the gates and let these guys fight and get some real support from the world, because it's about these athletes and how extraordinary they are. I mean they are ordinary people and that's the most extraordinary thing. When you expose that to regular people, they'll be like "these guys are crazy, we've got to see it!"

thaFormula.com - So you've got 3 years with Extreme Combat, what do you have planned for those 3 years?

Frank Shamrock - I want to fight the guys that are selling tickets. It don't matter to me who they are, but there are gonna be some young stars who come up, there is gonna be some old guys who make waves and I'll fight them all, I don't care.

feedback: info@thaformula.com

Be  sure to join the over 600,000 Industry Heads that have signed up to our exclusive mailing list!!  Click here to join and receive exclusive interviews only available to members. Leave contact info ( name, email address, city, state, and country) at info@thaformula.com.