Frank Shamrock Talks UFC, Pride, WEC, Brand Names, And More Frank Shamrock went into a good amount of detail about his philosophical differences with the owners of the UFC on Friday's MMAWeekly Radio Show. Frank said that he has no desire to return to the UFC because of "who's running the show and how they're doing it." Shamrock continued, "I don't like their course of action, and I'm not going to contribute to it." Frank's basic argument was that the UFC always tries to make the UFC brand name visible, and they should be promoting individual fighters instead. Host Ryan Bennett asked if part of the reason for the UFC's strategy is so that they're insulated from the impact of fighters leaving the company like Frank did, and Frank said that people don't understand how valuable a brand name like "Tito Ortiz" or "Frank Shamrock" is. He said it would only take one, two, or maybe three guys to change the sport the same way that Michael Jordan changed pro basketball and Hulk Hogan changed pro wrestling.
Frank Shamrock also revealed that Pride has made him an offer to fight in the Middleweight Grand Prix starting on August 10, but he hasn't given them an answer and he highly doubts that he will fight in the tournament. Frank said that the contract Pride is offering him is pretty much everything he has ever asked for, but the timing is off because he would like his next fight to be in October or November instead. Shamrock said, "Fighting once or twice a year is more than enough for me," and he also said that he would like his next opponent to be one level above his previous opponent Bryan Pardoe, and the next opponent to be one more level up, etc. Frank said that he would like to fight on Pride's first show on American soil in January 2004, but he has very little interest in entering the Middleweight Grand Prix this year.
Other news from the interview included the fact that the recent WEC event (during which Frank made his MMA return) is going to be marketed as a pay-per-view event in "some pay-per-view homes," although it wasn't specified whether that would include InDemand and DirecTV. Frank said that the PPV will be available in mid-August, with the DVD being released sometime thereafter. Frank also said that his student Rich Crunkilton dislocated his elbow two different times during his UFC 42 fight with Hermes Franca. Crunkilton will soon have elbow surgery to "get some things reattached," and he should be good to go six months after the surgery date. Frank said that he has quickly found in training Don Frye that he is very determined to beat Mark Coleman. Shamrock said that Frye's physical strength and mental fortitude are amazing.