Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock was introduced into the world of MMA by his adopted father Bob Shamrock, and initially trained with his adopted brother Ken Shamrock. Frank was a submission master with wins over some of the greatest names in the business. Shamrock was once the middleweight champion of the UFC and, like his opponent Bas Rutten, was a former King of Pancrase. His MMA record was 20-7-1.

Bas Rutten

At the time, Bas Rutten was the charismatic commentator for the now-defunct Pride Fighting Championships, but despite his skill behind the mic, “El Guapo” had fought and beaten some of the toughest opponents that the world of MMA had to offer. Originating from Holland, Rutten was a Muay Thai stylist and his deadly striking abilities formed the base of his fighting style. Once he developed his ground game, he became one of the most feared and able men in the world of fighting, and had a record of 27-4-1 to prove it.

Best of three?

With two previous meetings and one win each, on the 16 May 1996 Frank Shamrock and Bas Rutten faced each other for one last time. As both held the esteemed status of King of Pancrase (achievable only by winning one of the annual tournaments Pancrase once held) there were many questions to be answered.

The first sight of the fighters the crowd got to see was footage of them warming up backstage. First was Frank Shamrock, who was throwing some low kicks at Thai pads. The kicks were being thrown with only a moderate percentage of power, and would have been intended to set up a takedown more than actually hurt the opponent. The camera cut to Bas Rutten’s locker room, where the charismatic man was also warming up by throwing kicks. With the pads held aloft by Semmy Schilt, Rutten delivered thunderous kick after kick into the leather.

Shamrock was the first to walk out to the ring and was shortly followed by Rutten. The fact that both these combatants were in peak physical condition was evident when they removed their robes. As per his habit, Bas had also taken the effort to draw two “R’s” on the back of his hands to remind him to “relax” when he was in the ring.

The ref gave the signal and the fight was underway. Rutten and Shamrock approached each other with their hands in slightly lower guards than in fights where closed fist strikes to the face are legal, thus protecting the body a little more.

Shamrock circled to his right and threw a few leg kicks to feel the Dutchman out. One of them caught Rutten on the knee guard and misplaced it. Bas stepped back and readjusted the guard, in a similar style to perhaps how a hunter would cock a gun. They reapproached each other and Bas let one of his infamous leg kicks go. It cracked into Shamrock, who shot in for a takedown. At first, Bas managed to defend, but both men ended up in the corner of the ring. Frank pressured Bas before managing to secure a body lock which turned into a belly-to-belly suplex out of the corner. Shamrock took side control and looked for a weakness in the Dutchman’s ground game where he could attempt a submission. Shamrock placed his elbow on Rutten’s throat and then moved into the north/south position to which Rutten turned the American and scrambled back to his feet with his opponent still clinging to him. Bas got a little bit of distance between himself and Shamrock and threw a wild knee that just missed its mark.

What was that noise?

Back on their feet and Rutten connected with a leg kick that makes such deep, sickening thud that Shamrock looked down at his thigh in disbelief. Rutten them fired another kick to the inside of the same thigh and then a front kick which Shamrock saw coming. He managed to secure another take down and followed it with short body shots. Rutten replied with noisy open hand strikes to the face. The ref however felt that there was insufficient action and stood the two men back up.

To the body and to the head

Bas threw another front kick and followed it up with a strike to the head which was too much for the American to absorb. Shamrock dropped to the canvas and was met with the referee’s count. Shamrock responded to the count and was back to his feet but was relieved of a point.

Bas sensed an opportunity and fired another front kick which was grabbed by Shamrock. He drove into the Dutchman backward looking to take it to the ground, but was a little too successful as both men fell between the ropes and out of the ring!

On re-entrance to the ring Rutten looked pissed off, but Shamrock looked to have borne the brunt of the fall and looked decidedly shaky. The ref checked with Shamrock that he was okay to continue and after getting the nod, Rutten rushed in for the kill with a huge right kick. When Shamrock dodged one of Rutten’s low kicks, the Dutchman simply spun around and cracked the back of his hands across Shamrock's face, making him screw up his eyes and wince with pain. The ref then checked a slight cut above Shamrock’s left eye and after a few seconds consultation with the doctor they gave the okay for the fight to continue.

Forget about it!

Rutten glanced Shamrock with a front kick which moved the American back into the ropes. Shamrock, looking to retaliate with a kick of his own, grabbed the rope for additional leverage or perhaps for better balance and fired off a kick at Rutten. The ref saw this as being a rope escape and stopped the fight to deduct a point. Shamrock was visibly annoyed and seemed to tell the ref to “forget about it!”

At the restart, the similar act of Rutten kick, Shamrock shoot was reenacted again. This time ending up against the ropes. Rutten threw a tight knee that glanced off Shamrock's forehead and made the American roll backward. Ever the showman, Shamrock used the momentum to stand up and raise his arms to the recognition of the adoring Japanese fans! Shamrock then took the initiative and threw a kick followed by a takedown attempt which missed and left him exposed to strikes from above. Shamrock spun to grab at Rutten's ankles but the Dutchman stepped back. Frank looked at him from the ground and shouted out “Want it on the ground?” but Rutten was having none of Frank’s strong suit.

The next takedown was timed perfectly and ended up with the two fighters looking for ankle lock on each other. At one very scary moment, they both seemed to have secured ankle locks and were twisting the ankles in ugly directions but neither tapped. Shamrock scrambled from this position and tried to set up another ankle lock. This attempt left his head open to strikes and Rutten didn’t need a second opportunity. Bas hit Shamrock four, five, six times all in the same place and all on the cut that he had initially opened up. Every strike that Rutten threw was ridiculed by Shamrock, who began pulling faces and sticking his tongue out at him! Seeing red, Rutten cracked his fist into Shamrock’s face, and was awarded a red card for his trouble. A closed fist to the face under Pancrase rules, was illegal at the time.

After Rutten was dealt with by the ref, the two athletes locked up again and Rutten was backed up into the ropes, where he saw the opportunity to apply a guillotine choke. And although Shamrock escaped. He dropped to the floor and was given a 9-count. Shamrock was not happy, but neither was the referee, who called the Doctor over for another look at the cut above Shamrock's eye. After a few moments, the Doctor said that Shamrock could not continue, and the ref awarded the fight to Rutten who celebrated with his traditional jumping splits. That night it was Rutten who was “big in Japan!”

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