To say Tito Ortiz and Frank Shamrock are not legends in MMA would be as close to blasphemy in the sport as one could get. Both men set the bar for MMA in their own unique ways. Shamrock was a little more reserved and humble, while Ortiz was outspoken and outlandish. The two did face each other at UFC 22 where the larger more powerful Ortiz gave Shamrock a run for his money before Shamrock was able to finish the fight with back to the head strikes. That was sketchy enough but so was what Ortiz did earlier in the match. At one point Ortiz was in Shamrock's guard at which point he grabbed a cut which had already developed over Shamrock's guard and pulled it open further. The idea was to cause Shamrock more pain as he had a great ground game. This was one of those situations where something had never been addressed in the lack of rules but was now that the bridge had to be crossed. Needless to say that particular action was outlawed in UFC fights. Shamrock "retired" and Ortiz would win the title and set a record only broken by Jon Jones.
Matthew Salzer fell in love with Mixed Martial Arts when he watched Pride Fighting Championships on Japanese TV. He is a lifelong wrestler having earned a Bachelor of Science at Missouri Baptist University. Matthew is the Senior Editor at MMA Freak and has written for Funky Monkey MMA, H4 Entertainment, and MMA Fiends.
