Former UFC Middleweight Champ Frank Shamrock meets Phil Baroni on the EliteXC June PPV.
MMA Fighting reports that Frank Shamrock and Phil Baroni will meet for the Middleweight title on Judgement Day, the June EliteXC PPV.
The following is how MMA Fighting.com described each fighter:
Arguably the most physically gifted individual to ever step in the cage, the 34-year-old Shamrock, also a former King Of Pancrase, has been dubbed by the fight press as the “closest thing mixed martial has to Muhammad Ali” for his combination of versatile skills quick witted mind games that he has so often used to gain a sharp advantage over his opposition.
During his illustrious career, Shamrock has taken out the likes of UFC poster boy Tito Ortiz as well as mixed martial arts legend, Bas Rutten. His 16 second submission of former Olympic Wrestling Gold Medalist Kevin Jackson on December 21, 1997 set a new UFC record for stoppage of a fight.
On March 10th of last year, Shamrock ended a near three year hiatus from action and rekindled the sport’s oldest family rivalry when he faced longtime nemesis, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, Cesar Gracie, in the main event of the historic, first-ever sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in the state of California that took place at the HP Pavilion. Before a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265, Shamrock decimated Gracie, sending him to the canvas with a hard right hand that set up a 21 second technical knockout.
Shamrock returned to the cage on February 10th of this year to meet another famed member of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s first family, Renzo Gracie. The contest ended in a controversial manner, with Shamrock being disqualified for throwing two illegal knee strikes to Gracie’s head while the two fighters struggled on the ground.
With his brilliant punching power and dynamic energy that triggers his edgy persona, the 30-year-old Baroni poses an imminent threat to Shamrock’s legacy.
In 2001, Baroni, a native of Long Island, New York, exploded onto the UFC scene and, one year later, established himself as a credible star by pummeling former UFC middleweight champion, Dave Menne, only 18 seconds into their matchup.
Of late, Baroni has been making noise with the Japan-based Pride Fighting Championship. During the organization’s first-ever fight card in The United States on October 21st, Baroni thrilled a packed house at Las Vegas, Nevada’s Thomas and Mack Center as well as a Pay-Per-View audience when he forced famed Japanese boxer, Yosuke Nishijima, into submission with a kimura hold.
Ironically, Baroni recently joined the world-class fight team at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), the former home of Shamrock. The alliance has thickened the bad blood between the two fighters.