Neither Shamrock Nor White Are Telling the Truth

The never-ending war of words between UFC President Dana White and the company's former embattled middleweight champion Frank Shamrock has found new life once again.

Long a fixture in the San Jose community, Shamrock has opted to put up shop in Manhattan this coming February in hopes of speeding along the quest to legalize MMA in the state of New York, a venture that has been met with much apprehension among state officials who still believe the sport to be barbaric.

Surprisingly, despite being one of the most active supporters of the cause, Shamrock believes that White is actually the biggest reason why politicians have opposed the process thus far.

"The face of our sport is Dana White and out here in conservative New York, the way people think, bald-headed, tattoo'd, swearing people are just not a good representative of our brand and unfortunately people think that Dana White speaks for MMA, and they're confused," Shamrock told MMA Fanhouse's Ariel Helwani on a recent edition of "The MMA Hour". "They don't know he speaks for the UFC. They think he speaks for the entire sport and [they think] the entire sport is made up of Dana Whites.

"I don't think it's all on him. But we're entering a new era of social media and Dana is a very outspoken figure in every way, mostly with the f-bomb and all that. I'm a martial artist. To me, the art is the most important thing. I don't get the same thing from Dana, that's all."

Shamrock also went on to say that local politicians have hinted to him that White projects an appearance of the sport that they aren't fond of. Needless to say, White didn't take Shamrock's remarks too kindly.

In a response to Helwani last Wednesday, White hurled a string of insults at Shamrock and questioned what he would actually do to help bring MMA to the likes of Madison Square Garden in the near future.

"Frank Shamrock is an irrelevant jackass," White said. "He's a two-faced, lying... I bet he didn't tell you on your radio show that he flew out to my office a month ago to try and make piece with me. He didn't? That's weird."

"You're a two-faced, lying chump Frank Shamrock. That's what you are. You aren't going to do anything. What have you done for mixed martial arts in the last 10 years? What have you done? Nothing. You're just a liar and a guy that's trying to keep himself relevant."

That's some of what has been said. As for my take on things, I feel that both White and Shamrock are two-faced. That's not me throwing insults, that's just saying that both of them are guilty. The pair have been accused of failing to tell the complete truth about certain things, and each other, in the past. It's almost the pot calling the kettle black in a way.

Whether or not Shamrock and White had a conversation a month ago is the only thing that irrelevant. Shamrock has even admitted to it happening, but that's beside the point. The only thing that matters in regards to their feud is that it has to stop. There's no reason for the vendetta to continue on like this, and it's something that goes far beyond Shamrock's allegiances with Strikeforce and Showtime.

Essentially erasing Shamrock from the UFC history books is exactly what I'm talking about. When do you ever hear or read Shamrock being mentioned by a UFC mouthpiece? He remains one of their greatest champions to date and the greatest 205 lb. title holder in company history in the eyes of some. Omitting him from the list of the UFC's greatest fights leading up to UFC 100 last year was disgusting in my eyes.

An immediate UFC Hall-of-Fame induction is needed for Shamrock, Pat Miletich and Tito Ortiz. Strikeforce affiliated or not, and bad blood aside, neglecting to mention Shamrock among the UFC greats is only doing a disservice to this sport and its fans.

There might be hope though. We have to remember that it was just last year when White said that making up with Ortiz could also lead to him mending things with Shamrock. We won't hold our breath.

As far as the issues in New York are concerned, it will be a stretch to see if either the UFC or Shamrock will have a significant impact on the battle. The UFC has yet to stray away from their original strategy that they implemented a few years ago and instead have resorted to attempting to get in bed with the potential next governor of the state instead of trying something new.

Shamrock wanting to push the martial arts side of the sport is all well and good. It might even grab the attention of a select few, but it will most likely turn off those who don't understand what he's talking about. Anyone who saw his interview with ESPN a few years back will no doubt agree.