Frank Shamrock, coach of the International Fight League's San Jose Razorclaws, told MMAWeekly on Wednesday that he has been released by the organization and his team removed from the roster.
"They said they were going a different direction with their business,” stated the current Strikeforce and former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder. “They're good people and they're a good company. They've got a hard road ahead of them. I'm still willing to help in any way because they treated me real good."
The Razorclaws will not be a part of the 2008 IFL season, but Shamrock believes that at least one of his fighters will carry over elsewhere in the league.
"I think they cut everybody but Brian Foster and he's in the Grand Prix, so he's got his chance coming up. I think they're going to reassign him to a new team. He's got a couple of teams that he has the option to go to."
Kurt Otto, commissioner of the IFL, had indicated that changes were forthcoming when he held a recent conference call with the media. Instead of initial plans that called for the league to expand from its current stable of 12 to 16 teams in 2008, he stated, “We're pretty much going to hold ground at twelve teams, (but) we've already added two coaches into our league as far as Mario Sperry and Ian Freeman, who have already started building their teams. They're going to be replacing two existing coaches.”
He continued, "Those two are going to be replacing certain teams which we're going to be announcing in the next two to three weeks. Even though two or three teams [are] leaving, we're still going to keep certain athletes of those teams that were able to compete and have them go on to new teams."
With IFL coaching behind him, Shamrock is now focused on his fighting career and personal life.
"I'm going to fight Renzo (Gracie) in April,” although he did not state where or for what organization, “(and) my wife is having a baby in May, and then I'll probably fight again in (or around) September."
"They said they were going a different direction with their business,” stated the current Strikeforce and former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder. “They're good people and they're a good company. They've got a hard road ahead of them. I'm still willing to help in any way because they treated me real good."
The Razorclaws will not be a part of the 2008 IFL season, but Shamrock believes that at least one of his fighters will carry over elsewhere in the league.
"I think they cut everybody but Brian Foster and he's in the Grand Prix, so he's got his chance coming up. I think they're going to reassign him to a new team. He's got a couple of teams that he has the option to go to."
Kurt Otto, commissioner of the IFL, had indicated that changes were forthcoming when he held a recent conference call with the media. Instead of initial plans that called for the league to expand from its current stable of 12 to 16 teams in 2008, he stated, “We're pretty much going to hold ground at twelve teams, (but) we've already added two coaches into our league as far as Mario Sperry and Ian Freeman, who have already started building their teams. They're going to be replacing two existing coaches.”
He continued, "Those two are going to be replacing certain teams which we're going to be announcing in the next two to three weeks. Even though two or three teams [are] leaving, we're still going to keep certain athletes of those teams that were able to compete and have them go on to new teams."
With IFL coaching behind him, Shamrock is now focused on his fighting career and personal life.
"I'm going to fight Renzo (Gracie) in April,” although he did not state where or for what organization, “(and) my wife is having a baby in May, and then I'll probably fight again in (or around) September."