By Scoop Malinowski

When it comes to the psychological and physical components of one-on-one MMA combat one of the top minds to consult on such matters is Frank Shamrock. The MMA icon shared his views on the upcoming Fedor-Sylvia showdown, his finest performance and the toughest man he ever faced in this interview…

MMAOnline.com: How do you see Fedor vs. Sylvia playing out?

Frank Shamrock: “Ah, I think Fedor’s gonna rush him. Drop some bombs on him. Lay him out.”

MMAOnline.com: Do you still think he’s the best heavyweight fighter in the world today?

Frank Shamrock: “I think he probably is. It’s hard to tell because he hasn’t fought in a while. Certainly has the skills – before he started taking big layoffs. So it’s just hard to tell.”

MMAOnline.com: Is he unbeatable?

Frank Shamrock: “Uh uh. Nobody’s unbeatable. In MMA.”

MMAOnline.com: But he’s shown like the least vulnerability.

Frank Shamrock: “Yeah. He’s had a lot of tough fights. But he’s also been matched well. He’s really good. But everybody has a weakness.”

MMAOnline.com: What do you think his is?

Frank Shamrock: “His weakness – he punches kind of loopy. So he’s available to crisp counterpunches down the center. He’s available to be controlled on the ground by a good wrestler.”

MMAOnline.com: Which fighters do you think Fedor kind of side-stepped? That could have posed problems for him?

Frank Shamrock: “I don’t think it’s so much that he sidestepped anybody. I think it’s just that there were – styles make fights. And there were intriguing stylistic matchups that were kind of waited on during his career. Or that were put second.”

MMAOnline.com: Against who? Which names?

Frank Shamrock: “Nogueira. Nogueira was waited on a little bit. That’s the only one I can think of off the top of my head.”

MMAOnline.com: In which of your matches do you think you were at your absolute sharpest, best?

Frank Shamrock: “The best performance I ever had was fighting Tito Ortiz. Just everything worked perfectly that night.”

MMAOnline.com: A flawless performance?

Frank Shamrock: “Yeah, no mistakes. Nothing. I got cut but even then it wasn’t my fault.”

MMAOnline.com: Who would you say is the toughest man you faced?

Frank Shamrock: “Was a guy named Enson Inoue 1997 (Vale Tudo). I honestly thought he was going to beat me to death.”

MMAOnline.com: Why? What was it about him that made him seem superior?

Frank Shamrock: “He was a killer [smiles]. He had that killer’s edge. Guys like Kimbo, guys like Baroni, they have that, they’re killers. I’m an artist. It takes me a while to work up to that killer stage [laughs].”

MMAOnline.com: How did you offset Enson in that match?

Frank Shamrock: “I wore him out with technique and attrition. Then I stood him up and knocked him out.”

MMAOnline.com: What did he say to you after the fight?

Frank Shamrock: “Thank you.”

MMAOnline.com: [Laughter] Oh yeah?

Frank Shamrock: “Because it was, to him, he was at that moment where he thought he was unbeatable. So to him it was like a growing moment.”

MMAOnline.com: He said thank you? That was the first thing he said?

Frank Shamrock: “Yeah, he was battling his own ego. And then the truth kind of presented itself. Made for a great fight, a great night and, you know, he thanked me after.”