And that's why Del Rosario is definitely worthy of note at this stage in his career. You see, at Strikeforce Challengers Series 4 against Brandon Cash, he showed the kind of heart and toughness that makes you believe he could eventually become something special in the game, rising from up from a very difficult beginning in the fight to prove his mettle.
"I knew he was going to come out very strong from the get go," Rosario said of Cash. "I had watched his previous fights. I was prepared for that." Of course, there's a difference between simply coming out strong and almost ending the fight, which is exactly what Cash nearly succeeded in doing. "I just threw that left hand and I think he was throwing a punch at the same exact time and totally rocked me (laughing). I actually didn't know it dropped me. I thought he punched me and took me down."
But despite getting knocked to the canvas and eating some significant ground and pound and flurries from there, Del Rosario managed to survive. In fact, he did more than that from his back, noting that, "I think my body turned second nature and kind of tried to do what I've been taught to do."
And that second nature or instinct allowed him to snatch victory from despair with a rare omoplata submission. So when he says that, "it was cool I got to show that I was versatile, that I have some ground game, and I can take a punch," the man was speaking the truth.
So for more on a fighter that shows some significant potential, read on.
More Shane Del Rosario Interview Responses
On pulling off a rare omoplate submission in a big spot: "Everyone's been saying that since I did that in the fight (it's hard to pull off an omoplata). I've been working with Giva Santana, my teammate and my jiu jitsu coach. That's a move I've just been working a lot on, and in training I've been getting a lot of people. I just like that move. I don't know, maybe it's just easy for me or something. . .My jiu jitsu game is coming along and getting better."
On whether the Cash fight was his toughest in MMA to date: "Yes, definitely. That was the only fight that I've been in the position where I almost lost. . .in MMA. I've had one Muay Thai fight where I actually came out crazy and got caught with a head kick and got dropped."
On his background in martial arts: "Actually, when I first started it was my senior year in high school. I started training with Marco Ruas. We did everything; it was MMA, (so) wrestling, jiu jitsu, kickboxing. I kind of did that informally, off and on because my main focus was college. As soon as I graduated in 2001 (Del Rosario graduated UCI with a degree in psychology), I went to Colin Oyama and from there I concentrated solely on Muay Thai and was doing Muay Thai smokers and had a few pro Muay Thai fights when I first started with him. After that, we just started doing MMA. I've been kind of training everything together."
On Team Oyama and opening up a new gym: "It's such a good match for me. When I graduated college, I took a break from training for a couple years. When I went there, there was a good team atmosphere, there's about fifteen guys, we're all doing the same thing every day, training, getting ready for our fights. I've got a job here teaching. It's just a really good fit. . . We're just about to open up our new gym (in Irvine), on our own, just the team. So it's a very exciting time for all of us."
On future fights: I know there's a lot of up and coming heavyweights in Strikeforce. I just have a lot of things to work on with myself. . . .I just want to fight the guys they put ahead of me for now. We'll see later down the road if I'm a contender or not."
In the end: "I want to thank all my family, my sponsors, everyone who's been there for me, supporting me, helping me get along to where I 'm at right now."
