Greetings!
From what I saw, and from what the referee saw, there was no defending of the sequence of elbows, and surely Shamrock would've caught more of them, turning his head into a bloody mess.
From the algle of the referee there was no action or control of the hips with the legs, and Shamrocks left arm wasn't defending them elbows.
That makes it a good call.
The fact that Shamrock was not completely destroyed and hurt doesn't mean he didn't lose the sporting match.
Personally, I would've liked to see more. Yet from the point of view of a working referee, I have to be on the side of the ref, since protecting the fighters is one of the job descriptions.
Sicnerely,
Juan M. Mercado