Why, Shamrock, Why?
By Matthew DeGonzaque (Aug 24, 2006)
News coming out from the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) media that a very unnecessary third fight between Ken ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ Shamrock and Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz has been signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). The fight is supposed to go down October 10th on a live episode of UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night. The news of this fight being signed has called Ken Shamrock’s judgment about where he is in his MMA career and the circumstances surrounding it into question.

Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz have had a very long and publicized feud; it could potentially be the biggest the sport has ever seen. They have fought twice before and both times Ortiz has come out on top. The first time, Shamrock was beaten
just about as decisively as you can get and his team threw in the towel after the third round. Shamrock waited four years to finally get the chance to avenge that loss. The rematch happened on July 8th at UFC 61 and was mired in controversy. The fight started with Ken coming out swinging, looking for a quick knockout victory, but soon Tito put Ken onto the ground and used his signature ground and pound on Ken and after about four or five elbows that landed clean on Ken’s face, who appeared was getting his hands up, the referee jumped in and stopped it. The crowd was upset, Shamrock was irate and yelling at the referee that he was fine and the fight shouldn’t have been stopped, but to no avail. The official result: Tito Ortiz TKO Ken Shamrock in 1:18 of the first round.

That is not what Ken Shamrock had in mind after four years of waiting and was quick to scream “BULLSHIT” to everyone who could listen. While I can agree with Ken in that the stoppage came too fast…I have no doubt in my mind that Tito Ortiz was another ten or fifteen seconds away from getting a stoppage win over Ken that wouldn’t have been questioned. As far as I’m concerned, even though I didn’t like the stoppage myself, Tito Ortiz has answered all the questions regarding who is the superior fighter in his feud with Ken. He is now officially 2-0 over Ken and looked great beating Shamrock both times. The only questions left now are coming from Ken Shamrock, who even filed an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission to get the decision overturned, to get his third fight with Ortiz because the MMA media and fans have already realized the truth: Ken Shamrock cannot beat Tito Ortiz.

So why is this third fight happening?

It’s happening because Ken Shamrock cannot live with being 0-2 against Tito Ortiz in a feud that may define his career after he retires. Shamrock also suffered the humiliation of Tito getting all the acclaim on the reality show ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. Ken and Tito coached a team of fighters against each other and Tito’s team came out on top almost every time, Tito came off like a guy who wanted to help his fighters improve and make it too the next level meanwhile Ken came off as a legend with a chip on his shoulder who just signed up to coach so he could get the chance to fight Tito again (is anyone even willing to dispute that?). With the quick stoppage in the second fight, Ken has found himself a reason (or excuse) to get another shot to beat Ortiz.

It usually is pretty hard to promote a third fight between two guys when one guy has clearly lost twice already. But UFC is using the quick stoppage as a way to promote a rubber match and help make people think Ken Shamrock actually has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning this time.

But the reality of the situation that Ken Shamrock doesn’t want to face, but will have too eventually, is that he is forty-two years old and should consider retirement. Since Ken made his comeback to MMA in 2000, after spending a few years in pro wrestling, he has gone 3-6. His 3 wins haven’t been against opponents that you brag about either – Alexander Otsuka (who is currently 3-12 in MMA), Sam Adkins (who is 7-17-2) and Kimo (who is 9-5-1). Kimo is a respectable fighter and a good name to have on your resume, but he definitely should not be the highlight win of your comeback to the sport. Ken Shamrock just doesn’t have it in him to hang with the elite anymore. He is becoming the sport’s version of Evander Holyfield. Although Ken hasn’t gone as far downhill as Holyfield has and hopefully he realizes he can prevent his fans from seeing that happen by retiring.

Ken Shamrock has nothing left to prove. In his prime, he was one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport and fought every big name the business had to offer (he has taken on the elite in today’s era as well). But today, Ken is just a shadow of his former self.

Although I’m calling for Ken to retire, I still wouldn’t mind seeing him in a farewell fight against someone like Kazuyuki Fujita or Don Frye at Heavyweight since Ken is much more effective at that weight than at Light Heavyweight. Ken deserves that much at least, a chance to leave with the sport with a win.

When Ken Shamrock steps into the Octagon at Ultimate Fight Night 7 against Tito Ortiz for the third time I predict that in this fight Ken will take more of a beating than he did in the second fight. I have a feeling Ken may take a lot of unnecessary punishment, as a result of the quick stoppage from the second fight, so as to prevent any questions of a controversial stoppage this time.

Before I wrote this, a rumor leaked that Ken Shamrock would retire after his fight with Tito Ortiz. While I think it’s a good idea, I have to remember that Ken has retired twice before. Once in 1996, when he went to work for World Wrestling Entertainment, and in 2002, when he lost to Tito Ortiz the first time. If this is true, hopefully Ken sticks to his word and stays in retirement. He deserves nothing more than to live in a good life after MMA and be respected for the legend that he is.


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Matthew at: mdegonzaque@hotmail.com
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