By TLOS listener, Barry Pape
On June 26, 2010, a man named Shamrock retired. Unfortunately for the world of MMA, it wasn’t the one that really should have.
This past Saturday night in Sydney, Australia, Ken “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Shamrock took on Pedro Rizzo in the main event of the second Impact FC PPV. The announcers mused about how well the 46 year old Shamrock could do against the 36 year old Rizzo, and by the middle of the first round, we all had the answer.
The answer wasn’t a good one, as the fight was ended at the 3:33 mark with Shamrock collapsing after feeling the effects of Rizzo’s brutal kicks.
In the post fight interview, Shamrock was asked if he would continue to fight after this performance, and Shamrock said that he would as long as the fans wanted to see him “get his ass kicked.”
Believe me Mr. Shamrock, we do not want to see that.
Unlike his adopted brother Frank, who had the good sense to retire from competitive MMA (albeit in a terribly contrived ceremony in the middle of the Strikeforce: Fedor/Werdum card), Ken still believes that he can compete in modern MMA.
Unfortunately for Ken, his record makes one thing painfully clear; he cannot.
In his last seven fights, Ken Shamrock is 1-6, and that one win was against Ross Clifton at the Wargods MMA event in Fresno, California. After that fight, Shamrock tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for one year. Though initially denying he had used performance enhancing drugs, in June of 2010 Shamrock finally admitted taking the drugs to Mike Straka of “Fighting Words” on HDNet.
Shamrock has not had a meaningful win in just over 6 years, a UFC 48 victory over Kimo Leopoldo by knockout. In his last eight fights, the Rizzo fight is the longest that Shamrock has been in the fight at 3:33. Shamrock has not had a fight progress past the first round since November of 2002, a TKO loss in his first fight against Tito Ortiz.
So in eight years, Shamrock has lost 8 fights, only been past the first round twice (a February 2002 split decision loss against Don Frye at PRIDE 19 was Ken’s other foray outside the first round), and in his last 6 losses, he has lost to strikes in each fight, making it very obvious that Ken’s reflexes have diminished.
Unfortunately for fans of MMA, Ken Shamrock’s legacy as such things as being the first UFC Superfight Champion and a King of Pancrase are being overshadowed by his stubborn refusal to realize that he is no longer relevant in MMA circles. Ken was to be sacrificed to Kimbo Slice in the now infamous Elite XC event in which he sustained a deep cut in the afternoon of the fight, forcing a late replacement by Seth Petruzelli that ultimately killed Elite XC. The Shaws picked Shamrock because of his track record at that time; Kimbo is a puncher, and Shamrock had lost his last five fights before that to strikes of some kind.
One can only hope that Shamrock has people that will advise him to follow Frank’s example and retire somewhat gracefully. Unfortunately for all of us fans, so far those people have not given the correct advice.
So please Ken Shamrock, take some time off, rest and recover after this fight, and realize that the reason that it is taking so long to recover is because you are a 46 year old man in a young man’s sport. The shoot style you were famous for in the 1990s is not effective anymore. Your fights against Tito Ortiz should have taught you that.
Please Ken Shamrock, retire.
Posts
5 comments:
Frank Shamrock said that main reason why he decided to retire is because he was spending more time at rehab than in training or at home.
I think that someone should set up a "Ken Shamrock please retire paypal account.'
But at least Frank realized that he couldn't do it anymore...Ken hasn't realized it, and I really hoped that in his post fight interview with Elvis Sinosic that Ken would have come to the epiphany that he can't do it anymore...he didn't, and Ken really thinks that people want to see him fight...
I do want to see Ken, but as a trainer, or just sitting in the crowd being praised for being an early legend of the sport that he is...
I realize that Ken thinks he's like Randy Couture and can keep fighting, but Couture's fighting style limits the amount of punches that he takes. Even so, Randy is noticeably slowing down, and pretty soon he is going to get hurt badly (maybe, but not likely, against James Toney). Ken's style can be easily countered in modern MMA, since he shoots for the hips and tries to go for the legs, leaving the arms and elbows free to pound on him. Also, especially in the Rizzo fight, Ken thinks he can keep standing with people, when his striking was never that technical because of his early Pancrase career.
I can understand why its hard to retire from something you spent your entire life trying to perfect your abilities but Shammrock doesn't have to retire he just needs to pick easier fights, like Dan Severn who still has a decent record at his age.
I totally agree, Shamrock should hang up the gloves while he still has the tiniest amount of dignity left.
One of his worst performances apart from the Rizo fight was against 'Buzz' Berry in Englands Cage Rage. A bloody embarrasment considering Berry is stiff and gasses quick.
If Ken quits now, swallows his pride and realises that he's finished, he could then be known as a good trainer but even remembering back to the Ultimate Fighter show, he never even showed trainer skills there come to think of it. He runs the danger of being remembered as a joke and not the great fighter he used to be. People only remember your last few fights, not your career, and this will weigh heavily on Kens legacy.
Father time has caught up with him and he needs a reality check and accept that he is too old, too slow and too fragile.
Retire???!!! The man had a couple bad fights... he'll be back. He will dominate in the UFC, once again!
Post a Comment