Ken Shamrock was very unlucky throughout his career.

[VanMMA]

• In the first Gracie fight Ken wasn't allowed to wear his wrestling boots so his feet started slipping.
• In the 3rd fight he got hit with a nut shot that went unnoticed. As a result, he was robbed of his chance at redemption.
• BS decision losses to Severn and Frye.
• Lost to Fujita due to heart problems after beating the absolute crap out of him.
• Was way past his prime in his most high-profile rivalry against Tito. As a result, he lost 3 times.

Indeed, I would say Ken is one the unluckiest fighters.

 

[Patrick Jane]

True that. He had the potential to get way better results in his career. Lot's of bad luck indeed.

 

[The ScorpioN]

OP reads like an outline of Ken's books.

 

[Ash E Larry]

Plus he has to stand in the shadow of Frank Shamrock, the real fighter in the family.

 

[RaskeDanzig]

I love Ken but let's not be stupid. Maybe he wouldn't have had heart problems in the fujita fight if he wasn't abusing steroids. And there was nothing BS about his loss to Frye

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Shamrock was neither quite as good as people thought at the time nor quite as good as we sometimes nostalgically remember. He wasn't bad though, and there were some comically bad fighters in early MMA.

 

[Ash E Larry]

Lets not forget his "fight" against Rich Franklin, there was a WWF/WWE feel to it during some parts.

 

[PD4838]

Lets not forget his "fight" against Rich Franklin, there was a WWF/WWE feel to it during some parts.

True that. When he falls without getting hit was very suspect.

 

[Was at Pride GP 2000]

Unlucky or bad decisions and not as good as he thought. Any time steroids is part of the plan, mentally you are weak. You are looking for an advantage because mentally you already believe that natural talents and hard work goes to your opponent.

Shamrock should be happy he has had what he has had. Don't dwell in the fact he overachieved his potential by a long shot.

 

[mjmj]

It reads like a Diaz list of excuses.

 

[Aluminati]

Shamrock's WWE career > Shamrock's MMA career

 

[Willek]

Seeing a few pro-Ken Shamrock threads lately. I love it.

"We got the hammer now!"

 

[Dogo1]

Karma

 

[sonofjay817]

Shamrock was neither quite as good as people thought at the time nor quite as good as we sometimes nostalgically remember. He wasn't bad though, and there were some comically bad fighters in early MMA.

I agree with you in today's terms, but for the era, he was great and truly one of the baddest men on the planet.

 

[kingghidrah]

...and, the fact that he left MMA during his prime, to fight in pro wrestling. By the time he came back he sucked, after fake-fighting for several years.

He was one of the early greats and he trained Frank, so he contributed a lot to the sport. But he left MMA when it was on life support and needed all the help it could get, so I don't feel bad about his late career failures.

 

[RaskeDanzig]

...and, the fact that he left MMA during his prime, to fight in pro wrestling. By the time he came back he sucked, after fake-fighting for several years.

He was one of the early greats and he trained Frank, so he contributed a lot to the sport. But he left MMA when it was on life support and needed all the help it could get, so I don't feel bad about his late career failures.

He was a pro wrestler before he ever fought.

 

[VanMMA]

I agree with you in today's terms, but for the era, he was great and truly one of the baddest men on the planet.

His wins over Bas and Severn show how great he was for the time.

His fights in Pride against Fujita and Otsuka showed he could've prospered in the modern era if he hadn't went to WWF.

 

[DaWrassler007]

• In the first Gracie fight Ken wasn't allowed to wear his wrestling boots so his feet started slipping.
• In the 3rd fight he got hit with a nut shot that went unnoticed. As a result, he was robbed of his chance at redemption.
• BS decision losses to Severn and Frye.
• Lost to Fujita due to heart problems after beating the absolute crap out of him.
• Was way past his prime in his most high-profile rivalry against Tito. As a result, he lost 3 times.

Indeed, I would say Ken is one the unluckiest fighters.

Call him unlucky all you want but he was juiced as hell.
The first Gracie fight he was a MW, in rematch he was a HW.
Of course roids cause heart problems.

 

[Bartinho]

I see it differently. For a guy who never won a UFC tournament, Ken was very lucky to be promoted more than any other early UFC fighter. The Superfight was manufactured just for him and he kept getting Superfights for just fighting to a draw. Others like Royce, Severn, Oleg, fought and beat 3-4 guys in a night. Ken said once that he couldn't consider himself a UFC champion for not winning it all, and I have to agree.

 

[JoshR86]

Same guy who brought a body builder as a coach for his stint on TUF will always cement Ken's greatness and contribution to the sport for years to come. Body Builders > BJJ coaches, Ken knew this, as now we all do.

Thanks Ken.