Ken Shamrock

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Ken Shamrock
Statistics
Nickname World's Most Dangerous Man
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Born February 11, 1964
Fighting out of Susanville, California
Town of birth Macon, Georgia
Fighting style Catch wrestling
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 26
  By knockout 2
  By submission 22
Losses 12
Draws 2

Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and for his professional wrestling career with the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Shamrock is currently a subject matter expert in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). He has written two books, Beyond the Lion's Den and Inside the Lion's Den

Contents

MMA career

Shamrock's martial arts career began following the dismantling of the UWF, in the inaugural Pancrase show. In the event, Ken Shamrock defeated Masakatsu Funaki by an arm-triangle choke. There was some irony in this, as it was Funaki who had, along with Karl Gotch and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, taught Shamrock the art of catch wrestling during their days as professional wrestlers.

Shamrock went on to win in the two subsequent Pancrase show before returning to America to fight in the newly formed Ultimate Fighting Championships. In spite of their status as competitors in the unrehearsed environment of Pancrase, Funaki served as Shamrock's head trainer for the event. Held under a one-night tournament format with minimal rules (in contrast to Pancrase, which had extensive rules and a gentleman's agreement not to strike on the ground) Shamrock progressed to the semi-finals by defeating Patrick Smith via leglock. However, he fell to Royce Gracie in his next fight, as Gracie choked Shamrock out. Despite this loss, Shamrock continued to shine in Pancrase, losing to Funaki and another of his mentors, Minoru Suzuki, but nonetheless defeating Manabu Yamada in the finals of a 24-man tournament to crown Pancrase's first champion. He also picked up a pair of wins against future mixed martial arts legend Bas Rutten.

Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the training of mixed martial arts fighters. Many Lion's Den fighters such as Pete Williams, Jerry Bolander, and Tra Telligman have achieved success in mixed martial arts. Others, such as Guy Mezger and Frank Shamrock have become legends in their own right.

At UFC 5 in May 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5 the UFC had instituted time limits and Shamrock and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw. Shamrock then defeated Dan Severn for the newly-created Superfight belt, successfully defending this title against Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo. In 1996 he lost the belt via judges decision in a rematch with Severn. The Severn bout marked the last time Masakatsu Funaki would serve as Ken Shamrock's trainer and cornerman.

In 2000, he went on to compete in the Pride Fighting Championships. Ken Shamrock defeated Alexander Otsuka by TKO at Pride Grand Prix Finals 2000 and lost to Kazuyuki Fujita.

Shamrock engaged in a feud with Don Frye during his career in the Pride Fighting Championships. In 1999, Alicia Webb (also known as Ryan Shamrock) dated Ken Shamrock until early 2003. Don Frye made comments on this case which Ken Shamrock cheated on and divorced his wife to date a young girl (Alicia Webb was 19 and Ken Shamrock was 35 when they started dating). Ken Shamrock was enraged by his personal life leaking out causing a feud between Ken Shamrock and Don Frye. The feud ended in a match during PRIDE 19 - Bad Blood in which Don Frye won by split decision. The two fighters have been on good terms after that match.

Shamrock's Lion's Den has engaged in a feud with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Lion's Den fighters Jerry Bolander and Guy Mezger, eventually facing Shamrock in one of the highest-selling mixed martial arts Pay Per View events of all time in the United States. At UFC 40, Ortiz defeated Shamrock by TKO (corner stoppage).

April 9, 2005, was a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. In the main event, the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV, on the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter finale, Shamrock faced rising star Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight bout. Although Shamrock had more experience and almost caught Franklin in a modified heel hook, he was defeated by a TKO in the first round when Franklin took advantage of Shamrock's slip (while executing a kick) and ground and pounded him to victory.

On October 24, 2005 Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in PRIDE: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The decision to stop the fight was controversial to some, including Shamrock, since he was able to get right back up after being knocked down. However, Ken did turn his back to Sakuraba and wasn't intelligently defending himself, so the referee stopped the fight. His own brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "…if you’re sleeping with your head through the second rope, you’re in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that’s the end of the fight." [1]

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 61 Shamrock and Ortiz had a rematch of their UFC 40 fight.

On July 8, 2006 Shamrock faced Ortiz for the second time at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals and lost in 1:18 of the first round by a technical knockout. Although Shamrock landed some punches to back Ortiz up, the latter successfully secured a double leg takedown on Shamrock, lifting him up and slamming him to the mat. Although Shamrock was now on his back in a disadvantageous position, he did have Ortiz in his full guard. Ortiz, while in Shamrock's full guard, was able to land several elbows to Shamrock's head which went undefended. Referee Herb Dean deemed that Shamrock was no longer able to intelligently defend himself and stopped the fight.

On October 10, 2006, Shamrock lost to Ortiz for the third and final time by KO after referee John McCarthy stopped the fight following multiple undefended fist strikes. Immediately after the fight, Ortiz initially celebrated his victory with a mocking "grave digger" routine and an offensive t-shirt that said, "Punishing Him Into Retirement." However, Shamrock approached Ortiz and, after the two talked for several seconds Shamrock said they could put all of their animosity aside as it was always "just business," shaking hands and burying the hatchet. Ortiz then declared that facing Shamrock had made him a better fighter, and thanked Ken for "passing the torch." Shamrock gave a gracious speech after the fight but left it ambiguous whether he would retire from the sport.[2] In an interview with Sherdog.com, he stated he was not leaning one way or another whether he will not fight again, but he did not want to lead the fans on.[3]

In a recent press conference, it has been announced that Ken Shamrock will be the coach of the Nevada Lions for the IFL starting next year.

Mixed martial arts record

26 Wins (2 KO's, 22 submissions, 2 decisions), 12 Losses (4 KO's, 4 submissions, 2 decisions), 2 Draws.
Date Outcome Opponent Event Details Round, Time
10/10/2006* Loss Tito Ortiz Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 2:23
07/08/2006 Loss Tito Ortiz UFC 61 TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 1:18
10/23/2005 Loss Kazushi Sakuraba PRIDE 30 TKO (Punch) Round 1, 2:27
4/9/2005 Loss Rich Franklin The Ultimate Fighter Finale TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 2:42
6/19/2004 Win Kimo Leopoldo UFC 48 TKO (Knee) Round 1, 1:26
11/22/2002 Loss Tito Ortiz UFC 40 TKO (Corner Stoppage) Round 3, 5:00
2/24/2002 Loss Don Frye PRIDE 19 Decision (Split) Round 3, 5:00
8/10/2001 Win Sam Adkins WMMAA 1 - Megafights Submission (Kimura) Round 1, 1:26
8/27/2000 Loss Kazuyuki Fujita PRIDE 10 TKO (Corner Stoppage - Exhaustion) Round 1, 6:46
5/1/2000 Win Alexander Otsuka PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 9:43
12/7/1996 Win Brian Johnston UFC Ultimate Ultimate 1996 Submission (Forearm Choke) Round 1, 5:48
5/17/1996 Loss Dan Severn UFC 9 Decision Round 1, 30:00
2/16/1996 Win Kimo Leopoldo UFC 8 Submission (Kneebar) Round 1, 4:24
1/28/1996 Win Yoshiki Takahashi Pancrase-Truth 1 Decision (Lost Points) Round 1, 20:00
12/14/1995 Win Katsuomi Inagaki Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 7 Submission Round 1, 3:19
9/8/1995 Draw Oleg Taktarov UFC 7 Draw Round 1, 33:00
7/22/1995 Win Larry Papadopoulos Pancrase-1995 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 Submission (Achilles Lock) Round 1, 2:18
7/14/1995 Win Dan Severn UFC 6 Submission (Guillotine Choke) Round 1, 2:14
5/13/1995 Loss Minoru Suzuki Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 4 Submission (Kneebar) Round 1, 2:14
4/7/1995 Draw Royce Gracie UFC 5 Draw Round 1, 36:00
3/10/1995 Win Bas Rutten Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 2 Submission (Kneebar) Round 1, 1:01
1/26/1995 Win Leon Dijk Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 1 Submission Round 1, 4:45
12/17/1994 Win Manabu Yamada Pancrase-King Of Pancrase Tournament, Round 2 Decision (Unanimous) Round 1, 30:00
12/17/1994 Win Masakatsu Funaki Pancrase-King Of Pancrase Tournament, Round 2 Submission Round 1, 5:50
12/16/1994 Win Maurice Smith Pancrase-King of Pancrase Tournament, Round 1 Submission Round 1, 4:23
12/16/1994 Win Alex Cook Pancrase-King of Pancrase Tournament, Round 1 Submission Round 1, 1:31
10/15/1994 Win Takaku Fuke Pancrase-Road To The Championship 5 Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 3:13
9/9/1994 Win Felix Mitchell UFC 3 Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 4:34
9/9/1994 Win Christophe Leninger UFC 3 Submission (Strikes) Round 1, 4:49
9/1/1994 Loss Masakatsu Funaki Pancrase-Road To The Championship 4 Submission Round 1, 2:30
7/26/1994 Win Bas Rutten Pancrase-Road To The Championship 3 Submission Round 1, 16:42
7/6/1994 Win Matt Hume Pancrase-Road To The Championship 2 Submission (Armlock) Round 1, 5:50
4/21/1994 Win Ryushi Yanagisawa Pancrase-Pancrash! 3 Submission Round 1, 7:30
1/19/1994 Loss Minoru Suzuki Pancrase-Pancrash! 1 Submission (Heelhook/Kneebar) Round 1, 7:37
12/8/1993 Win Andre Van Den Oetelaar Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 4 Submission Round 1, 1:04
11/12/1993 Loss Royce Gracie UFC 1 - The Beginning Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 0:57
11/12/1993 Win Patrick Smith UFC 1 - The Beginning Submission (Heel Hook) Round 1, 1:49
11/8/1993 Win Takaku Fuke Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 3 Submission Round 1, 0:44
10/14/1993 Win Yoshiki Takahashi Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 Submission (Heel Hook) Round 1, 12:23
9/21/1993 Win Masakatsu Funaki Pancrase-Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 Submission (Choke) Round 1, 6:15

*Prior to this match, Ken Shamrock had claimed that it would be his last, and it has been to date. However Shamrock has also stated that he may return to the Octagon one day.

Professional wrestling career

Ken Shamrock
Statistics
Ring name(s) Ken Shamrock,
Wayne Shamrock
Trained by Nelson Royal,
Bob Sawyer,
Buzz Sawyer
Debut 1990

In 1988, Shamrock trained as a professional wrestler under Bob Sawyer, Buzz Sawyer and Nelson Royal. He debuted in 1990 in the Charlotte, North Carolina-based South Atlantic Pro Wrestling promotion under the ring name Wayne Shamrock. He later changed his ring name to Vince Torelli and turned heel, adopting the nickname "Mr. Wrestling". In 1990, Shamrock travelled to Japan, where he competed in the Universal Wrestling Federation and its successor promotion, Fujiwara Gumi.

His first taste of mixed martial arts came following the exodus of his mentors Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki from Fujiwara's promotion to found one of the formative Japanese mixed martial arts associations, Pancrase. Later, he returned to America to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Shamrock would split time betwen the two organizations until 1996, whereupon he returned to professional wrestling, signing a three year, $3 million USD contract with the World Wrestling Federation. He made his WWF debut on the February 24, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw. On March 23, 1997, Shamrock, identified as Ken Shamrock and billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man", refereed a submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13.

Shamrock returned to the ring following WrestleMania, squashing Vernon White (one of his Lion's Den students) in his debut WWF match. He went on to feud with Vader, Bret Hart, and the Hart Foundation throughout 1997, culminating in a bout between Shamrock and The British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1997 which Shamrock lost after refusing to relinquish a chokehold. Shamrock went on to challenge Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at D-Generation X in December, defeating Michaels by disqualification after Triple H and Chyna interfered in the match.

Throughout early 1998, Shamrock feuded with WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia. He lost to Maivia via disqualification at the 1998 Royal Rumble, and a victory over Maivia at WrestleMania XIV was reversed after Shamrock continued to apply his ankle lock after Maivia had submitted. In June 1998, Shamrock won the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jeff Jarrett in the semi-finals and Maivia in the final. Following the King of the Ring, Shamrock feuded with Owen Hart, with Hart defeating Shamrock in a "Hart Family Dungeon match" and Shamrock defeating Hart in a "Lion's Den match". In September, he formed a short-lived stable with Mankind and The Rock.

Shamrock turned heel in October 1998, and won the vacant Intercontinental Championship on October 12, defeating X-Pac in the finals of an eight man tournament. In November, Shamrock consolidated his heel status by joining Mr. McMahon's Corporation. On December 14, Shamrock and fellow Corporation member Big Boss Man defeated the New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championship, making Shamrock a dual champion. The duo held the titles until January 25, 1999, when they lost to Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart.

In January 1999, Shamrock began feuding with Billy Gunn, Goldust, and Val Venis, all of whom had made overtures to his storyline sister, Ryan. He lost the Intercontinental Championship to Venis on February 14 when Gunn, the guest referee, delivered a fast count. Shamrock took part in a four way bout for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 15, but the reigning champion, Road Dogg, was able to retain his title by pinning Goldust while Shamrock and Venis brawled outside the ring.

In mid-1999, the Corporation began feuding with The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness, with The Undertaker's minions repeatedly ambushing Shamrock and kidnapping Ryan. After breaking away from the Corporation, thus turning face once more, Shamrock went on to lose to The Undertaker at Backlash. In May, Shamrock, Big Show, Mankind and Test formed The Union, a stable of wrestlers in opposition to the Corporate Ministry. The Union dissolved after defeating the Corporate Ministry at Over the Edge in May.

Shamrock briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett before beginning a rivalry with martial artist Steve Blackman that saw he and Blackman fight one another in a series of unorthodox matches. The feud ended at SummerSlam 1999, where Shamrock defeated Blackman in a "Lion's Den match". He went on to feud with the newly debuted Chris Jericho until departing the WWF in late 1999 in order to resume his mixed martial arts career. His departure was attributed to an injury inflicted by Jericho's bodyguard, Mr. Hughes.

Shamrock returned to professional wrestling in March 2002, refereeing a Ring of Honor match between American Dragon and Low Ki. In May 2002, he signed a one year contract with the newly formed Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. On the inaugural TNA pay-per-view on June 19, Shamrock won the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a Gauntlet for the Gold match. After feuding with Malice for several weeks, Shamrock left TNA shortly after losing the title to Ron Killings on August 7. He briefly returned to TNA in June 2004 as an ally of Jeff Jarrett before leaving the company and the industry once more.

Finishing and signature moves

Shamrock locks Billy Gunn in the ankle lock
Enlarge
Shamrock locks Billy Gunn in the ankle lock
Shamrock gives The Rock a hurricanrana
Enlarge
Shamrock gives The Rock a hurricanrana

Championships and accomplishments

Personal life

He legally changed his name to Ken Shamrock in tribute to Bob Shamrock, owner of the Shamrock Ranch, a facility for troubled boys in Susanville, California, who was instrumental in turning Shamrock's life around as a teenager. Along with his brother Frank Shamrock, he is adopted. According to Shamrock, he lived in cars and was abandoned as a child. This was also integrated into the personal history of his WWE persona. He is the head trainer of the Lion's Den, a school of shoot-fighting, or what is more commonly referred to as submission fighting. Attended junior college at Shasta College in Redding, California and is being considered a possible choice for induction into the Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame.

Ken has 3 sons: Ryan, Connor, and Shawn and 1 daughter with his first wife Tina. He has 3 step children with his second wife Tonya.

Ryan Shamrock, a character played on-screen in the WWF, is not really Shamrock's sister. In fact, they dated for a brief period before breaking up in 2003.

He appeared in the films Champions, Virtuosity, and Scarecrow Gone Wild and he appeared in an episode of That 70's Show as Bruno Sammartino.

Theme Music

In UFC, Shamrock frequently used the song "What you got" by Reveille as he made his entrance towards the octagon. His professional wrestling theme song which originated in the WWE was titled "Lion's Den."

External links

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Previous champion
None		 1st UFC Superfight Champion

July 14, 1995 - May 17, 1996

 Next champion
Dan Severn
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