Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock’s life story is worthy of a movie, if ever there was an MMA fighter whose tale should be committed to film. He was abandoned as a child and slept in cars to survive. He rose from those ashes to become a successful mixed martial arts fighter as well as a main event professional wrestler.

Shamrock (The World’s Most Dangerous Man) was there in the beginning and fought in the inaugural Pancrase Shows in 1993, which were basically a bunch of professional wrestlers fighting submission matches for real. Shamrock learned the art of catch wrestling from Japanese pro wrestlers and fought in numerous Pancrase events over his career, going 17-3.

He was also there when the UFC was started in 1993, where he won his first-round fight but lost to Royce Gracie in the second round. He fought 12 times between the two organizations in 1994 alone, and another 14 fights over the next two years. In 2000 he fought in Pride for the first time and fought four times with the organization, going 1-3. His mixed martial arts fighting record is 26-12-2, with 22 of those wins coming via submission, as he is a catch fighter. He has won the 1994 King of Pancrase, was the first UFC Superfight Champion, and the first-ever World Mixed Martial Arts Association Heavyweight Champion.

Shamrock has had feuds with numerous fighters over the years, and his recent feud with Tito Ortiz provided the most profitable pay-per-view event in MMA history. Shamrock was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and has continued to fight until late last year. After going 2-7 since 2000, Shamrock has been released from his contract with UFC, but we may see him on the reality show Ultimate Fighter in the future.

Shamrock was at the top of the MMA scene for a short period in the mid-nineties but has remained competitive for 13 years. His contributions as a trainer are as legendary as his fighting career, and he even contributes to the training of the United States Marine Corp.