Nickname: World's Most Dangerous Man

Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964[1]) is an American mixed martial arts fighter and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his participation in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the World Wrestling Federation, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Shamrock was a one-time King of Pancrase Champion & UFC Superfight Champion in MMA, NWA World Heavyweight Champion in TNA, and the 1998 King of the Ring as well as a one-time Intercontinental Champion the WWF.

MMA career

Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling (1993)

He debuted as a Professional wrestler in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1989. And, he worked with Toshiaki Kawada and Kenta Kobashi. However, he was not evaluated as a Professional wrestler. Therefore, All Japan Pro Wrestling did not contract to him again. Shamrock's martial arts career began following the dismantling of the UWF, in the inaugural Pancrase show on September 21, 1993. In the event, Ken Shamrock defeated Masakatsu Funaki by an arm-triangle choke.[2][3] 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 shows.[3][4][5]

Ultimate Fighting Championship (1993-present)

He returned to America to fight in the newly formed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). 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 Bohlander, 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 Bohlander 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 an injured 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 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" after cussing him and giving him the finger. 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.