Athletes - Ken Shamrock

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	Athletes - Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an 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.

Career

Shamrock had started as a professional wrestler in small promotions in the Carolinas, being managed by Paul Jones, and from there he went to Japan, namely the Japanese UWF and its successor promotions, Fujiwara Gumi and Pancrase.

Back in the States, Shamrock appeared in the first UFC in November of 1993 where he progressed to the semi-finals, losing to eventual tournament winner Royce Gracie. Afterwards, Shamrock vowed to avenge his loss to Gracie. However, it would be nearly a year and a half later before he would get his chance. At UFC 5 in May of 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." The Superfight was supposed to be a historic match that finally showed if Gracie's win over Shamrock at UFC 1 was a fluke, or if Gracie was as great as he appeared. Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5, for the first time, the UFC had instituted time limits. 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. While purist fans of mixed martial arts consider the match to be a true classic, most thought the match was rather boring, lacking sufficient offense by either Shamrock or Gracie. While many people (including Shamrock) have wanted to see a rematch ever since, Shamrock and Gracie have never again faced each other in the octagon. Shamrock would go on to fight in further UFC Superfights against Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo.

As of 2005, Ken is still making occasional appearances in the UFC, giving him the distinction of having the longest tenure of any UFC fighter to date. 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 a modicum of success in mixed martial arts.

Shamrock's Lions Den also feuded with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz would go on a streak beating Lions 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 when Shamrock's corner threw in the towel.

Wrestling Career

During his time in the WWF, he was billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man." Shamrock's finishing move was the Ankle Lock submission hold, one used very frequently by Kurt Angle. His display of technical wrestling earned him a WWF title shot which he missed out on thanks to Triple H.

Ken Shamrock entered the WWE in 1997 and was already making headlines thanks for his participation as a guest referee in the submission match at WrestleMania 13. After a string of impressive victories, he earned his first shot at Intercontinental gold at the 1998 WWE Royal Rumble, where he defeated The Rock for the title. The decision was reversed when the referee found brass knuckles hidden in Shamrock's tights. Two months later, Shamrock beat the Rock at WrestleMania XIV via submission, but again the decision was reversed when he refused to release the Ankle Lock.

After defeating The Rock in the finals of the 1998 King of the Ring, his popularity grew, and he set his sights on the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After many memorable bouts with and without the belt, Shamrock joined Vince McMahon's Corporation faction as a heel. During that time he would later have a feud with Steve Blackman and later then babyface, Chris Jericho. His WWF character was never the same after that drastic change, so he decided to go back to his roots in the UFC.

Shamrock was a part of the first few Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Pay Per Views, and even won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He left the company after a few months of service, however he later reappeared when the company debuted their Impact TV show. Once again this was short lived and he left the company a month after re-joining.

Return to UFC

April 9, 2005, proved to be 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, he was soundly defeated by a TKO in the first round, thus instantly establishing Franklin as a legitimate threat to other UFC competitors.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ken Shamrock ]

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Athletes - Ken Shamrock

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