Even though I stand by my recent post praising Ken Shamrock's career accomplishments, I would be remiss in my role as self-appointed historian of MMA if I didn't point out that Ken has a track-record of botching main events going back to 1994.
UFC 3 - The American Dream: Ok, this one wasn't entirely Ken's fault but still. After Ken's close loss to Royce Gracie in the first UFC, a rematch was much anticipated. Especially after an injured Shamrock sat out UFC 2 and Gracie rolled through four more opponents en route to the tournament win.
But when Royce Gracie barely survived a war with Kimo Leopoldo, Royce had to throw in the towel before his second round match. Shamrock had already won two fights and apparently had an easy win over karateka Harold Howard in front of him. Instead, Ken dropped out of the tournament too, sticking the fans with alternate Steve Jennum vs Harold Howard for the finals.
UFC 5 - The Return of the Beast: After that fiasco, the UFC adapted and instead just booked a super-fight: Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock. More than 200,000 eager fans paid for the PPV to see the much anticipated fight. And it sucked. And it was Shamrock's fault. Fearing Royce's submission skills, Ken got the take down and laid in Royce's guard. For 30 minutes. This was the debut of the lay and pray. Ken was so afraid of getting arm-barred, he hardly extended his arms, much less threw punches. The original UFC never recovered from this fiasco. But Ken wasn't done...
UFC 9 - Motor City Madness: With the UFC on the run from the authorities, Superfight Champion Ken Shamrock defended his title in a rematch with Dan Severn. This time instead of a layNpray exhibition, we got to see Shamrock and Severn dancing in the ring, throwing no punches for nearly the whole duration. There was a late takedown and some ground action, but this was an utterly awful fight.
So take heart noobs, Ken's been ruining main events as long as the sport's been around and thankfully it looks like his career at the top of the card is over... unless EliteXC and CBS decide to book Ken vs. Kimbo: Fiasco 2.
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