[YT]3njQIM6OFuE[/YT] [YT]MOdv-D_QElA[/YT] 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.
Do you happen to have the HL of his career in Pancrase? Its a great fight by fight HL, great thread by the way.
No, although thats a great one, basically I'm just looking for him setting up the arm triangle choke in Pancrase, I just like that choke.
Excellent thread, Cross_Trainer. Big fan of Ken Shamrock. Appreciate him as an entertainer and an all-time great fighter. Just an absolute legend.
In my mind, Ken Shamrock will always be the original mixed martial artist. He fought in the first UFC - wearing his trademark red trunks and fighting with a full understanding of striking and grappling. That's not to say that he was a good striker - but his strengths have always been in submissions. Ken was so devoted to leg locks that he believed he never needed to make an in depth study of Brazilian jiujitsu. I wonder where Ken's career would have gone had he studied jiujistu beyond a few short sessions with the Machado brothers. I like to think he would have stood a better chance at beating Tito in their three fights. Although Ken was a pioneer in what became MMA, his reluctance to continue learning prevented him from evolving with mixed martial arts.
