So Tell Me About A Prime Ken Shamrock...

Im not denying Kens influence on the sport. BUT i have never been wowed by his skillset.

 

Well ok then I see what you mean Ken I agree has a very limited skillset.

 

He was the best fighter in early Pancrase by some distance. He had good wrestling for then, hugely impressive physically, and was very good at all submissions, but one of the best ever at leglocks.

 

No chance, watch those fights.

All MMA rules would have done would be get Bas ground and pounded into a bloody mess. Bas was completely deficient on the ground in the first fight, and still nowhere near Ken in the second.

First fight: Bas falls down, Ken is on top of him in 14 seconds, straight to full mount and bas never improves position once in 16 minutes, he is either mounted, in north-south, or has Ken on his back the entire 16 minutes, straight. Having to grab the rope to avoid being leglocked at one point, before finally being RNC'd.
(Annoying guy talking over fight)
Part One
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Part Two
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Second fight: taken down in 15 seconds, passed to half guard in 30, screaming in pain while being submitted in 60 seconds.
Fight Two.
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How on Earth would Ken being able to punch him in the face on the ground have helped him?

Out of the entirety of both fights combined, Bas was in half guard or a worse position for all but 30 seconds. He spend the entire time in both fights being completely dominated.

 

i often think about kens ability and legacy because im a big fan and there are such contrasting viewpoints..
the thing that i always come back to is that he was champion at a time when pretty much everyone (including him) knew almost nothing about the ground game when almost anything (particularly headbutts) was legal and you could come up against a man of any size and weight..
At that time he was pretty much saying to the world ANYONE who thinks theyre better than me, come and have a crack.. It takes serious balls to do that..

YES fighters have evolved to more than what he ever was
YES he has been on the juice
Yes it can be argued his resume has a few holes
BUT
he was the first truly MIXED martial artist, who trained like an athlete and revolutionised the sport.
i will always respect a man who was TRUTHFULLY once called "the worlds most dangerous"