As improbable as may sound, a 51-year-old Ken Shamrock will fight once again. After a 1-2 stint in 2010, Shamrock will take on Kimbo Slice in the main event of Bellator 138.
To say it’s been a long road for Shamrock – who debuted in 1993 and fought on the first ever UFC – would be a dramatic, dramatic understatement.
“It seems like I’ve been fighting since I was a kid. Oh that’s right, I have,” Shamrock said in the pre-fight press scrum. “I’m so blessed that I’m here. To be in this position, to be able to have the opportunity to fight on Bellator… I’m excited. I’m not going to let this pass me by. It’s my opportunity, and I’m going to take advantage of it.”
The pleasantries from Shamrock end when the focus turns to his opponent.
“There’s no question the guy [Slice] earned his reputation. Can’t take that from him, but when you talk smack like that, you’ve got to pay the price.”
One of the biggest differences in Shamrock is that he’s reevaluated his philosophy as an athlete.
“The experience is a new experience for me. I’ve been away from this for six years,” Shamrock said. “My last couple of fights, I was like a drowned puppy dog going into those fights. I sucked. I knew it. I tried to do my best and fight through. I didn’t have the understanding of what I was up against. My strength is I’m mentally tough, and that my will power is second to none, and I’ll fight through anything.”
“The thing I didn’t realize was what I was up against, and that the more I tried to fight. The more I tried to get through it, the more my will power kept pushing me, the worse I was getting. I didn’t know that.”
As far as the lead-up to this fight, this training camp and the preparation for the Slice fight has been completely different than some of his previous fight camps.
“My training’s paying off,” Shamrock said. “I’m able to move pretty free on the ground which I hadn’t been able to do for fifteen years. My stand-up, because of my ground game, has been much more smoother. I’m more relaxed because I’m not just depending on my stand-up now. So it’s all coming together for, at 51.”
While Shamrock concedes that he understands why oddsmakers and people that don’t know him are counting him out, he plans on proving those doubting him wrong.
“It’s going to be a nice Friday night when I get to show the world that wen you set your mind to something and you have faith, you can achieve anything you want to as as you’re willing to pay the cost.”