He's one of the most notorious names in the history of MMA and soon the UFC Hall-of-Famer will be touching down on Australian shores to fight on Impact FC. Inside MMA caught up with Ken Shamrock in the lead-up to the big event.
Are you looking forward to fighting in Australia?
Very much so. I’m loving life at the moment and I’m looking forward to this match-up.
Is it your first time here?
First time here. I’ll be staying a few days afterward, cause I want to see what’s going on down there. I’m just going to be on vacation, I’m going to take the time and bring my wife down with me and check out your wonderful country.
K-1 will be on in Australia while you’re there, so hopefully we can get you down for that too.
That's awesome, I love K-1 dude!
What do you think of Pedro Rizzo your opponent?
Pedro has definitely earned his stripes in the world of MMA, I think that he is a very good striker and good at defending takedowns, but he is weak if he does get taken down. His weakness is definitely on the ground, but it’s hard to get him there. If you get him to the ground, he’ll just turtle on his back.
Where do you think your strengths are these days?
I’m a little different to most fighters, I think I’ve adapted and really changed compared to most fighters, as time has gone on. I’ve really, really brushed up on stand-up and my hands and my feet are really strong. I’ve got good elbows and good knees and I have good work with the clinch and takedowns and when I get to the ground, I’ve always been really good at working the submission game. But the most I have improved at is my stand-up. That makes me really well-rounded in both areas and I think that's really, really bad for Pedro. He’ll expect me to go for the submissions, and that's what I will try and do, and that's his weakest point, but he has to respect my stand-up first.
You were originally set to fight Mark Coleman – that would have been a big fight, were you disappointed about that?
I heard that it was going to be Mark Coleman and it got set-up, then I heard he got hurt, and then that was the last I heard about it. Then they put Pedro in front of me and I said — yeah, that sounds great. Its not a big of a fight as the Mark Coleman fight, I would have liked to have that. But Pedro is definitely an opponent that will challenge me in different areas than Mark wouldn't challenge me in. I think Pedro is a better stand-up fighter than Mark. I know Mark fought Pedro and lost to him one time, so this is going to be better in one way. If I beat Pedro and then go on to fight Mark, I will know how to attack him.
Another name that was kicked around very early was Dan Severn?
You know, that fight right there is a fight that might happen down the road. But right now I’m looking at an opponent that is probably a lot more likely to be able to go the distance and the full rounds. Dan has a hard time going those long distances. He still talks bad about me and there’s no doubt that I’m in better shape than him, so I’m just trying to focus on some of these other fights. Pedro is next, and another fight I have been trying to get going for a long time is against Frank (Shamrock). There are a lot of fights that look interesting to me right now, even a Tank Abbott fight, which has never happened and should have happened long ago. I’m looking at trying to get that one too. A long time ago these fights didn’t happen for whatever reason so, before I end this career it’d be nice to get in there and just put an explanation mark on the end of my career.
So you would still like to fight Frank?
I’d like to get that one, but I know that the last four or five times I’ve tried to put this fight together he was always talking smack and trying to stand up and be the tough guy, but then when the fight came around he’d always be like, ‘Oh, Shamrock has lost and he’s not really worth fighting and he’s not as popular anymore’, and every excuse he could think of to not get in the ring with me. He made up these stupid reasons and the bottom line is that he will never get in the ring with me because he is afraid. Either that, or just let it all go. I’d let it go, but he just keeps talking smack. The reason we aint fighting is because he aint in it.
You mentioned Dan Severn's condition; how do you manage to stay in such good shape after all these years?
I’ve done pretty good keeping myself in shape. I mean, I have a gym, I run promotions, I’ve just been blessed with the opportunity and lifestyle where I can just stay in shape and live the kind of life I want to live. Now I’m coming to Australia and I’m going to smash Pedro! I’m definitely looking forward to coming down and laying some leather out!
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