He would soon get his break in Hollywood and leave the MMA world largely behind, with a 17-5-2 record.Ī year after Oleg Taktarov had the controversial semi-final win at UFC 6, UFC Hall of Famer Don Frye found himself in a very similar situation. Taktarov had no idea about the collusion but went on to outlast Abbot in a 17-minute match in the final to win UFC 6. It was later revealed by Macias that their common manager had asked him to throw the fight so that Taktarov would be fresh for the final as Abbot had taken nearly 2 minutes to win his semi-final. Taktarov then proceeded to pace the ring, looking at Macias in disgust while the crowd booed the result. ![]() Immediately at the bell, Macias shot for a takedown, but Taktarov easily countered and used a guillotine choke to submit Macias in 9 seconds, which remains the fastest UFC submission victory to date. Both of them won their first-round encounters in under a minute and Taktarov would face teammate Anthony Macias in the semifinals. Though he turned 48 years old last month and hasn't competed since November 2010, Shamrock said he'd be willing to take a fight as long as it interested both him and the fans.Back in 1994, the UFC used to promote single-day elimination tournaments, and going into UFC 6, Russian Oleg Taktarov and American wrestler Tank Abbott were considered to be the favorites. all of the sudden he's changed?"ĭespite it all, Shamrock says that he's comfortable with his legacy as a fighter, even though he might not be done in the cage. "I mean, who am I? Who is this Ken Shamrock, all of the sudden that cut himself? Who is this guy who went into the ring fearless for 13, 15, 20 years, would fight anybody. "I don't understand some of the comments that were made," he said. The entirety of the situation made it difficult to digest. Shamrock said that in the aftermath, he was surprised with the blowback he was receiving, and the accusations that were flying his way, as if the previous years of his career suddenly counted for nothing. He’s going to go to the ground and the fight’s over.' Basically that was my case to them, but they came back and said it wasn’t going to happen." How hard is that going to be? And that’s exactly what I said. But when they looked him over, they quickly scratched him, Shamrock eventually had the laceration double-stitched, and prayed that the Florida State Boxing Commission would allow him to compete. When he looked in the mirror, he knew it was worse than expected, and called a doctor who was part of his camp. Shamrock saw a drop of his blood fall on Freeman's back, but since he hadn't felt any pain, his initial thought was it was hardly serious. ![]() ![]() At one point, he had Freeman's back and went to sink in the choke, but Freeman popped his head up and caught Shamrock around the outside of his left eyebrow. That's how he figured the fight would go. The session was a light one, with Shamrock practicing takedowns, mounts, ground and pound, and rear naked chokes. In his mind, it was an easy fight, but he feared his distraction could cost him, so on the day of the bout, he called his friend Dan Freeman to come to his hotel room and go through drills. But it still weighed heavily on his mind as he made final preparations to face Slice. With his fight looming, Shamrock asked them to delay that agonizing decision for afterward. It had gotten so bad that during the call, they asked Shamrock if he wanted to consider ending life support procedures for him. The night before, he had received a phone call that his adoptive father Bob, who had been in the hospital for months, had taken a turn for the worse. The injury took place the day of the fight. But Shamrock said that was a byproduct of the anger from many because the fight wasn't happening. Some of the rumors came from people inside the company, lending credence to what was said. "We never got an opportunity to straighten that out, but it wasn't like it wasn't going to get straightened out," he said.Īsked if he would have fought had it not been straightened out, Shamrock didn't need to hear the entire question. His deal stipulated that he was to be the highest-paid fighter on the card, a discrepancy that never got resolved because of the cut that knocked him out of the event.īut, he said, this issue wouldn't have stopped him from fighting. According to him, there was a financial issue related to the fight. ![]() First off, Shamrock denied that it was a money grab gone wrong.
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