Elite XC: Heat Saturday Night Fights 3
Sunday Oct. 8 2008, 9 p.m. ET
Kimbo Slice (-400) vs. Ken Shamrock
As a mixed martial arts purist I really want Ken Shamrock (26-13-2) to beat Kimbo Slice (3-0). However, Ken Shamrock is now 44 years old and has been knocked out in his last five fights, while winning only two of his last nine trips to the octagon. The Ken Shamrock of 1995 would have made mincemeat out of Kimbo but that was along time ago and EliteXC is just looking for a big name to legitimize Kimbo Slice (also known as Kevin Ferguson).
Shamrock is barley a heavyweight and only hovering at around 205 he will be outweighed by close to 40 pounds. The Shamrock of old would have taken Kimbo down and gotten a hell hook Patrick Smith style, but he is not the same fighter as he once was. Can Ken do it in 2008? He still has all the skill to submit anyone in the world - the problem is Ken never has a game plan and his ego get the best of him.
I do believe that Ken can still submit Kimbo if this fight goes to the ground but Kimbo is a vicious striker that is always pushing forward. Many people think Kimbo is just a brawler with big power, but he's smart and a good technical striker. Kimbo sets up his strikes with jabs, uppercuts and body blows before he swings for the fences. Against his last opponent, Josh Thompson, Slice landed 12 out of 14 body blows, landed three of nine jabs and 12 of 25 power head shots - so his distribution of strikes is not only powerful but accurate.
Slice's striking is going to drop Shamrock within the first couple of minutes of the fight. Kimbo’s strikes are just too fast and too powerful for Shamrock to deflect all of them. One will hit and one will land. Shamrock has never fought a fighter as big as Kimbo and his power will be just too much.
Ken Shamrock is a very good grappler and that's obviously his key to victory. He needs to shoot in with takedowns and will need to eat some punches to do that. Keep in mind that Shamrock is slower and older at 44. He needs to shoot in low and get Kimbo on his back to look for a leg lock - Shamrock's best submissions.
I would love to say that Shamrock will win this fight but he hasn't been a factor in mixed martial arts since 2000. He hasn't improved his game and he has been in too many wars and taken too much damage over the years. If Shamrock tries to stick to a game plan and take Kimbo down he does have a shot. But Slice has obviously worked on his sprawl with Bas Rutten and having such a large body sprawl will nullify any shoot attempts from Shamrock. I don’t see Shamrock being able to get a single-leg or double-leg takedown in this fight.
To bet on this fight for Kimbo at -400 might be a little too steep but it's hard to pass up if you have the funds to take the bet. In recent years Shamrock has been KO’ed by people that are not known for striking like Kazushi Sakuraba at PRIDE 30 and most recently Robert Berry at Cage Rage. If those fighters can knock him out what chance does he have versus a heavy striker like Kimbo?
The weight and strength of Kimbo, combined with Shamrock's age and his unwillingness to follow a game plan are his downfalls. His last submission victory was almost seven years ago against Sam Adkins and MMA fighting has evolved so much since then while Shamrock hasn’t.
Look for Kimbo to win late in the first round by KO.
