“The Organization Was Dying”: 21 Years After Losing to Tito Ortiz, UFC HOF-Er Ken Shamrock Makes a Major Behind-the-Scenes Disclosure

Ken Shamrock is undoubtedly one of the biggest MMA legends in history. He is a Hall of Famer and a former UFC Superfight champion with two successful title defenses. Even at the age of 59, ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ still sports a great physique. He once revealed in an interview about the instance when the UFC approached him for a fight when the promotion was on the brink of a corporate collapse.

‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ was a prominent MMA feature during the early 90s. Shamrock was fighting in many promotions at that time. However, by the end of the century, the Hall of Famer was racking up losses since he was past his prime. Furthermore, in 2002, UFC approached Shamrock to fight the then reigning light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, at UFC 40.

Ken Shamrock wished that the UFC approached him a few years earlier

The former Superfight champion claimed to have been excited about the opportunity to fight Tito Ortiz. He was in his late 30s and didn’t plan to fight a much young Ortiz at that time. He said, “I am not sure that was my desire. ” Shamrock’s only regret is that the UFC didn’t set up that fight a few years earlier.

“Obviously I was excited about fighting, but if I was gonna do that fight I wish they’d come to me like 10 years earlier because I was like in my mid-40s, late 40s when I fought him [Tito Ortiz] and he was 26 or 27, in his prime,” said Ken Shamrock. He knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy task since Tito Ortiz was at his peak and dominated the UFC scene. The Hall of Famer added, “I knew that I had to get lucky.”

Hall of Famer claims that the UFC was on the brink of collapse

UFC’s 10th year as a promotion didn’t yield the best of results, as Ken Shamrock recalls. He claims that the organization was on its way to irrelevance and that is why they came to him before he even considered fighting Tito Ortiz. Shamrock said, “It wasn’t me going after them. They [UFC] came to me because the organization was dying.”

The lack of numbers worried the UFC brass, which led them to approach Ken Shamrock, who would guarantee numbers due to the reputation he had garnered as a mixed martial artist. The Hall of Famer claims that it was the UFC’s attempt to revamp the promotion. “They came to me because I put numbers up, I always have. So they came to me to revive the organization,” said Shamrock.

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The UFC has now completed 30 years, which is an achievement in itself. It has become one of the biggest sporting franchises in the world, with a roster stacked with quality fighters. It doesn’t look like the promotion is going to die anytime soon. What do you make of Shamrock’s claims? Let us know in the comments section below.

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