58-Year-Old Ken Shamrock Reveals One Key Factor That Made Dana White & Vince McMahon “Successful”

Ken Shamrock has one of the broadest career arcs in combat sports. He has competed in UFC, WWE, Bellator, Pancrase, and so on in his fighting career. Additionally, he is a Hall of Famer in the UFC and last fought in the year 2016 at Bellator 149 at the age of 52. Now, he is a promoter himself of a fighting league, Valor Bare Knuckle a.k.a Valor BK. And in a recent podcast, he revealed what he learned from prominent promotors like Dana White and Vince McMahon upon founding his own fighting league.

Shamrock also emphasized the value of bare-knuckle fighting for himself and his desire to share the experience with the world.

Dana White and Vince McMahon inspired Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock was recently on Wrestling Perspective Podcast and discussed the current fighting scenario as compared to back when he started. In the episode, he also discussed his big endeavor, Valor Bare Knuckle.

When the podcast host asked about what he learned from promotors like Dana White and Vince McMahon, the 58-year-old regarded their vision to be the key takeaway.

He said, “I think it’s just about having a vision and then putting the pieces together. And I think the biggest thing, which leads to me, to my next shout-out, is surrounding yourself with successful people. Winners. People that you know that are gonna be there and know what they’re doing and are gonna put you, put your business in the best place to succeed.” 

Read more: A Staple of Dana White’s UFC Prompted Billionaire Vince McMahon to Make Major Change in WWE

Shamrock certainly had the benefit of working with both top promoters, White and McMahon, something that not many get a chance to do. And now, he is one of the promotors himself, with his own distinct fighting league, the Valor Bare Knuckle.

The vision behind Valor Bare Knuckle

The 58-year-old described his vision for Valor Bare Knuckle and the purpose it serves. He stressed how essential it was in his opinion to revive bare-knuckle combat. “My vision for Valor BK comes from the beginning of my career when I was actually fighting bare-knuckled. I remember the purity of that, walking in the ring, and just being you and the other guy, god-given talent. And then they started putting on gloves on guys.”

He further added, “It just felt like we lost that purity of it. So I told myself if I ever have the opportunity to be able to bring that back, that purity back. To be able to have other people, other fighters and fans, experience what I experienced from that purity of bare-knuckle, that purity of god-given talent, I would do it.”

Shamrock ensured that despite the league’s raw nature, the safety of the fighters is well-cared for, too.

Watch this story: Biggest Charity Donation By The UFC President Dana White