Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock draws record numbers for Bellator amid cries of a fix
Last Friday, Bellator MMA pulled its single-best ratings in company history, when their main event between street fighting sensation Kimbo Slice and UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock peaked at 2.4 million viewers.
Despite their increased age and declining skill sets, the fight between Slice, 41, and Shamrock, 51, was something that garnered legitimate interest, proven by the impressive viewership numbers.
Fans shouldn’t be surprised, as Bellator had success in November 2014 when they put together a fight between former UFC mainstays Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar. With both fighters nearing 40, the fight peaked at 2 million viewers.
Unlike Ortiz and Bonnar’s labored and drawn out 15-minute affair, Slice and Shamrock was done in under three minutes.
And it wasn’t without its fair share of controversy.
The fight, plainly put, was sloppy. So much so that the finish, and the moments leading up to it, were in question almost immediately after the event.
Early in round one, Shamrock – a man known for his submission prowess – had Slice (a man known for anything other than submissions) in what seemed like a surefire rear-naked choke.
Shaky hand fighting ensued and at one point it looked to some as if Slice actually tapped out to Shamrock’s attempts. Unfortunately for Shamrock, Slice muscled out of the choke and rose to his feet – some would say a little too easily.
Once standing, the slugger only needed a few seconds to mount an attack and put Shamrock on his backside. And the end followed shortly thereafter.
One man in particular who called the fight’s ending and legitimacy into question was UFC announcer and life-long martial arts practitioner Joe Rogan.
Rogan first thought something was up during the walkouts.
“The entrance looked so suspect,” Rogan said on his Fight Companion podcast this week. “Because [Shamrock] was shaking everybody’s hand. It didn’t look like he was about to go to a fight; it looked like he was about to go put on a performance.”
When the actual fight started, Rogan didn’t like the shaky exchanges and labored movements – this, despite the fact that he was reminded by co-host, UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, that Shamrock is 51 years old.
“That fight looked fake as [expletive],” Rogan continued. “There’s a couple things I don’t like about that fight: I don’t like that clinch — that long clinch that they had when they were mouth to ear — they were mouth to each other’s ears for a long [expletive] time.
“When Ken did take him down he never hit him once. How bout that? He never hit him. He had him down. He had him flattened out. He’s not blasting him with punches. He’s got him flattened out and he’s not hitting him; that doesn’t make any sense.”
The other sticking point Rogan had was the submission attempt itself. Rogan, who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, was dumbfounded by Shamrock’s lack of efficiency, despite being a legend in the art of submission fighting.
“He never went behind the head! He choked him but he had it, like, on top of the head in some sort of weird way.”
He continued, “It was disturbing to me how easy Kimbo shook Ken off his back. There was a lot of [expletive] I didn’t like about it.”
Rogan is also a very successful stand-up comedian who has never shied away from a good conspiracy theory, or challenging of authority. And he does make some compelling points; specifically the awkward tie-up at the opening of the fight and even more awkward submission attempt that followed.
However, Kimbo vs. Shamrock was a big fight for Bellator, and even with Shamrock’s history as a pro wrestler, the thought of them risking their legitimacy on a staged fight seems far-fetched.
What is your verdict, Cagereaders: Did you watch Friday’s fight? Was the fix in? Or are people getting too worked up over two men who are well past their prime?
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Ryan McKinnell is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports Cagewriter blog. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
