Kimbo Slice (-400) vs. Ken Shamrock (+320)

by Stan Leung
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Elite XC: Heat Saturday Night Fights 3
Sunday Oct 8th 2008, 9:00 pm EST.
Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock
EliteXC betting pick: Kimbo Slice-400

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As a mixed martial arts purist I really want so badly for 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 5 fights and has only 2 wins in his last 9 fights. The Ken Shamrock of 1995 would have made mince meat out of Kimbo but that was along time ago and EliteXC is just looking for a big name to legitimize Kimbo Slice AKA Kevin Ferguson as a good fighter.

Shamrock is barley a heavyweight and only hovering at around 205 pounds 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? Yes he can as he still has all the skill to submit anyone in the world BUT Ken never has a game plan and lets his ego get the best of him.

I do believe that Ken can still submit Kimbo if this fight goes to the ground but he has to get Kimbo to the ground and Kimbo is a vicious striker that is always pushing forward. Technically, Kimbo is a very good striker and many people think he is just a brawler with just power but he is a very smart striker. Kimbo sets up his strikes with jabs, upper cuts and body blows before he swings for the fences. In Kimbo’s last fight with Josh Thompson he landed 12 out of 14 body blows, landed 3 out of 9 jabs and landed 12 of 25 power head shots so his distribution of strikes is not only powerful but accurate. 

His striking is going to drop Ken within the first couple of minutes of the fight. Even if Ken checks Kimbo’s strikes are just too fast and too powerful 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 is his key to victory but he needs to shoot in with takedowns. In order to do that he has to take some punches and Ken is slower and older at 44. He needs to shoot in low and get Kimbo on his back as lock locks are Ken’s best submissions.

Bottom Line: I would love to tell that Ken will win this fight but Ken has been irreverent in mixed martial arts since 2000. He has not improved his game and he has been in too many wars and taken too much damage over the years. If Ken tries to stick to a game plan and take Kimbo down he does have a shot but Kimob has obviously worked on his sprawl with Bas Rutten and having such a large body sprawl as Ken's shoots will nullify any shoot attempt. I don’t see Ken being able to get a single leg or double leg takedown in this fight.

To bet on this fight for Kimbo at -400 at a online sportsbook might be a little too steep but I you have the funds 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 could knock him out what chance does he have versus a heavy striker like Kimbo.


I desperately want to have Shamrock win this fight so badly, but the weight and strength of Kimbo, the age of Shamrock and his unwillingness to follow a game plan are his downfalls. His last submission victory was almost 7 years ago against Sam Adkins and MMA and fighting has evolved so much since than and Shamrock hasn’t.

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