This Friday, the 51 year old Ken Shamrock will face off against the 41 year old Kevin Ferguson in a fight that was supposed to happen in 2008. Instead of fighting each other under the Elite XC banner, Shamrock would sustain a cut on his face and pull out of the fight just hours before the event took place. Seth Petruzelli would end up replacing Shamrock, and he would knock Ferguson out in the first round. Elite XC folded after that, and Kimbo Slice would have a brief stint in the UFC before taking up boxing. Shamrock would alternate wins and losses before retiring.
Neither of these men have been in a cage since 2010. Yet they are now headlining a major card. Michael Chandler and Daniel Straus, two big name Bellator fighters, are also on the card. The co-main event is a title fight between Patricio Pitbull and Daniel Weichel. All of these fighters have much more talent than the aging main eventers, but not nearly as much drawing power. This card will do BIG numbers. People absolutely love main events like this. This was a great move by Bellator, who really can’t compete with the UFC’s talent. Kimbo Slice still has tons of fans from his street fighting days. This card will not only engage fight fans, but casual fans as well. It doesn’t really matter who wins this fight. Neither of these fighters are looking for a title run and Scott Coker made it clear that this is a one-time thing.
On top of all this, there is some bad blood. Kimbo claims that Shamrock cut himself on purpose to avoid the fight. Ken has, obviously, been angered by this claim. A title fight, a grudge match, this card has all the makings of a blockbuster. Both of these fighters are legends in their own way. Kimbo is an internet legend, while Shamrock is an MMA legend. The fact that this fight was put together is just, well, weird. But Like a train wreck, people will be watching just to see what happens.
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