UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock is not amused by ONE FC welterweight Ben Askren‘s recent assertion that Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko is a “work.”
Shamrock, a friend of Ortiz, called out the “Funky” one on the subject via Twitter last night:
@Benaskren – are you a complete nobody to insinuate what you did about @titoortiz. – http://t.co/scdt8360mQ – @BjornRebney@MMAjunkieJohn
— KEN SHAMROCK (@ShamrockKen) April 15, 2014
After “Storm” posted a popular YouTube call-out of Ortiz on Thursday, Shlemenko vs. Ortiz was made official the next day at Bellator 116, per MMA Mania.
The light heavyweight scrap will be featured on Bellator 120 on May 17, the company’s first ever pay-per-view event.
Shlemenko, the Bellator middleweight champion, enters the matchup on the strength of a 13-fight win streak, not tasting defeat since a decision loss to Hector Lombard in October 2010.
Ortiz, one of the most dominant 205-pound champs in UFC history, is clearly in the twilight of his career at 39 years old.
The self-proclaimed “People’s Champion” is just 1-7(1) in his past nine contests and hasn’t fought since retiring after a close decision loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 in July 2012.
However, a year later, Ortiz signed on with Bellator and has been anxiously awaiting his first assignment with the promotion since pulling out of a scheduled November encounter with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson due to a neck injury, per Yahoo! Sports.
Ortiz has assured fight fans he will return to top form in this bout, likening the matchup with his dangerous Russian counterpart to when Rocky Balboa fought Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, per MMA Junkie.
While they are on good terms now, Shamrock and Ortiz fought inside the Octagon three times, with the former “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” winning on each occasion via TKO.
Could Ortiz vs. Shlemenko possibly be a set up to promote one of Bellator‘s more marketable faces, or is Askren confusing Bellator with Total Non-Stop Action professional wrestling on this one?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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