England has a new female champion that is ready to compete on the big show following the Cage Warriors event that took place in Newcastle on Saturday night. CW 181 saw the promotion crown Kennedy Freeman as the new women’s bantamweight champion after she stopped Mafalda Carmona. Due to the sheer size of the talent […]
England has a new female champion that is ready to compete on the big show following the Cage Warriors event that took place in Newcastle on Saturday night. CW 181 saw the promotion crown Kennedy Freeman as the new women’s bantamweight champion after she stopped Mafalda Carmona.
Due to the sheer size of the talent pool that is available, Cage Warriors isn’t a promotion that regularly has female champions. In fact, Freeman is the first since Molly McCann departed the roster to sign with the UFC in 2018 but like McCann, there is something special about Freeman.
Her exciting striking style and finishing ability has meant that she’s been on the radar for some time but after taking a five-year break between 2018-2023, the 6-0 bantamweight didn’t feel ready for whatever the next step would be even when offers came in. In a post-fight interview with the promotion after putting on a dominant performance that saw Carmona withdraw from the fight in the fourth round, her mentality has changed.
“Whatever offers come, I’m ready for them now. It’s my birthday on Tuesday and I’m 28, I’m getting on now and I think I proved to myself that I can go nearly five rounds. I was ready for a fifth round there. I felt fit, I felt ready. Yeah, I’m ready for the next step.”
Freeman moving up to the UFC would be a big moment for her and her family because of their history with the promotion. Her father and coach, Ian Freeman, was the first British fighter to ever step inside the Octagon.
Making his debut in March of 2000, “The Machine” went on to fight six times in the UFC which included a signature first-round finish over Frank Mir at UFC 38 in 2002 where Matt Hughes defended his welterweight title against Carlos Newton in the main event. During her post-fight interview, Freeman was joined by her father who said that he’s looking forward to watching his daughter tread new ground in the UFC just like he did over two decades ago.
“I think we’re the only father and daughter in Cage Warriors, who’ve fought on Cage Warriors. I was the first ever British fighter in the UFC and I think the UFC are going to come knocking and when they do, we will be the first ever father and daughter in the UFC so I mean, we’re breaking history every single time.”
England has a new female champion that is ready to compete on the big show following the Cage Warriors event that took place in Newcastle on Saturday night. CW 181 saw the promotion crown Kennedy Freeman as the new women’s bantamweight champion after she stopped Mafalda Carmona. Due to the sheer size of the talent […]
England has a new female champion that is ready to compete on the big show following the Cage Warriors event that took place in Newcastle on Saturday night. CW 181 saw the promotion crown Kennedy Freeman as the new women’s bantamweight champion after she stopped Mafalda Carmona.
Due to the sheer size of the talent pool that is available, Cage Warriors isn’t a promotion that regularly has female champions. In fact, Freeman is the first since Molly McCann departed the roster to sign with the UFC in 2018 but like McCann, there is something special about Freeman.
Her exciting striking style and finishing ability has meant that she’s been on the radar for some time but after taking a five-year break between 2018-2023, the 6-0 bantamweight didn’t feel ready for whatever the next step would be even when offers came in. In a post-fight interview with the promotion after putting on a dominant performance that saw Carmona withdraw from the fight in the fourth round, her mentality has changed.
“Whatever offers come, I’m ready for them now. It’s my birthday on Tuesday and I’m 28, I’m getting on now and I think I proved to myself that I can go nearly five rounds. I was ready for a fifth round there. I felt fit, I felt ready. Yeah, I’m ready for the next step.”
Freeman moving up to the UFC would be a big moment for her and her family because of their history with the promotion. Her father and coach, Ian Freeman, was the first British fighter to ever step inside the Octagon.
Making his debut in March of 2000, “The Machine” went on to fight six times in the UFC which included a signature first-round finish over Frank Mir at UFC 38 in 2002 where Matt Hughes defended his welterweight title against Carlos Newton in the main event. During her post-fight interview, Freeman was joined by her father who said that he’s looking forward to watching his daughter tread new ground in the UFC just like he did over two decades ago.
“I think we’re the only father and daughter in Cage Warriors, who’ve fought on Cage Warriors. I was the first ever British fighter in the UFC and I think the UFC are going to come knocking and when they do, we will be the first ever father and daughter in the UFC so I mean, we’re breaking history every single time.”
You see, Shamrock was expected to face Ian Freeman at an Ultimate Cage Fighting Championship event on July 27th. A few days ago, however, Shamrock pulled out of the fight and claimed that the promotion was trying to shortchange him, resulting in the fight being cancelled altogether. We know, sounds familiar, right? Only now, a pissed off Freeman is accusing Shamrock of cheating the promotion out of $5,000 and skipping town (original story here) — what’s known on Broadway as “pulling a Harold Hill.” Freeman vented on his Facebook page:
Well, everyone including myself, knew this fight was too good to be true as we know what a coward Shamrock is.
Not only is Shamrock a coward but he’s also a thief. He accepted the fight, demanded $5,000 upfront as a deposit of trust, of which was sent, and now refuses to return the money.
Not only has he demanded that money up front but also ask for his purse and ticket deal to be paid “before” he fights and this money to be sent to an American bank.
UCFC bent over backwards to stick to your Diva demands but you bitched about everything. Even to the fact that they were advertising your name to sell tickets. That’s what every show in the world does [you] dumb fuck. The fight was confirmed, and you signed and made a video signing the contract. Idiot.
While this seemed like a simple case of “he said, she said” at first, it wasn’t until we revisited an old interview with Chael Sonnen, of all people, that this case was blown wide open.
You see, Shamrock was expected to face Ian Freeman at an Ultimate Cage Fighting Championship event on July 27th. A few days ago, however, Shamrock pulled out of the fight and claimed that the promotion was trying to shortchange him, resulting in the fight being cancelled altogether. We know, sounds familiar, right? Only now, a pissed off Freeman is accusing Shamrock of cheating the promotion out of $5,000 and skipping town (original story here) — what’s known on Broadway as “pulling a Harold Hill.” Freeman vented on his Facebook page:
Well, everyone including myself, knew this fight was too good to be true as we know what a coward Shamrock is.
Not only is Shamrock a coward but he’s also a thief. He accepted the fight, demanded $5,000 upfront as a deposit of trust, of which was sent, and now refuses to return the money.
Not only has he demanded that money up front but also ask for his purse and ticket deal to be paid “before” he fights and this money to be sent to an American bank.
UCFC bent over backwards to stick to your Diva demands but you bitched about everything. Even to the fact that they were advertising your name to sell tickets. That’s what every show in the world does [you] dumb fuck. The fight was confirmed, and you signed and made a video signing the contract. Idiot.
While this seemed like a simple case of “he said, she said” at first, it wasn’t until we revisited an old interview with Chael Sonnen, of all people, that this case was blown wide open:
“I can guarantee you that as sure as night follows day, that not only is that fight never gonna happen, it never was. Ken Shamrock is going around to all these different promoters doing his typical scumbag move getting money up front saying, “You know, I’m a Hall of Famer and I don’t even know if you guys are going to exist, so give me a ten grand signing bonus.”
He takes their money, goes and blades himself in the back, or whatever make believe thing that guy does, won’t show up – guaranteed he won’t show up – keeps their ten grand and goes on to the next unassuming promoter. He’s not gonna fight James Toney anymore than you are. He never was. That fight won’t happen, mark my words.”
We don’t know how to say this, but Chael Sonnen is starting to sound less like a schizophrenic WWE heel and more like a goddamn prophet these days. That interview is over two years old, yet has Shamrock’s current shtick pegged to a tee. The even more damning evidence? Shamrock’s response to the controversy and John Joe O’Regan’s subsequent takedown of “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
Shamrock: England, they don’t have a sanctioning body so that’s the reason why we’ve done this escrow, where they put the money into escrow. We know that when we get to England these contracts aren’t valid because there’s no sanctioning body.
So these contracts are not legal. So that’s why we did it that way, and now they’re – which we didn’t think they would do because it’s stupid business – but they’re trying to pull that now.
Writer’s Note: Shamrock is not correct here. Contracts/bout agreements are not illegal in the absence of a sanctioning body. They are still legally enforceable agreements between the parties, but would be enforced via the civil justice system in the UK via the small claims court. (Source: Writer is a law graduate)
So there you have it; Ken Shamrock has somehow managed to out-sleazeball Bob Sapp, who at least shows up to his contacted fights and takes some semblance of a beating before receiving his overly-inflated paycheck. And as with Sapp, the only way we are going to rid ourselves of the cancer Shamrock has become (Kencer?) is to stop enabling him. So we beg of you, small-time MMA promoters: DO NOT HIRE THIS FRAUD.
If our past few articles about Shamrock are any indication, this is the point where a couple of you jump up our asses about “disrespecting a legend” and start building strawmen in regards to what us writers have done with our lives that is so great. I can’t speak for everyone here, but I’m certain that I’ve never resorted to extortion as a way of earning income. Prostitution may be a dirty business, but at least it’s honest.
(AND FOR ONLY FIVE DOLLARS MORE, I WILL PERSONALLY COME TO YOUR HOME AND SCREAM AT YOUR KIDS WHILE YOU WATCH MY FIGHT ON TEVO.)
It’s hard to say what exactly inspires aging MMA fighters with the sudden desire to give the sport another go. In Aleksander Emelianenko’s case, it was money, probably to be put towards more prison-style death tattoos. In Tank Abbott’s case, it was probably because one of his crusty drinking buddies at the local VFW bet him he wouldn’t. And in UFC HOFer Ken Shamrock‘s case, it appears that his first round TKO over that chick outside a Wetzel’s Pretzels is to thank for his most recent “comeback” fight, the details of which MMAOpinion has just passed along:
UFC Hall of Famer, Ken Shamrock will be returning to MMA on July 27 to take on British MMA star Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman under the Ultimate Cage Fighting Championship banner at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, England.
Shamrock,a UFC Superfight Champion, made his desire to fight Freeman public when he commentated on BAMMA 12. His wish has been granted after some heavy negotiation. Shamrock has been in fights with some of all time greats including Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba but it looks like even at the grand age of 49, ‘The World’s most Dangerous Man’ is not ready to call it quits. He has not fought since November 2010. His last fight in the UK saw him lose by TKO to Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry in 2008.
While we would love to bring things like Shamrock’s record over the past few years or his general mental health into the equation, we think we should hold off on our cynicism until this fight actually goes down. And honestly, when compared to what he’s been reduced to in lieu of fighting, seeing Shamrock’s brains get turned into mashed potatoes for a few thousand bucks is probably the least humiliating thing we (or he) could ask for.
(AND FOR ONLY FIVE DOLLARS MORE, I WILL PERSONALLY COME TO YOUR HOME AND SCREAM AT YOUR KIDS WHILE YOU WATCH MY FIGHT ON TEVO.)
It’s hard to say what exactly inspires aging MMA fighters with the sudden desire to give the sport another go. In Aleksander Emelianenko’s case, it was money, probably to be put towards more prison-style death tattoos. In Tank Abbott’s case, it was probably because one of his crusty drinking buddies at the local VFW bet him he wouldn’t. And in UFC HOFer Ken Shamrock‘s case, it appears that his first round TKO over that chick outside a Wetzel’s Pretzels is to thank for his most recent “comeback” fight, the details of which MMAOpinion has just passed along:
UFC Hall of Famer, Ken Shamrock will be returning to MMA on July 27 to take on British MMA star Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman under the Ultimate Cage Fighting Championship banner at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, England.
Shamrock,a UFC Superfight Champion, made his desire to fight Freeman public when he commentated on BAMMA 12. His wish has been granted after some heavy negotiation. Shamrock has been in fights with some of all time greats including Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba but it looks like even at the grand age of 49, ‘The World’s most Dangerous Man’ is not ready to call it quits. He has not fought since November 2010. His last fight in the UK saw him lose by TKO to Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry in 2008.
While we would love to bring things like Shamrock’s record over the past few years or his general mental health into the equation, we think we should hold off on our cynicism until this fight actually goes down. And honestly, when compared to what he’s been reduced to in lieu of fighting, seeing Shamrock’s brains get turned into mashed potatoes for a few thousand bucks is probably the least humiliating thing we (or he) could ask for.
Unfortunately for “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” he will be facing a guy on an actual win streak in Ian Freeman, the UFC veteran who is best known for his upset TKO of Frank Mir at UFC 38. Granted, Freeman hasn’t competed since 2008, so if this thing doesn’t end in the first minute or so, we are all but guaranteed fifteen solid minutes of two dudes clinching and gasping for air while the announcers attempt to remind us that they are both “legends” or “pioneers” of the sport. Should be fun.
Who are we kidding? Shamwow has only made it out of the first round once since 2002. Let’s just go ahead and dub this fight a…
