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:&…
UFC Hall of FamerKen 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:
After “Storm” posted a popular YouTubecall-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?
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter Chris Leben let rip with a vicious tweet that sent shock waves throughout the MMA community:
The tweet has since been deleted—replaced with the story that Leben acted out because he’d lost his dog—bu…
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter Chris Leben let rip with a vicious tweet that sent shock waves throughout the MMA community:
The tweet has since been deleted—replaced with the story that Leben acted out because he’d lost his dog—but interest in the original message’s meaning has only snowballed. Ex-UFC fighter and fellow Ultimate Fighter alumni Nate Quarry chimed in with his own criticism of the UFC’s practices. Some fans blame Chris Leben for engineering his situation by making his own mistakes—including drug addiction and failure to pay income tax—while others question the promoter’s responsibility to former fighters.
Talking to former UFC champion Frank Shamrock uncovers stark realities about the life of a retired MMA fighter.
“I don’t think some guys realize that at some point, physically, they’ll be done, and at some point, their drawing power will be done,” says Shamrock. “In fact, they will literally stop overnight. There’s no backup, no union, no protection, no pension—there’s nothing to help them move to the next career.”
In January, Leben—loser of four straight fights in the UFC—announced his retirement from the sport. He’d played a pivotal role in the resurgence of the UFC as a contestant on the first season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). During his professional career in the organization, he racked up numerous “Fight of the Night” and “Knockout of the Night” awards, but when he quit the sport, the bonus checks and the limelight abruptly faded away. The size of Leben’s purses has been a matter of debate, but a fighter can have problems regardless of their career earnings. Fans need look no further than boxing superstar Manny Pacquaio to witness an example of a fighter earning multimillions in purses and falling victim to reckless spending and tax woes. Or the infamous Mike Tyson, who had $300 million in career earnings, but declared bankruptcy with $38.4 million in debt as of 2004.
Chris Leben’s salaries as a mid-tier fighter with the UFC likely represent the spare change floating in the recesses of Pacquiao or Tyson’s couch cushions. There was never any question that Leben would require a job to see him past his career as an MMA fighter, just as so many other prominent retired fighters have worked positions in broadcasting, coaching, running their own gyms or even selling luxury cars.
Says Shamrock, “At the end of the day, I’ve always made the bulk of my money teaching martial arts.”
When he retired, Leben told the public he was working as a coach at Victory MMA in San Diego, California. While Leben could have used his own earnings to get counseling or even reached out to UFC president Dana White via private channels, he chose to make his incendiary post on Twitter instead.
Leben’s actions are controversial in that the number one rule of being a member of this Fight Club is to never criticize the promotion in the public eye. UFC fighters know that discretionary bonuses, title shots, employment with Zuffa/FOX, continued employment with the UFC and other perks come down to earning the favoritism of the Zuffa brass. According to Leben’s Twitter account, Dana White and the UFC reached out to help him after he made his attention-grabbing Twitter post, although Leben’s management has been unresponsive when it comes to interview requests.
Frank Shamrock believes it’s in the promotion’s best interests to provide support to former fighters, especially exciting stars like Leben who contributed to the UFC’s financial success, “You look at the value that Leben has brought to the company and the money he has brought to the bottom line. You want to protect guys like that in the future, or at least pretend like you’re protecting them so the next generation will line up and do the same thing for you.”
Times have changed since The Ultimate Fighter debuted in 2005. TUF has shown continually diminishing returns in the ratings column and rarely produces fighters of the same caliber that the earliest seasons did. Spike TV had a nasty breakup with the UFC in 2011 and now broadcasts competing promotion Bellator. Three out of four of TUF’s first season finalists—Kenny Florian, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin—are retired from the sport.
Yet Chris Leben has yet to fully break away from the past. To paraphrase from Donnie Darko, he was born with tragedy flowing through his veins. On the UFC 89 Countdown show, he revealed that alcoholism ran through his family and outside of stints in the Army and jail, he’d never been sober for longer than two weeks straight since he was 13 years old.
“A lot of people who go into fighting aren’t well-adjusted,” says Shamrock, who revealed his own struggles coming from a broken home, dealing with alcoholism and time spent incarcerated in his autobiography Uncaged.
With his controversial tweet, Chris Leben pointed the finger at Zuffa for his troubles. In actuality, the UFC just ended up being a mechanism whereby the majority of fighters abandon the normalcy of typical jobs—like driving a truck—for the glamor of the stage. That they incur brain damage, lingering injuries or other hazards is about on par with professional sports like the NFL minus the benefits professional sports organizations often bestow through their players associations.
On paper, the UFC’s obligation to Chris Leben is no different than a casino’s responsibility to its patrons. Betting your life on hitting it big and expecting the prize to solve all your problems is a losing proposition for the vast majority of both casino patrons and fighters. The only one who consistently comes out ahead is the house—in this case, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the majority owners of the UFC. Fighters have to be smart in using MMA as a platform for their own advancement rather than blindly believing that there is a plan to take care of them in the future.
The question now–is the UFC morally or socially obligated to pay for Chris Leben’s counseling? Offer him further advice to deal with his tax situation? Spring for rehab when stars need it like the WWE does? Is Leben entitled to financial assistance beyond the purses and bonuses he earned?
No matter what the UFC does, the organization has its back up against the wall: there are many more UFC fighters who will be retiring over the coming years, and the organization simply cannot address all of their personal or professional issues. As Nate Quarry has stated, the UFC is just a business that puts its own interests first and foremost.
Fighters have to be aware of what the current arrangement is, period.
“If you’re out there risking your body—your physical health—you’ve got to be compensated,” says Shamrock. “It’s got to be worth it to you and everybody else. And if it’s not, then don’t do it.
At the start of his career, one can imagine Chris Leben thought about winning the title and fulfilling the dream of standing on the top of the mountain, applause and accolades raining down. Now that his situation has changed for the worse, where is the light at the end of the tunnel?
“There’s no light in this industry because nobody has sparked it and maintained it,” says Shamrock. “There is a light in getting healthy personally.”
When the curtain falls, the performer must confront painful personal truths. Bright lights—dark shadows.
To the surprise of no one, add UFC Hall of Famers Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock—longtime rivals of UFC President Dana White—to the list of competitors who believe the UFC should pay their fighters better.
Late this morning, Ortiz spoke out on…
To the surprise of no one, add UFC Hall of Famers Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock—longtime rivals of UFC President Dana White—to the list of competitors who believe the UFC should pay their fighters better.
Late this morning, Ortiz spoke out on the subject through his Twitter page:
@UFC the walls are starting to cave in! Such a shame.The cat is out of the bag.Wonder who has the guts to tell the truth.Reap what u sow!
The remarks come after fellow ex-UFC fighter Nate Quarry wrote on mixedmartialarts.com, better known as The Underground, that the UFC doesn’t care about their employees—only “the bottom line.”
Ortiz recently made headlines for stepping down as the manager of Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (formerly Santos), in hopes of making a superfight between “Cyborg” and UFC women’s bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey a reality, per MMA Fighting.
The resignation came after White accused the recently divorced Justino of being a regular user of performance-enhancing drugs, further ridiculing her appearance. He also criticized her business sense for hiring Ortiz as part of her team, per MMA Junkie.
Shamrock, one of the pioneers of the sport, competed in his first MMA fight all the way back in September 1993 and went on to capture the King of Pancrase and UFC Superfight Championship in the course of his 17-year career.
Out of 45 professional fights, Shamrock fought 14 of those bouts inside the Octagon and holds the distinction of fighting in the UFC 1 tournament in November 1993.
Meanwhile, Ortiz only competed in one fight outside the Octagon during 28 fights as a pro, establishing himself as one of the company’s most dominant champions in the early-to-mid 2000s.
Unfortunately for the self-proclaimed “People’s Champion,” he compiled a paltry 1-7-1 record in his last nine fights between December 2006 and July 2012.
After a debatable decision loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 148, Ortiz announced his retirement from the sport, but he has been under contract with Bellator since July.
He is yet to make it to the cage for the organization due to injuries and a recent DUI arrest, per TMZ.
Is UFC fighter pay an issue that is in desperate need of a revamping, or is the compensation system just fine the way it is?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock admitted on Friday night that he used steroids in the past, but he wants to be part of the movement that implements stricter drug testing in MMA.
Appearing on this week’s edition of Inside MMA, the profess…
UFC Hall of FamerKen Shamrock admitted on Friday night that he used steroids in the past, but he wants to be part of the movement that implements stricter drug testing in MMA.
Appearing on this week’s edition of Inside MMA, the professional-fighter-turned-bodyguard insisted that “I never entered into the ring while using steroids” but said “I have used steroids in the past.”
He proposed a new theory that could prevent the new generation of MMA fighters from abusing performance-enhancing drugs:
I would like to see, if we’re thinking honestly about how to fix the problem, start at the bottom. Start out with these guys who are just starting out to be MMA fighters. Start testing them and forcing them to train without it (PEDs). And test, not going, ‘OK, on the 24th we’re gonna come and test you.’ No, random testing. If you’re gonna be on a card, you’re booked on that card six months in advance. Then that means at any point and time…Nonito Donaire is a name that comes to my mind, who has proven that he does not use steroids—even though he’s been accused of it many times over again. Because he does random blood testing: They come to his gym whenever they want and they will test him.”
While Shamrock didn’t clarify his initial comments about never using steroids to prepare for an MMA fight, the former King of Pancrase has competed as a professional wrestler on and off since 1997.
Known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” inside the WWE ring, he competed in 45 professional MMA bouts in his 17-year career.
Boasting a solid 26-8-2 record after his June 2004 knockout of Kimo Leopoldo, the Nevada native lost six of his next nine fights. He was expected to return to the cage as recently as July, although his planned bout with Ian Freeman in England was cancelled due to a contract dispute, per Mike Whitman of Sherdog.
As TMZ reported earlier this month, the 49-year-old has seemingly hung up the gloves for good in order to be a bodyguard for high-end clients such as rapper 50 Cent.
Is Shamrock’s concept of random drug testing the right way to eliminate PED usage in mixed martial arts?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Earlier this week, Shamrock was spotted at CES working as a bodyguard for rapper/headphone mogul 50 Cent. There was no Ken Shamrock autograph line. No Shamrock-branded iPhone case, thank God. Just an aging tough guy in a shiny suit, keeping his eyes open in case shit jumped off. After the above photo surfaced on twitter, Shammy tweeted to Fitty, “it’s been a pleasure working with you and your team, you are by far one of the classiest gents I have ever worked with. God bless.”
Earlier this week, Shamrock was spotted at CES working as a bodyguard for rapper/headphone mogul 50 Cent. There was no Ken Shamrock autograph line. No Shamrock-branded iPhone case, thank God. Just an aging tough guy in a shiny suit, keeping his eyes open in case shit jumped off. After the above photo surfaced on twitter, Shammy tweeted to Fitty, “it’s been a pleasure working with you and your team, you are by far one of the classiest gents I have ever worked with. God bless.”
UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler Ken Shamrock was spotted recently with a new gig—serving as a bodyguard for rapper 50 Cent.
Shamrock was initially spotted at CES (a consumer electronics show) in Las Vegas, Nev.
@arielhelwani at CES 2…
UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler Ken Shamrock was spotted recently with a new gig—serving as a bodyguard for rapper 50 Cent.
Shamrock was initially spotted at CES (a consumer electronics show) in Las Vegas, Nev.
Two weeks ago, former UFC fighter 
