UFC: Ken Shamrock Talks Royce Gracie, Tito Ortiz, Putting A Man In Coma

UFC and WWE legend Ken Shamrock said he once punched a guy into coma and shared his real thoughts about his rivalry with Royce Gracie and Tito Ortiz.

In combat sports and professional wrestling, the name “Shamrock” is synonymous to a variety of things. For some, he is the “world’s most dangerous man” but for others, he is a juiced up and washed up fighter. But no matter what people think of him, Shamrock is still considered as one of the originators in MMA. With an epic rivalry with (Royce) Gracie, Shamrock has paved the way for the younger fighters today.

In a recent exclusive interview with TalkSport, the 55-year-old legend unveiled a lot of things about his past. According to Shamrock, he was able to figure out how to dominate a sport Gracie’s family had been ruling for years.

“I fought Royce Gracie [at UFC 1 in 1993] , when I had two and a half years’ experience and he had twenty something years of experience and yet within six months of getting beaten by him, I was able to figure out how to win and dominate in a sport the Gracie family had been dominating in for 50 years,” Shamrock said.

Shamrock’s bad blood with Gracie appears to be unsettled. In fact, last September, the MMA icon admitted that he still can’t believe Gracie took all the credit in their fights despite allegedly playing dirty specially in their third match.

“I also know what kind of person he is outside the ring and that I can't see anybody accepting a win knowing that you landed a low shot knowing that you did that and then you just saying, 'Oh yeah, I beat him,'” Shamrock exclaimed.

Aside from Gracie, Shamrock also discussed his rivalry with Ortiz. As per Shamrock, he and Ortiz could have made one of the most historical rivalries in MMA if they have just fought in their primes.

“I fought Tito [Ortiz] three times, but would love to have been able to fight him when both in our primes. That would have been a rivalry we’d be talking about for years. We both had wrestling backgrounds, I believe my striking was a little better and our takedowns were second to none.

Shockingly, Shamrock also admitted to putting a guy into coma with a punch to the jaw. The horrifying incident earned him the nickname “One Punch.”

“I put a guy in a coma in Reno, Nevada when I hit him in the jaw. I made a name for myself and became known as ‘One Punch’ Shamrock because then there were no submissions. There was a lot of KOs and I was very powerful with punches and knocking guys out.