The World’s Most Apologetic Man: Ken Shamrock issues open letter of apology for playing hooky on October 4
By: Jesse Holland
Courtesy of KenShamrock.com
On October 4th, I was set to fight Kimbo Slice on the EliteXC/CBS Saturday Night Fights in a highly anticipated event. Unfortunately, because of a training accident and the intervention of the Florida State Boxing Commission, our fight did not happen. I suffered a cut above my left eye that required six stitches, and the cut was significant enough to cause the Florida State Boxing Commission to refuse to allow me to fight.
The scheduled bout with Kimbo on the EliteXC/CBS Saturday Night Fight card was a great opportunity, and it is unfortunate that I was unable to face Kimbo as planned. I want to apologize to all of my fans, and to the EliteXC and CBS executives who worked so hard to put this fight together. I also want to apologize to Kimbo, Bas Rutten and their entire camp for what happened. I recognize that I put them in a very bad situation, particularly Kimbo. It’s difficult to walk into the ring after training for one opponent only to find out hours before the fight that you have to face some you don’t know or have never seen fight.
Over the years there have been many great times as well as disappointing times and I know Saturday the fans were as disappointed as I was. I was worked up so I decided to train with my partners in order to stay focused on the fight. I was just doing a light roll to check holds when I got caught by a head butt. It was a freak accident and I didn’t think anything of it until I saw drops of blood. It appeared to be a deep laceration so I had my physician look at it and we immediately went to the emergency room. When they said the cut would require stitches, my heart sank because I knew that the Florida Boxing Commission would not let me fight. I was disappointed because I knew this was an opportunity to give the fans, my friends, and my family something to cheer about. It has been a hard couple of years for me, and for my fans. I have suffered some disappointing losses. I definitely regret my decision to train on the day of the fight.
I promise that I will make this up to all my fans. I know that there is nothing I can do about what occurred, but I plan to get back into the ring soon. I would like it to be against Kimbo Slice. Hopefully EliteXC/CBS will still be able to put a fight together. It’s is the right thing to do. The fans want it and I want it.
I would also like to congratulate Petruzelli on his win. He did a phenomenal job. Seth not accepted the challenge of facing a new opponent; he also had to move up in weight class. He came in, dominated Kimbo and walked away with a great victory.
To the fans, I appreciate all of your support.
Thank you and God Bless.
Ken Shamrock
-Ken Shamrock apologizes via his official website for his inability to fight Kimbo Slice at EliteXC ‘Heat’ on October 4 after an errant headbutt opened up a severe laceration above his eye, forcing him to withdraw from the bout. UFC castaway Seth Petruzelli took his place and the rest (as they say) is history.
45 Comments »
ken wouldve beat Kimbo….maybe not in 14 seconds…but I agree with Frank, Ken wouldve won…
He’s got nothing to be sorry for, he did us all a favor.
I know Ken is on the downside of his career but he still thinks he can fight. He is just explaining how he got hurt and that he feels bad about it. He knows his career is coming to an end and he is feeling the missed opportunity. Dont get down on the guy he is just a fighter realizing he might be done now(we have known for a while). Gotta be hard on a guy.
I actually feel bad for ken, he seems genuine, and would have won. hope he gets to face kimbo in the future, but after that loss, me, john and VM are waiting for our phones to ring to fight kimbo!! lol
Kevin: what happened with the betting on the kimbo fight given the situation and if so what were the odds.
I live in CA, by the time I got news ken was out, fight already happened…I’d also like to know what the odds on seth were…I would have bet him!!
They already called me to fight him. They paid me 2 bonuses in advance. 1 for not going to the ground and one for not standing. I guess they’re not taking anymore chances with Kimbo,LOL.
LOL.
What the f*$k were you thinking, Ken? And, they say you’re a veteran? Apology not accepted. I thought you were smarter than that.
For the LOVE OF GOD RETIRE!!!!!!!!!!
You can make it up to your FAN!
Loved it on message board when fans were coming up with taglines
Irisistable farce against a unretirable object..
I am sure I screwed it up
Hes giving an explanation as if someone cares anymore. Like the late tanner, sadly their careers were no longer relevant and they still feel they need to give journals and updates to mma fans about what is going on with their everyday thoughts when really, most fans no longer career either way.
and we care about what you say???
lol
HAHAHAHA Exactly
Thanks for the cut Ken! We got to see Seth destroy Kimbo.
true. nothing to be sorry about.
yea no need for apology. not his fault he got cut.
exactly. it was the best thing that could happen to all mma fans; watching a “c” class former ufc fighter beat kimbo. fantastic!!!
Instead of apologizing to everyone, he should be thanking the guy who supposedly head-butted him. That man not only saved him from yet another knockout but kept at least one more layer of tarnish off what is left of his legacy in the sport.
I think Ken might have beat Kimbo but Ken has a jaw of jello so one small tap might have put him out.
I personaly think Ken bought into all the hype on Kimbo like everyone else. I think it was no accident. Ken had it planned to not fight Kimbo
Some people just don’t know when it’s time to hang them up.
it didn’t matter who kimbo was gonna fight hes would lose to gina for heavens sake, but man oh mna ken is old and off his game what is he even doing a headbut for on the day of the fight, i don’t think headbuts are allowed in mma maybe wwe but noyt mma , shit shamrock you keep fumbling, your last two fights were garbage. pack it in please!!!
Ken,
One word - retirement.
You are full of excuses since day one. I’ve read your books, followed your career, used to be a fan…and now I think you’re one of the saddest, most pathetic people in MMA. Stick to coaching or burger flipping.
Thanks.
Kinda hard on the guy…
you mine as well put him up against kimbo still because i dont think kimbo can beat anyother heavyweight that has a little experiece and skill. I dont think kimbo has the strentgh to take him down and i dont think he has good enough stand up to test kimbo and one punch will put him down for good.
Whoever calls for Ken to retire is pure dumb. As he has stated over and over again, he is doing it becasue it is what he loves to do. Whether he would have beat kimbo or not, he was planning to do what he loves. He doesn’t care about his ‘legacy’, what you guys think of thim, or how history will eventually write him in the books. He does it because he loves it, and won’t stop until HE finds he doesn’t want to do it anymore. I think that is pretty honorable and maybe he still is getting his azz kicked, but he gets to do what he loves on a daily basis and keeps pushing himself harder and harder to get better at it. Somthing little to none of us can say for ourselves. So we go on message boards and rip a legendary fighter for doing what he loves because maybe he is not as good as we would like him to be.
True MMA fans salute you Ken and appreciate your apology and love for the sport. Thanks!
You are right. If Ken wants to die in the middle of the ring we should all pay 9.99 and get to see it. I say he should fight Lesnar just to get it over with so nuthuggers like you can find someone else to root for. Oh by the way, I think Tank is still alive.
The thing is though, he is not getting better at it. He is getting worse every fight. His reflexes are SHOT, hence not even SEEING the headbut in light training. Kimbo would have Koed him as fast as Seth Koed Kimbo.
If Ken goes against the wrong opponent I think it could actually be dangerous for him… Ken needs to retire
It’s official! They’ve just announce Kimbo vs Ric Flair!!!
WHOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!
Flair wins via chop to the chest, 5 seconds into the first round.
chuck norris vs kimbo slice
Walker Texas Ranger wins KO via jumping roundhouse kick!
Rick Flare would sneak in brass knuckles, gg.
Folks are mistaken to write Kimbo off as a joke. He made some foolish moves given he knew nothing of Petruzelli. Slice shouldn’t have charged him. He should have been more conservative until he saw what Seth was bringing and could calculate his speed.
so Kimbo fell back into street brawling mode and met a knee. It happens.
As for Shamrock, I didn’t like what Ultimate Fighter showed of his coaching. He didn’t seem to take coaching those guys seriously which resulted in almost all of them loosing their bouts. pro fighting is a young (foolish) man’s game- he ought to retire. He’s already in the UFC hall of fame. He ought to take his torn hide and start a new career. Maybe even donate his brain to science. Then we can see what’s gonna happen to all these young fools clammerin’ over each other to get into MMA.
Go see what happens to old (as in 50 year olds) boxers who are sentenced to nursing homes, piss their pants, don’t know their names, but punch everyone around them.
met a knee? i must have watched a different fight when he went down to a fade-away right. interesting.
That’s why MMA is MUCH safer than boxing. Randy is getting near 50 and he seems to know his name and I haven’t seen any wet spots on his pants. It’s the REPEATED punches that do the brain damage. If you’re getting hit with the small gloves in MMA, the fight is over with a few punches, not hundreds like in a boxing fight. I don’t know about the foolish mans game either. Some guys LOVE fighting and they get fame and fortune for doing what they love. Not to metion all the poontang.
just seems like no mma fighters are backing ken on the whole training the day of the fight. I think we’ve all seen fighters warming up with there team before fights to say loose, but no training thats so hard that you get six stitches. Ken needs to just retire, and move on, he’s already embarassed himself and even beating kimbo wouldnt do anything for him.
just retire this was your chance to go out with a bang your bottle crashed and you didn’t fight just give it up!!!
I actually thought ken could have won that fight although I do think he should have retired a long time ago, if he ever does fight kimbo I don’t think he would win now after seeing the seth ko him in 14secs, I bet he’s thinking if a guy like seth can knock him out that easy he can do the same thing. Personally it’s not a fight I want to see anymore, i was a fan of ken back in his day but I really can’t see him winnning anymore fights, i think if he continues to try he’s going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. He really should retire before he gets seriously hurt
Ken Shamrock is a man of true class.
KEN I AM 49 YEARS OLD. I HAD A VERY HARD CHILD HOOD. I JUST RECENTLY STARTED TRAINING AT A MIXED MARTIAL GYM. I LOVE IT.I REALLY DON’T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS YOU ARE A TRUE WARRIOR. I’VE CHECKED OUT YOUR BIO. YOU HAVE MY RESPECT AND YOU ALWAYS WILL.I HAVE ALOT OF PRIDE AND IT TAKES ALOT FOR ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SOMEONE INSPIRES ME. WELL MY FREIND YOU HAVE. TAKE CARE