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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

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Ken Shamrock compares criticism of him fighting to denying 60 year olds medication

By Zach Arnold | July 12, 2011

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“Well, I think it’s funny how people call something we that call entertainment ‘disgraceful.’ I mean, you’re talking about writers who are sitting on the outside looking-in who have never stepped in the ring and never competed that are writing things like this, calling it disgraceful, they should not do this, boxers shouldn’t get in the ring… you’re talking about competitors, guys that challenge themselves every single day in the gym, they get up every morning, they live and breathe this stuff and you’ve got writers sitting on the sidelines criticizing warriors. How does that pan out? I’d like to grab a pen and poke them in the eye. I mean, I don’t get it, how can you criticize people like that who are CHAMPIONS, have proved themselves over and over again and you sit them with a pen and criticize them. And hurt them!

“If someone came up to you and you got to be about 60 years old, if you someone came up to you and said, ‘you know what? you’re 60 years old and you’re too old for us to give you medication, we need to give it to people that are younger because they’re healthier and they got more to live for.’ How does that feel? You’re not important, nobody cares about you any more. That’s wrong! First of all, we’ve done it for years entertaining people and we did what we were supposed to do for those years. Now, we have an opportunity to enjoy ourselves, compete in it the way we want to compete in it and have no absolutely boundaries on us and absolutely nothing on us that says we have to win! … We do this for the entertainment now. I enjoy the competition. That’s what they have a hard time understanding when you’re sitting on the outside of the ring pushing a pen. You don’t know what it’s like to have to stop something you love doing. It’s like stopping breathing, it’s like telling me to stop breathing. It’s not going to happen, not as long as I’ve got two legs and two arms that I can still swing. I’m going to continue to keep doing as long as I can and as long as the fans want me to. And you pen pushers, put your pens back in your pocket and wait for something more exciting to write about.

“Well, that’s funny how when I got to all these places and you know the most important people that you look at are the fans, the ones that are actually paying the tickets to come watch the show, not the ones that get the free tickets to write about it. They’re the ones that count, but yet you got the pen pushers who get the free tickets sitting in the front row bashing the guys that the fans love. Does that make any sense at all? The reason why you have a job is because of guys like us and then you want to turn around and write bad things about us because we get a little bit old and a little bit slow. Well, I go to tell you, when your time comes and someone tells you you’re too old to write any more and you’re too old to get medication to or you don’t deserve medication because you ain’t worth it, we need to give it to younger people… let’s see how that feels. Right now, you’re young and pushing pens and you’re hurting people with those pens because you get to write what you want.

“I’ll say this — as long as the fans are there and they’re supporting you and they continue to want to see you get in there and give it a good try and do your best and they support you over the years, then if that’s what you want to do don’t let nobody try and embarrass you out of your right. You keep fighting and you keep doing what you want to do and don’t let anybody embarrass you not to do it. If you want it and the fans are still behind you and you’re still wanting to do it and you have the love for it, you continue to do it.”

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Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

28 Responses to “Ken Shamrock compares criticism of him fighting to denying 60 year olds medication”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    1) Fighting after the ag eof 40 should not be a right.

    2) Phil Davis is injured and out of the next UFC event. Man, these guys have to learn how to train better.

    Tito Ortiz perhaps? He makes the most sense. Unless Machida is available and in shape.

    In a way, as long as they can get a good replacement, I think this is a good thing. They were pushing Davis too quickly.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida is the new main event.

      It’s a BETTER main event then Evans/Davis.

      • The Gaijin says:

        Apparently it’s not a done deal quite yet. Lyoto still hasn’t formally accepted – I guess Soares is negotiating the size of the dumptruck they’d like filled up with cash.

        As an aside, I don’t understand why Dana would throw Tito under the bus as he’s done (told Chiappetta that Tito turned it down) – seems like a bit of a petty/bitchy shot. Why on earth would Tito, a guy that just saved his career, take a quick turnaround fight against a guy as dangerous as Evans? I get that there’s a nice upside but there’s way too much risk – that would be very short sighted for Tito.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          According to Iole, it’s now done. Machida agreed.

          I didn’t realize White was the one who said Ortiz didn’t want the fight. I just saw both White saying Tito didn’t want it and Tito saying why he didn’t take it, but I wasn’t following the timeline.

          It’s obvious that White can’t stand him. He missed a pre fight press conference and also told Helwani that is was about Tito business….. He does not hesistate to throw Ortiz under the bus….

        • 45 Huddle says:

          And just as I typed that, it looks like the current rumor is now that it won’t be happening.

          MMA Journalism at it’s best. They can’t keep a straight story to save their lives…

        • The Gaijin says:

          “MMA Journalism at it’s best. They can’t keep a straight story to save their lives…”

          I think for the most part it’s people with a boner on to be the one that “breaks the story”! So you get some people that want to fire out a piece or tweet about it without full confirmation and add the caveats and all of that business and worry about amending/revising the story as it unfolds. It’s a bit of a race to the bottom, but unfortunately you either see someone do it to make a name/get some buzz or do it defensively because they know someone else will do it if they don’t.

    • Jonathan says:

      I am just curious why you say that they are pushing Davis too fast given what John Jones has accomplished. Maybe with this new breed of fighter, the old “thought process about development” does not apply, or has been sped up.

  2. edub says:

    I say just hold up Evans now, and let him fight Jones in October.

    Zach what are you gonna do when you’re 60, and your hands are so cramped from writing that you can’t open your medication bottle.

    Huh, yea nothing. That’s what I thought, dumb pen pushers.

  3. Chuck says:

    I hope Ken Shamrock realizes that fighting professionally in the United States is not a right but a privilege. You need to be licensed. Someone over the age of forty shouldn’t be denied a license because he is over forty, but there should be more scrutiny for him to be healthy and in shape and to have no signs of head trauma or dementia.

  4. Wonderjudas says:

    He’s so broken by now that criticism of Ken Shamrock fighting is more akin to criticism of a 60-year-old fighting.

  5. Jason Harris says:

    MMAFighting had a good article about it, but the people who want Ken to stop fighting want him to do so because they hate to see him embarrass himself as fans of his.

    Personally, I’m amazed he can still fill seats. But then I talk to a lot of guys who still think Ken and Royce are the baddest dudes ever.

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    I think after watching Nathan Marquardt fail to get medically cleared, countless fighters not make weight, and both Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida turn down a main event fight….

    That the UFC is really the only ones looking out for the future and growth of the sport. Fighters could care less about the overall health of the sport. They only care about themselves.

    I think a new rule needs to be implemented in UFC contracts. Fighters have to be in shape and ready to fight for 9 consecutive months out of the year. Sounds strange, but it’s the only way to get around all of these issues lately.

    Athletes in most other sports have to be in shape 8 to 9 months a year anyways. Why should fighters be any different?

    • The Gaijin says:

      That idea is nice in theory, but it totally ignores the reality of the fight game. It’s not like team sports where guys can and do get injured for periods of time but the team can adapt to their absence.

      Guys need camps to get ready for fights plain and simple. Different opponents require you to plan different strategies and gameplans, you need to set yourself to peak at the right time, etc. They also need time off to heal from injuries and the general wear and tear from the rigors of not just their training camps but their team members training camps. If you think the injury problem is bad now, think of how bad it will get when you have guys trying to stay at or near their peak levels so that they can fight on 3 weeks notice.

      Why should anyone expect Tito or Machida to step in without any notice, without a proper camp (or coming off a big fight)? As a promoter its on the UFC to be prepared for these types of things and not rely on the “well aren’t you a f**king fighter?!?” pressure to make guys step in. While I’m sure they would have gotten a “bonus” or 6 weeks of Dana’s admiration, it probably wasn’t worth it to them to take the risk as a professional fighter. These were guys that they were publicly stating were on the verge of getting cut with their next loss. If you ask me Dana has incentivized guys NOT to take these kind of fights. The sword cuts both ways.

    • larrycraig says:

      There is no way that would work. Dumb idea.

      • Of course it would. Brock would magically get his colon working again and Jon Jones wouldn’t have ducked Rashad due to his thumb injury. Isn’t that the argument here?

        Wait. Oh.

    • If the UFC really cared about the overall health and growth of the sport, they would have cancelled a bunch of PPVs no one cared about, worked to get fights on free TV, and waited to make Jones/Evans happen to begin with instead of running a bunch of substitute fights. UFC 133 is definitive in how the UFC only cares about themselves and not “the sport”.

      • The Gaijin says:

        Don’t they have contracts with the PPV providers that they have to honour?

        I have a feeling they would cancel some of these turkeys/PPV image damaging cards if the option was there, but wouldn’t the provider have an aneurysm if they were cancelling a block of prime Saturday night PPV time 3 weeks out? Especially when these PPVs are still profitable for everyone involved.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          Boxing promoters have cancelled bigger shows than this for PPV. Their problem is that they’re looking to soak fans for everything they’re worth. Its not like they didn’t have a bunch of free cards in the last couple months to work with.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I’m not sure about cancelling PPV’s…

          But putting on TWO PPV’s in one month bit them in the behind big time here…. So that is where the UFC is at fault….

          When one fight falling apart ruins a PPV, it means the card shouldn’t have been on PPV to begin with…

        • 45 Huddle says:

          One PPV per month maximum…. If they stuck to this, their PPV cards would be getting better PPV buyrates, and they would be getting better ratings on TV because they would be able to put on bigger names as main events for those cards.

          They are hurting their own long term growth for a little bit more short term money.

          Really what we should have seen is:

          August PPV – Silva/Okami, Griffin/Rua, Evans/Davis, Akiyama/Belfort, & MacDonald/Pyle

          August SpikeTV Show – Nogueira/Franklin, Nogueira/Schaub, Barbosa/Pearson, Cane/Nedkov, & Rivera/Sakara

          Now those seem more balanced…. And if Davis got hurt,. it wouldn’t have hurt the PPV that badly.

          It’s just pure greed that is hurting them at this point.

        • The Gaijin says:

          Your logic is sound here.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          So for review:

          -Fighters are greedy

          -The UFC is greedy

          -The fighters should be in a position to be forced to fight because they are too greedy and don’t do what the UFC needs them to when they need it.

          LOL. OK. I’m sure this ideal works with the concept of a fighter’s union really well too.

      • edub says:

        They do have the contracts with the cable providers in that they cannot just cancel ppv card (because they would have to pay penalties). But it’s their fault for being greedy enough to sign those in the first place.

        In a perfect world, in my opinion of course, The UFC would only run a max of 6 ppv cards a year. Sign a contract with either Showtime or HBO (which would probably swing the new “boxing wars” in the winner’s favor), and keep fights coming on either Spike/Versus/new network. Maybe get em on a big network too.

        I think a situation like that would be “looking out for the sport”.

        • The Gaijin says:

          Oh agreed. I’m all for less aka monthly PPVs w/ far deeper cards that are less affected by last minute injuries and more of these watered down “ppvs” on TV.

          But, I was just saying grounded in real-time, they probably can’t just cancel the PPV without getting themselves into some trouble with the provider. As Alan pointed out it has happened before in boxing, but I think that has more to do with the boxing PPVs being very “name” driven in terms of buys whereas the ppv provider for the UFC will look at a card like this and figure they’re still getting 40% of ~300k*$55 and be happy.

  7. 45 Huddle says:

    Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans 2 is officially the main event.

    Something tells me Dana White showed Tito Ortiz the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!

  8. […] Ken Shamrock compares criticism of him fighting to denying 60 year olds medication | Fight Opinion […]

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