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Sherdog.com is reporting that UFC president Dana White has confirmed a third showdown between rivals Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, which is tentatively scheduled for October as the main event on an upcoming Spike TV fight night. There was some suspicion that the UFC was contemplating such a move because of the “controversy” that plagued the rematch in July that Shamrock lost via TKO, but protested it was a premature stoppage by referee Herb Dean.
Sherdog.com is reporting that UFC president Dana White has confirmed a third showdown between rivals Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, which is tentatively scheduled for October as the main event on an upcoming Spike TV fight night. There was some suspicion that the UFC was contemplating such a move because of the “controversy” that plagued the rematch in July that Shamrock lost via TKO, but protested it was a premature stoppage by referee Herb Dean. It’s absolutely astonishing how the North American leader in MMA could even consider promoting a third bout, as there wasn’t even much fanfare for the rematch at UFC 61. The first fight took place in 2002 and it was suppose to settle a feud that was years in the making, yet Shamrock was only able to prove he was severely overmatched and after 3 rounds of getting pummelled beyond recognition his corner stopped the fight. Unfortunately, no matter how one-sided the fight was, a rematch clause was written into the contract and Shamrock was adamant that Ortiz honour it. A rematch clause should only be exercised when there’s public interest in seeing two particular fighters square off again. For instance, Mike Tyson had a rematch clause against Lennox Lewis but the whole world saw Tyson suffer one of the most brutal beatings of his career at the hands of the champion, which nullified any chance of another encounter. Lewis’ camp attempted to pressure Tyson into accepting the rematch but no matter how much money was on the table, “Iron Mike” knew there was no sense going back into the ring just to get pounded on again. However, in an effort to support Shamrock’s case for a second meeting he revealed afterwards that he fought Ortiz with a blown ACL. Therefore, he stepped away from action to have injuries to his knee and shoulder repaired, and made a triumphant return to the Octagon by defeating (washed up Stanozolol induced) Kimo. Nevertheless, Shamrock was not able to sustain the momentum as he was later TKO’d in successive bouts (Franklin/Sakuraba). Therefore, nearly four years removed from their first bout and having now lost 4 of his last 5 fights, the UFC decided the timing was right for the Ortiz-Shamrock rematch. Most MMA experts predicted Ortiz would again destroy Shamrock, thus the outcome was never in doubt it was just a question of when the fight would end. The fight began with Shamrock rushing Ortiz with hopes he would connect with a flurry of punches, and it was painfully evident that Shamrock really didn’t have a game plan. Just over a minute into the fight, Shamrock found himself propped up against the cage and getting smashed with Ortiz’ elbow. Dean’s stoppage can be debated but the fact Shamrock would never have improved his position can’t, and he would have inevitably been unconscious a mere few seconds later. Furthermore, the UFC has only had 3 trilogies, featuring Liddell/Couture, Sylvia/Arlovski, and Couture/Belfort. The interesting point about those 3 match-ups is that each fighter held a win over the other heading into the decisive showdown, unlike Shamrock who is 0-2 versus Ortiz. Also, the UFC might be feeling some comfort in the fact that this 3rd bout is scheduled to appear on Spike TV rather then headlining another PPV. However, it’s worth pointing out that the majority of Spike UFC Fight Night main events usually establish a number 1 contender (Loiseau, Sylvia, Silva), so why should fans miss out on more fights like Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan for this meaningless endeavour? Why Ortiz wants this fight: Represents another easy payday for something he could accomplish sleepwalking. Why Shamrock wants this fight: Simply put, Shamrock is delusional. If you gave him two Popsicle sticks he would likely wage war against a thousand Hezbollah trained guerrillas.
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