Ken Shamrock knocking out Kimo

MMARR: How about Pete Williams?

KS: Good talent, I just think that he lost the love for the training and fighting. It was one of those things where he had all the talent and the skill, but I just don’t think he was into it, I don’t think he wanted to fight anymore, no I know he didn’t want to fight anymore, because he told me so He said he was tired of fighting.

MMARR: I heard he is in the cooking business nowadays.

KS: Yeah he has gotten into that Chef thing I guess, he is over in Hawaii the last I heard, I am proud and happy for him and wish him the best.

MMARR: I hear that Guy Mezger is retiring is that true?

KS: Yeah he has had some problems, physical problems, until they can figure what is wrong with him he is not going to be fighting.

MMARR: Tre Telligman ?

KS: I don’t know what Tre is going to be doing. I know he is doing some boxing, still training boxing and still banging so I know always in the back of his head anytime he can always step in there and fight.

MMARR: He was scheduled to fight at UFC 50 but when his opponent dropped out he chose not to fight Mike Whitehead. What happened?

KS: You know I think that Tre is one of those guys that where when he is focused on something you know, that is what he is training for and when it gets pulled out from underneath him he just does not want to mess with that. You know some people are like that, they just are like “listen it is set, this is the contract, we are doing it” and if something changes they want out and they want to reset. So I think that is what happened.

MMARR: Did that disappoint you at all?

KS: Oh yeah that disappointed me, you know step in there and take the fight but like I said I can’t… People are weird like that they don’t want things changed like that, it is a bad omen to them. In a way you got to respect that but yeah I was a little upset but he is the one that has to take the fight.

MMARR: I know this might be a soft spot for you a little but what happened with Tony “The Bull” Galindo I heard he took over the Lions Den for a little bit and that seemed to be the beginning of the end, what happened?

KS: Yeah I guess that is the rumor that is going around, Tony Galindo never took over the Lion’s Den. Tony Galindo was permitted BY ME to run a Lion’s Den in town. That was it. He never had permission to take it over. And then he ended having stolen some things from me after he got kicked out of this Karate Studio that he was at, I needed my equipment back and my stuff was missing so that is when we ended the relationship.

MMARR: So he is no longer associated with the Lion’s Den or yourself at all.

KS: No he is not.

MMARR: I want to talk about the upcoming Lion’s Den fighters, Are there any Lions Den fighters in your stable that we should watch out for?

KS: Right at this point in time my guys are still the same, we are doing the Lion’s Den tryouts in July, in fact anyone that wants to do the tryouts, they can get a hold of us on our website. We are doing that in July and we are going to have all kinds of talent and we are going to have about 200 people so it is not going to be easy. So whoever wants to do it needs to be serious. So we are going to build a whole new Lions Den team. Same guys are going to be training the younger guys.

MMARR: So Vernon White, guys like that are going to be training the young up and comers.

KS: Yes.

MMARR: You have been public in your interest in a rematch with Tito Ortiz. If the rematch materializes which is a big if, what do you think would be different this time around?

KS: Well you know last time I really cant say because I lost the fight last time. I am looking for a rematch and not make the same mistakes I made before. It is pretty much all I can say about that, I am not going to get into a should of done this, I should of don’t that, If I had this done, or that done. The bottom line is it is a loss in the loss column and I would like to get a rematch. I think I have been doing this long enough that the guy should give me a rematch.

MMARR: You are still considered the biggest name in the UFC. Is that a title that you are comfortable with?

KS: You know I am just another guy out there fighting and enjoying what I do. Whatever comes with that I accept.

MMARR: Where do you go from here? After this fight where is the Career of Ken Shamrock going is it going to keep him fighting? UFC? K-1? Pride?

KS: All my energy is focused on April 9th. But whatever comes after that comes after that but you still get tied up in that, it just doesn’t matter, it all comes down to April 9th and after that you figure out where you want to go.

MMARR: You have fought in both, Pride and the UFC, what do you prefer, a cage or ring to fight in?

KS: I think the cage is better, you know the thing with the cage is when you are shooting or punching, you try to get away he is not going to fall through the ropes. When you are on the mat too, you are not going to fall through the ropes. Then you got to slide them out, it just stops the momentum of the fight and I think that by having the cage the momentum never stops.

MMARR: Do you like the knees to the head on the ground or do you prefer without?

KS: You know I think in certain situations the knees are fine. There is just hard to separate the two you know. When you are shooting and miss the takedown, when your head is on the mat and the guy knee’s you in the back of the head, when your forehead is on the mat and you are on all fours, that is bad. It just doesn’t look bad. Kicking a guy that is on all fours that is not good. I think kneeing a guy when he is on a three point stance when he is shooting in and you block his shot, but his hands are off the mat I think that is fine because he is still able to defend himself somewhat, it is not that dangerous. You can’t really split the two. But kicking a downed opponent in the head no matter where he is at I just think is… We fought so long to get away from that barbarian stuff, you know we are there we are on regular TV we just need to keep things the way that they are going because it is accepted now.

MMARR: If you could fight anyone next, who would it be?

KS: Well I would have to say it is a tossup between Royce [Gracie] and Tito [Ortiz].

MMARR: Do you think that Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock would be the biggest potential fight in the history of the UFC?

KS: Oh yeah, Oh Yeah.

MMARR: Who do you see out there outside of the Lion’s Den that you feel represents the new breed of MMA fighter?

KS: There are a lot of guys out there that are going to good. I think that right now the Heavyweight class has got some guys there but it is not packed. You get some strong guy in there.

MMARR: Are there any fighters that you look up to in MMA?

KS: You know, I try not to do that, it is respect yeah, I respect them all when they step in the ring and someone I respect a little differently when I meet them. I think it is just a respect thing and not a looking up to.

MMARR: Are your days of being a Pro Wrestler over? Or is that something that you would like pursue at some point in the future?

KS: I really don’t have an answer for that because right now my world is fighting. I don’t know what comes after that I have to wait and see, it is definitely not out of the question.

MMARR: You started off in fighting and then you made the move to Pro Wrestling. What initiated your move to go from fighting to Pro Wrestling and what initiated your move to go from Pro Wrestling back to fighting?

KS: I have always been a competitor, When I got into wrestling, before I was doing tough mans. You know I won 3 tough mans and there was nothing there, I was looking to make more of a career out of something. Pro Wrestling happened to be an opportunity for me I tried out and did well, so I just started doing it and I did very well and then a friend of mine showed me a tape of the UWF over in Japan and I looked at that and said wow I want to do that. Because it seemed like it was more me with the ground and the punching and all that stuff so I went down and I tried out, and I was in Japan fighting and I won my first one. Ever since then I fell in love with it and then I got into the fighting, and then it started getting a bad name it got taken off PPV, we went through all those problems and the money wasn’t there so I had to make a move. So I went back into wrestling got an opportunity with the WWF and I had a VERY good 2 and a half years there, and then I just got tired of the road all the time. I just decided to get back into fighting, it was starting to come back, the Ferttita’s bought it, I fought in Japan and they were interested and then I went back to the UFC. I went into the WWE because of that lull when they were trying to push the mixed martial arts out.

MMARR: You fought for Pride before, what are your thoughts on the Pride organization?

KS: You know they run a tight ship, it is just hard traveling there all the time. When I was there I was happy, there was always the culture, and they way they do business and the way I want to do business, and sometimes that didn’t go together and we had our problems but all in all it was a good experience.

MMARR: One week after your show you will be seeing Randy Couture take on Chuck Liddell, let’s hear Ken Shamrock’s Pro opinion of what is going to happen in this fight and who is going to take it?

KS: I can’t tell you what is going to happen, because I really don’t know they are both good fighters, I think Chuck is definitely not happy with his last performance with Randy. I think that he is going to come back and do a better job this time. Chuck is in his prime and he is ready to win. I think that Randy has great takedown skills, there is definitely no quit in him and I look for this to be a very exciting fight. You know if I was going to have to go to the betting line I would have to go with Randy by a Split decision.

MMARR: So you think it is going to be very tight you think?

KS: I think so.

MMARR: Last question do you have anything to say to the UFC and Ken Shamrock fans out there, that are going to be watching your fight and maybe possibly watching you fight for the first time?

KS: Yeah this is going to be a big breakthrough for the UFC, and I am very excited to be a part of the Spike TV show and all the new young talent on that show so it is going to be fun and I am looking forward to it.

MMARR: Thank you very much for you time I appreciate that; I know you are a busy guy.

KS: Well thank you and don’t miss April 9th. And also, the [Lion’s Den] tryouts we are going to be holding them in July, So if you want to get a hold of them and find out how to do that you can go to www.kenshamrock.com

MMARR: Do you have any sponsors to thank?

KS: www.boxinginsider.com, Larry Goldberg is a great guy who runs our website and does a great job. Cobb 28, they are doing our clothing line and are great people, and Sprawl.

MMARR: It was great talking to you and I will see you at the next UFC.

KS: Thank you

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