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58-Year-Old Ken Shamrock Makes a Startling Statement on “Damage” in Bare Knuckle Fight Over MMA & Boxing

Published 02/01/2023, 9:30 AM EST

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Ken Shamrock is one of the most known faces in combat sports. He was one of the biggest MMA stars at the beginning of the sport. The 58-year-old recently started a bare-knuckle fighting promotion, Valor Bare Knuckle. ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ claims that bare-knuckle fighting is a much more favorable sport for him than other combat sports. Shamrock holds the record for the longest UFC match in history with 36 minutes against Royce Gracie. Moreover, he also shared a post on social media showing his incredible physique at the age of 58.

Ken Shamrock recently made an appearance in the ‘Bout Time’ podcast where he talked and compared boxing and MMA with bare-knuckle fighting. He mentions that he’s afraid of getting too many hits in the head. It could prove detrimental to health. However, he believes bare-knuckle is a better alternative.

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Ken Shamrock claims bare-knuckle fighting is safer than boxing and MMA

Ken Shamrock claims that bare-knuckle fighting is misunderstood by fans in the combat sports community. He explained the difference between boxing and bare knuckle-fighting. Shamrock said, “So in my thoughts, I’m thinking to myself, ‘man, I’m taking a sledgehammer to my head a hundred, and after I’m done, my head hurts.”

He added, “But in a bare-knuckle fight, man, it’s not that long. You’re not going to take 100 punches to the head. And it just seems to me like our thought on what bare knuckle is, is wrong.”

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‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ also mentioned that he had tried on all kinds of boxing gloves during his career. He said, “I fought everything. I fought with 4-ounce gloves. That’s crazy. That is really crazy. I fought with 16-ounce gloves, 12-ounce gloves, 8-ounce gloves.” 

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Shamrock also claimed that he would always choose bare-knuckle over MMA and boxing after carefully understanding the level of damage it can inflict on an athlete. “So I’ve been through the ram and then bare-knuckle. And to me, when I go in there and especially understanding the damage, I would much rather be in a bare-knuckle fight and do a career in that than I would in boxing or MMA,” said the UFC Hall of Famer.

via Getty

The 58-year-old further mentioned that bare-knuckle fighting mostly gives fighters cuts and bruises. But there have been many instances of people getting severely injured in boxing and has recorded multiple deaths of fighters. Even MMA has its fair share of serious injuries. One of the most recent incidents could be Chris Weidman’s horrific leg snap in his fight against Uriah Hall. Shamrock claims that these injuries can be avoided in bare-knuckle fighting. What are your thoughts? Drop your comments below.

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Written by:

Himanga Mahanta

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Himanga is a UFC author at EssentiallySports. He interned as a WWE author at Sportsmanor before joining EssentiallySports to pursue his interest as a sports journalist. Himanga is a big fan of UFC's Conor McGregor and considers him the most entertaining combat sports athlete of the 21st century.
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Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana