With the announcement of a trilogy bout at Bellator 149 between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, I figured we would look back at some of the numbers from their previous two outings.
It all began at UFC 1, when this twig of a man (compared to everyone else who entered the Octagon), Gracie stepped inside the cage against “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Shamrock, the world thought he was in for a beat down. However, it didn’t take long for the pajama wearing Brazilian to get the job done.
A look back at the numbers: Ken Shamrock vs Royce Gracie 1 & 2
UFC 1: The Beginning – November 12, 1993 (Stats after watching the fight on UFC Fight Pass)
Royce Gracie:
Standing Strikes: 0
Standing Kicks: 0
Strikes from Top Position: 1
Thigh Kicks from the Bottom: 11
Sub Attempts: 1
Takedowns: 0 for 1
Dominant Position : 1Total Strikes: 12
Total Submission: 1
Total Takedowns: 0
Ken Shamrock:
Standing Strikes: 0
Strikes from Top Position: 0
Head Butts: 0
Submission Attempts: 1
Dominant Position: 0
Takedowns: 0
Sweeps: 1Total Strikes Landed: 0
Total Submission Attempts: 1 with zero threat
Total Takedowns: 0
Royce Gracie def. Ken Shamrock via Rear-Naked Choke at 0:57 of Round 1
Two years later the rematch was upon us and the fans were in for quite the spectacle. We saw head butts, a whole bunch of them for that matter, we saw a monster amount of thigh kicks and the longest fight in UFC history. In the end however there was no winner.
UFC 5 – April 7, 1995 (Thanks to TheBirdsDen for the stats below)
Royce Gracie:
Standing Strikes: Landed zero punches, attempted 4
Standing Kicks: 3 of 9
Strikes from Top Position: 0 of 0
Strikes from the Bottom: 28 punches, 35 palm strikes = 63 strikes
Thigh Kicks from the Bottom: 111 kidney kicks from Royce Gracie working off his back
Sub Attempts: Royce tried 8 Gi chokes and none of them were a serious threat
Takedowns: 0
Dominant Position : 0Total Strikes Landed: 66, Plus 111 Kidney kicks (A lot didn’t have much on them, but not sure how much they hurt)
Total Submission Attempts: 8, none serious.
Total Takedowns: 0
Ken Shamrock:
Standing Strikes: 2 of 3
Strikes from Top Position: 43 punches landed, 5 knees, 5 palm slaps = 53 strikes
Head Butts: 60 Head Butts, no bullshit. He missed about 10 more.
Submission Attempts: 1 cross face choke attempt
Dominant Position: 1, When he attempted the cross face
Takedowns: 2Total Strikes Landed: 115 strikes
Total Submission Attempts: 1, not very serious
Total Takedowns: 2
After 36-minutes and five seconds the fight was declared a draw.
Now this third fight between the two is well past both of their primes, but does that mean fans won’t tune in? Hell no. In fact, this could be huge for Spike TV and the viewership. We’ve seen what Kimbo Slice can do for the viewing audience and guess what? He’s on the card too.
Check out Bellator 149 on February 19, 2016 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
