Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Fighters of the 1990s

5. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock—not the only fighter with that surname we will see here—cracks his first Sherdog top 10 list at No. 5. Like many fighters of the 90s, he came from a background that was only possible in that early, primordial decade. Starting out as a pro wrestler in the late 80s, Shamrock started learning what was known as “shootfighting' in the early 90s. Shamrock had been a good high school wrestler but little more and was a strong, athletic guy, though prone to injury. He learned some rudimentary submissions, especially kneebars and ankle locks, and had some very limited striking, though likely more than most grapplers of the time possessed. While he had considerable success in the UFC, Shamrock’s greatest wins were in the Japanese organization Pancrase, where he became its first champion, dubbed “The King of Pancrase.” The question of how to judge Pancrase fights and whether to consider them at all was difficult for many Sherdog voters. Nor was Shamrock the only fighter for whom this was relevant, as we will see later. Back then, Pancrase rules were very different than what we consider modern MMA. Strikes with a closed fist on the feet were banned. Instead, Pancrase fighters would use the heel of the palm. Additionally, striking the head of a downed fighter was also banned, largely eliminating ground-and-pound. Moreover, fighters were encouraged to go for submission attempts on the ground but there were also rope breaks like in pro wrestling, though it would cause one to lose a point. Even the boots they wore were unique, making kicks more powerful and making submissions aimed at the knees and ankles more effective. Again, this is wildly different than what we consider MMA today. Regardless, Shamrock was a huge star in Pancrase, including going 2-1 with 2 submission wins against fellow Pancrase legend and friend Masakatsu Funaki (who also received votes for this list), going 2-0 against Bas Rutten with two submissions, and tapping Matt Hume via armlock. Amusingly, Shamrock was 0-2 with two submission losses against Minoru Suzuki, widely considered the second-best Japanese Pancrase talent behind Funaki.

In the UFC, Shamrock surprisingly never won a tournament. At UFC 1, he lost in the semifinals to Royce Gracie via choke in 57 seconds and while he never lost in a tournament, he would habitually pull out due to injury, as happened in UFC 3 as well as Ultimate Ultimate ‘96. However, Shamrock became the king of the UFC superfights. At UFC 5, he had a rematch with Gracie and showed improved grappling skills, staying on top of the Brazilian and inflicting the occasional strike. There were no judges back then, resulting in a 36-minute time limit draw, but Shamrock was clearly superior. Similarly, Shamrock had a 33-minute time limit draw against Oleg Taktarov at UFC 7, though he would have won a verdict. More decisive was Shamrock's guillotine choke of previous entry Dan Severn at UFC 6 and his kneebar win over Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 8. Alas, Shamrock finally lost a superfight at UFC 9, a rematch against Severn, which we discussed earlier. It was one of the most boring major fights in MMA history, though much of the blame falls on the local police threatening fighters with arrest if they used a closed fist. Also, it bears noting that Shamrock was MMA's biggest star in its early years. There's a lot to be said for helping carry the sport in its infancy. Sadly, Shamrock largely abandoned MMA for four years from 1996 to 2000 to concentrate on pro wrestling, in what was then called the WWF. Who knows how good he could have been had he stuck with real fighting? Regardless, he is an obvious inclusion for top fighters of the 90s.

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