Sylvia's Break is Mir's Fortune; Shamrock KO's Kimo
Ken Shamrock vs Kimo Leopoldo
Josh Gross Jun 19, 2004
Ken Shamrock vs Kimo
Leopoldo
While Ken Shamrock's rematch versus Kimo Leopoldo was sold as tonight's main event, few observers felt it should have headlined over the Mir-Sylvia contest. But it did, and in the end, when Kimo lay flat staring up at the lights and Shamrock rejoiced, few complained.
The anticipation leading up to the rematch was a far cry from that of February 1996, when both men, in their fighting-primes, faced off at UFC VIII. Still, as Shamrock and Kimo entered the Octagon, the energy in the building swelled.
Moving well on a surgically-repaired knee, the same joint that
troubled him versus Tito Ortiz, Shamrock, with his dad Bob watching
in the stands on Father's Day Eve, looked as good as he has in
quite some time.
Kimo, meanwhile, has been more active over the past year, competing in both the UFC and K-1. He dwarfed Shamrock when the two men met in the center of the Octagon, but when they clinched he showed no obvious power advantage.
It was Shamrock (25-8-2) who turned Kimo (10-4-0) into the fence when the two fighters moved away from the middle, and it was Shamrock who delivered quick, piercing knees to Kimo's midsection.
The two danced around the ring like a pair of rams locked at the horns until Shamrock slammed a knee into Kimo's chin, dropping the 250-pound German-born fighter. Shamrock, 40, stood, frozen, in a flash of mercy, before coming to his senses. He wailed down a clubbing right hand and was pushed away when referee John McCarthy jumped in to halt the contest one minute 26 seconds after it started.
At the post-fight press conference, Shamrock and Ortiz had a war of words, setting up, it seems, a rematch between the adversaries.
While Ken Shamrock's rematch versus Kimo Leopoldo was sold as tonight's main event, few observers felt it should have headlined over the Mir-Sylvia contest. But it did, and in the end, when Kimo lay flat staring up at the lights and Shamrock rejoiced, few complained.
The anticipation leading up to the rematch was a far cry from that of February 1996, when both men, in their fighting-primes, faced off at UFC VIII. Still, as Shamrock and Kimo entered the Octagon, the energy in the building swelled.
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Kimo, meanwhile, has been more active over the past year, competing in both the UFC and K-1. He dwarfed Shamrock when the two men met in the center of the Octagon, but when they clinched he showed no obvious power advantage.
It was Shamrock (25-8-2) who turned Kimo (10-4-0) into the fence when the two fighters moved away from the middle, and it was Shamrock who delivered quick, piercing knees to Kimo's midsection.
The two danced around the ring like a pair of rams locked at the horns until Shamrock slammed a knee into Kimo's chin, dropping the 250-pound German-born fighter. Shamrock, 40, stood, frozen, in a flash of mercy, before coming to his senses. He wailed down a clubbing right hand and was pushed away when referee John McCarthy jumped in to halt the contest one minute 26 seconds after it started.
At the post-fight press conference, Shamrock and Ortiz had a war of words, setting up, it seems, a rematch between the adversaries.
