If all goes well, it looks like MMA legend Ken Shamrock has hit a gold mine for Bellator.
In a recent interview, Shamrock explains his vision of getting older MMA fighters fight against each other as opposed to constantly watching new blood inside the cage. The plan is quite risky, seeing that older fighters have a greater chance of getting injured and recover twice as long compared to the new breeds. However, if this vision proves to be successful, it can get higher ratings and also give chance to new fighters to learn from the veterans.
The MMA Legend speaks about how he was criticized when he first started.
“When I first started doing it, everybody was criticizing me. Hey, I want to do it. I fight for fun. I enjoy it. Shoot me. I’m doing what I love doing. And now I’m starting to see it turn around. I’m starting to see people embrace it. I’m starting to see guys coming out of the woodwork, like Miletich just the other day, saying I want to fight the winner. Dan Severn wants to fight. So I’m starting to see that big burn now, where these guys are going, ‘I can still do it,’ because a lot of them were forced out. They didn’t want to be the guy standing up going, ‘well I’m going to do it, I don’t care what you think.’ I did that. I broke the barrier for them,” Shamrock said.
“Now they can come out and they can feel comfortable doing it, because why wouldn’t you do what you love doing? You put the time in. The fans still follow you. You still are a draw. Find another guy who is still in shape, who’s around you and has some credibility that you can fight, and put it on. Because I’m telling you, the fans want to see those fights,” he added.
The entire plan would be very exciting if it wasn’t too dangerous for the MMA fighters. This vision would actually benefit both the fans as well as the fighters. If the fans still want to see their legends in action, who are the same people who exited the sport before the big money came in, then he is definitely open to more criticism if it means being able to get those legends back in the cage.
“For me, to see these guys come out and continue to fight, and be able to dip in to some of the things that are happening today, with the money that’s being made for some of these fighters — not anything like they should be making, but they’re making some money now. More than we were doing at the time. And so to see these guys come out and actually get a piece of that pie, it makes me happy for them. They deserve it,” the MMA veteran added.