Is this what we get to look forward to with Ken Shamrock?

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Yeah, we all know what happened this weekend. Ken Shamrock stepped into the ring yet again when he really shouldn't be doing such. Ken Shamrock has become the ultimate cliche in a world of nothing but cliches, and it is downright offensive. Jon Snowden talks about how difficult it is to see Shamrock, once proud and once considered the absolute name in MMA in the 90's, the UFC posterboy and the guy that helped MMA chug along and not die off just get annihilated time after time and keep coming back for more.

Shamrock, who is a very proud man, tried to get out of the bout gracefully. In a moment of quiet desperation he dropped to a knee, practically begging referee "Big" John McCarthy to stop the fight. Rizzo looked to the referee as well. McCarthy, perhaps remembering Ken's vehement complaints about Herb Dean's "early" stoppage of the second Ortiz fight, forced Rizzo to inflict more punishment. It was a sad and pathetic moment, not just for Ken Shamrock, but for fans of mixed martial arts.

We've all seen athletes who didn't know it was time to hang it up. For every Bret Favre, who returns to form long after his salad days, there are ten Willie Mays, embarrassing themselves in unfamiliar jerseys and hanging on simply because they don't know what to do next. That's not the Ken Shamrock story. Ken Shamrock knows he shouldn't be fighting. Ken Shamrock doesn't want to be fighting. Ken Shamrock has to fight. He has no other options, and in a moment of candor after the fight, Shamrock let the worldwide audience know he was available for future beatings-at a cost.

Ken Shamrock is going to be the first real MMA hero who becomes a tragic tale. We see this every time he fights, we see him being a headliner on smaller shows, with promoters cashing in on what was more than 10 years ago when Ken was in his prime. Ken will always be known as the first real toughman to come out of the early UFC's that had a solid mix of skill, brawling and the pro wrestling look. Sure, there were the Gracies and Tanks who had their own thing going on; Gracie the skilled, smaller fighter and Tank the giant, lumbering bar brawler. Shamrock was different, this was a guy that was hard work and skill giving it his all.

Ken Shamrock still gives every fight his all, but it is only a matter of time before something terrible happens. Fighting is dangerous, head trauma is dangerous, the amount of damage a body accumulates after 20 years of professional wrestling, Japanese fighting (early Japanese MMA's training and schedule was so brutal) and a constant life of fighting to feed yourself is immense. 

It should of all been over after the "Petey! My heart!" incident against Kazuyuki Fujita in PRIDE, and that was literally ten years ago. Ten years ago all of us watching felt like it was time for Ken to stop. Ten years ago. I'd feel ashamed if I supported any of this nonsene. 

SBN coverage of Impact FC: The Uprising Brisbane