Gracie, Shamrock, Kimbo bring big-name MMA attention to Houston
Regardless of whether hard-core mixed-martial arts fans mock it, Bellator 149 in Houston is going to draw plenty of eyes Friday night.
The main event features MMA legends Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock. Of course, it’s 2016 and not 1993, and those fighters’ ages are a combined 101, but those names alone are an attraction.
The co-main event is the viral YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice against something called Dada 5000. Kimbo’s Internet fame has worn off a bit, but this bout against someone he grew up with and his former bodyguard is intriguing.
Call it guilty pleasure MMA if you must, but plenty of people are going to stream into Toyota Center to be a part of it, and Spike TV should draw impressive ratings on the broadcast. When Shamrock fought Kimbo in June, Spike TV drew an audience of 2.9 million viewers. Now, you have Shamrock and Kimbo again, plus the intrigue of seeing Gracie back in action.
Gracie and Shamrock first fought at UFC 1 — UFC is now up to No. 196 — in 1993, with Gracie choking out Shamrock in the first round. They fought again two years later at UFC 5 and the contest eventually was ruled a draw after 36 min- utes of the much bigger Shamrock basically laying on top of Gracie. This was before there were judges in the UFC, so neither man earned any bragging rights from that fight.
Which leads us to this week in Houston. The 49-year-old Gracie hasn’t fought professionally since 2007. The 52-yearold Shamrock fought Kimbo last summer and didn’t look great in the loss. That was his first fight in five years.
Still, Gracie vs. Shamrock has a cachet to it.
“It all stems from me being a fan, and that’s what I am,” Bellator president Scott Coker told ESPN. “This really comes down to what fights do I want to see? It doesn’t always have to be No. 1 vs. No. 2, because some- times that can be boring or doesn’t really have the appeal outside of the hard-core fans. Spike TV is an entertainment property, so we are going to do fights that entertain.”