Ken himself says he has improved. He says he gains the most from Paulson in transition. He may not be as fast and powerful as he use to be, but his overall game is now better. To bad you can never beat the clock.
Frank never passed Ken's skills. People act like he became some new fighter with The Alliance, but its just not true. Mo Smith improved his standup i'm sure. But his ground game got no better. Enson had him mounted and was doing damage. Frank had a time getting out from under him. Not to disrespect TK but his grappling is not at Kens level. Frank brawled with Enson and ended the fight with knees. Ken was using knees in pancrase, I dont remember seeing MO use knees that effectivly. Frank is a stud for sure.But he never passed Ken IMO.
Now and in his prime, many of the Abu Dhabi regulars would toy with Ken. As for Frank, I'm as big a fan as anyone, and I do believe he's better than Ken in every aspect of fighting, but I don't think he'd do very well there either. The vast majority of matches in AD are won on points, and Frank was never a position-player. Someone would take him down, control him, maybe pass his guard once, and get the decision.
How is Frank better than Ken in every aspect of fighting??
Frank may have been more comfortable from his back but Ken is obviously much more of a threat from everywhere els. Even in positions where their skills are comprable Ken is much more powerful.
People always talk about Kens technique being outdated but this is not the case because Ken Shamrocks skills did evolve with the sport. Unfortunatly his injuries and age did not allow him to have the phsyical dominance he once had. His technique was ahead of its time, but Ken's athleticism and incredible strength played an equal role in his early dominance of the sport.
If you could combine Kens current skills with the physical abilites he had about ten years ago he'd probably be unstoppable.
Asfar as ADCC goes I maintain that Ken could have been very competive as he mixed wrestling and submissions very well.
Yes, wrestling, takedowns, submissions, striking, and everything else. Franks standup may have looked better than Kens back in the day but Frank could never go toe to toe with Ken. He would get KO'd like 10 out of 10 times. Ken,s posture may not be as pretty but he hits much harder and could probably take Franks best strikes. Like I said... even is areas where there skills might be comprable, Ken is a much more powerful fighter. I am a big fan of both fighters but Frank is a product of Ken Shamrock. Yes he went his own way after Ken went to WWF, and his new training partners no doupt had an effect. But It was Kens training that provided the tools for Franks success. then Frank just stopped fighting.
Its been 5 or 6 years since Shamrock has subbed a guy and probably 10 years since he subbed a guy with a leg lock. Sure he hurt Frye with leglocks but still didn't get the W from it.
Shamrock has nothing for the guys at the ADCC level, if he even thought he did he would have tried to go there it pick up a pay check by now. Shamrock had great takedown defense against Fujita but was completely drained before he could even reach the end of the 1st round. Oh and that was years ago too, Ken is not the fighter he once was.
Tito overpowered and outwrestled Shamrock in there fights, there are guys in the ADCC with wrestling on par or possibily ever better than Tito's in the ADCC.
Ken should have 3 more fights in legends matches with Bas, Tank, and Don Frye to earn some more big money and then retire.