What is the motive for Ken Shamrock taking a dive?

Like most of you here, that fight looked shady as hell and found it hard to believe that a supposed submission specialist like Ken Shamrock couldn't finish a RNC against, essentially, a white belt.

But what are the motives for Ken taking a dive?

Did Bellator orchestrate the whole thing? What would be in it for them to put on a fixed fight between two, over the hill fighters who have no longevity left in their career? The risk-reward ratio is way off here.

Shamrock looking for a payday? This doesn't make sense at all. Why didn't he just finish the choke and win instead? He took real, hard hits in the end. What's the point of doing a poorly choreographed routine of taking Kimbo down, almost choking him out to only be finished by a real TKO? It would make more sense if he just took the Bob Sapp Tap route, and traded a few punches to only dive and tap at the first sign of danger.

I still retain that it looks shady as hell, but I just can't understand why they would fix it. Especially in that manner, where Kimbo, sprawled out and belly down, manages to inexplicitly escape. Nobody gains anything. It just makes them both look bad.

shamrock could have bet his pay and doubled it I guess. and he could Lament "the one that got away" doing it this way, rather than going out with zero offense by just taking a dive.

NickDiaz4everIrrelevant - shamrock could have bet his pay and doubled it I guess. and he could Lament "the one that got away" doing it this way, rather than going out with zero offense by just taking a dive.

I don't doubt Ken would've done what you said and bet his pay, but it doesn't explain why Kimbo would be in the act -- as most people think.

Bob Sapp wrote the textbook on how to dive. Bullrush in, exchange for a little bit and hit the deck and tap at the first sign of danger. Leave the ring with a paycheck and little damage.

Ken could've said his knees were shot -- which they are -- and that's why he couldn't take Kimbo down. Instead, Ken has basically tarnished his whole reputation as a legitimate grappler.

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If Kimbo is going to fight again he needs that win for himself and for Bellator to help market him. They're banking on him still being a ratings draw but if he couldn't even knockout old man shamrock there wouldn't be a whole lot of interest going forward.

da Vinci 81 - $$$

If Kimbo is going to fight again he needs that win for himself and for Bellator to help market him. They're banking on him still being a ratings draw but if he couldn't even knockout old man shamrock there wouldn't be a whole lot of interest going forward.

But why the whole choreographed routine? It made Kimbo look terrible, even in defeat.

He was taken down easily by decrepit 51 year old and sprawled out, belly down and left helpless.

If this was the case, surely you'd only need Shamrock in the act. Tell him to go out there, spar for a bit and take a dive. I doubt Kimbo would've needed assurances against someone like Shamrock.

donfro - 
da Vinci 81 - $$$

If Kimbo is going to fight again he needs that win for himself and for Bellator to help market him. They're banking on him still being a ratings draw but if he couldn't even knockout old man shamrock there wouldn't be a whole lot of interest going forward.

But why the whole choreographed routine? It made Kimbo look terrible, even in defeat.

He was taken down easily by decrepit 51 year old and sprawled out, belly down and left helpless.

If this was the case, surely you'd only need Shamrock in the act. Tell him to go out there, spar for a bit and take a dive. I doubt Kimbo would've needed assurances against someone like Shamrock.

Because people generally only talk about the finish, especially with time. Except in this case, the lead up to the finish is so suspect that's all people are talking about.

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I use to watch wwf and wcw when i was younger, in fact ken shamrock's stint in wwf was how i discovered ufc. Anyway point is, ken is experienced in pro wrestling and its pretty typical in a pro wrestling match for both guys to almost finish the fight. I only remember a few matches where one guy would just destroy the other guy with no real drama in the fight.

I'm sure he just felt like that was more entertaining because that's how hes use to doing it.

I have been ignoring this whole conspiracy theory since the fight. I watched it live, but didn't really feel like I saw anything other than a former great fighter, who got old.

Ken's body is in rough shape. His movement was horrible, his reflexes were horrible. His balance was atrocious, his use of angles is telegraphed from Bolivia, his speed is gone. And guaranteed he is dealing with a great deal of physical pain and aches every day of his life.

But, all this conspiracy talk made me watch the fight again. And yeah, Ken did let that choke go. I can't explain it, but he did not try to finish him at all. He had him dead on and let it go.

I saw it. I rewinded and watched it a few times over. I saw what he did.

As for motivation...Only one thing motivates Ken these days, that is cash money. Period. I have no idea how he got paid, but he made money there some how.

donfro - 
da Vinci 81 - $$$

If Kimbo is going to fight again he needs that win for himself and for Bellator to help market him. They're banking on him still being a ratings draw but if he couldn't even knockout old man shamrock there wouldn't be a whole lot of interest going forward.

But why the whole choreographed routine? It made Kimbo look terrible, even in defeat.

He was taken down easily by decrepit 51 year old and sprawled out, belly down and left helpless.

If this was the case, surely you'd only need Shamrock in the act. Tell him to go out there, spar for a bit and take a dive. I doubt Kimbo would've needed assurances against someone like Shamrock.

Probably for Shamrock to save face and to look real. You can't just pull punches and not have people notice. It's not like Ken can is going to stand there and let himself get blasted while doing nothing. That's why he dove for a takedown straight away. Grapple a bit, almost submit him, and then let him up and take a punch off of the scramble.

And yes, he won that fight at roughly 1:45 of the first round. He proved that. Then he let it go.

So even though Ken is a shadow of his former self, he can still dominate Kimbo easily in under two minutes.

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EvilMaster - And yes, he won that fight at roughly 1:45 of the first round. He proved that. Then he let it go.

So even though Ken is a shadow of his former self, he can still dominate Kimbo easily in under two minutes.

Probably the best answer I've heard.

Ken was in it for the payday, but wanted to prove -- if not only to himself -- that he could squash Kimbo in 2 minutes.


Guess.