Ken Shamrock should have faded into the background of MMA lore long ago, but he keeps popping back up. The 51-year-old UFC Hall of Famer has a main-event bout with Kimbo Slice scheduled for Bellator 138 in June, and also has a documentary coming out. With the MMA world focused on the Jon Jones fiasco of late, Shamrock took to his website to write and open letter to Jones. He makes comparisons between his own journey and Jones’, and gives him some advice:
Unfortunately, you must sleep in the bed that you made. You did this to yourself, and you have issues that need to be dealt with. It’s important that you understand that all your troubles today are a bi-product of your actions. Once you truly understand this, then you can begin to heal what has been broken and move forward once again.
Jon, you are a true champion who has accomplished heights that few others will ever reach. Use your same internal strengths and determination that helped you become a world champion to fight through this hard season and yourself. Your next fight is with yourself.
Unsurprisingly though, he uses the coincidental timing to push his documentary as well:
Ironically, a documentary film is to be released about me called The Greatest Fight. The ‘greatest fight’ was ultimately with myself, as it will be with you. I lived through the hardships that my actions caused me and hope others can learn from my past mistakes. The lust of the flesh (i.e. fame, money, sex, and drugs) blinded me and the bottom had to drop out before I could see clearly, rebuild, and rise up once again.
The whole thing is worth a read, and the message makes sense even if it does come across as a bit self-serving. Jones was recently charged with a felony due to a hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque, which led the UFC to strip him of the UFC light heavyweight title and suspend him indefinitely.
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