Ken Shamrock Denies Rumors of Turning Down MMA Fight with Bobby Lashley

Ken Shamrock is one of the first names that comes to mind who transitioned from the MMA world to the world of professional wrestling and he made an impact during his time there. With that said, he has now denied a rumor that he refused an MMA fight with Bobby Lashley.

Bobby Lashley made his mixed martial arts debut in 2008, achieving an impressive record of 15 wins out of 17 fights, proving to be a formidable presence in the octagon. In 2009, he was set to face Ken Shamrock, who had made a name for himself in the UFC before transitioning to pro wrestling.

However, the match never happened as Shamrock tested positive for steroids and received a one-year suspension. Lashley instead fought Jason Guida and emerged victorious. Shamrock returned to MMA in July 2010 and competed in five more matches before retiring, but never faced Lashley.

While speaking during a conversation with Chris Van Vliet, Shamrock reflected on the situation, noting that negotiations likely fell through without his direct involvement. He made it clear he never personally refused the fight, stating that he has never been afraid of anyone.

“Man, that was a long time ago. I don’t even remember, but one thing that I want people to know, and anybody that knows me, anybody that’s ever been around me, and anybody’s ever trained with me knows this for a fact. I’m afraid of no one. Even to this day, I’m afraid of no one. It’s a friggin fight.

You put a gun to my head yeah, I’ll be a little bit nervous, but my character in the way that I grew up, I’m not afraid that’s not in me. That’s not a part of me. So whatever happens throughout my career with different things, because it’s been probably three or four more, it fell through, and mostly because of the negotiations.

I never negotiated my fights as I became bigger and bigger, I got agents to do that. So when they fell through, it had nothing to do with me. It’s the negotiations. For whatever reason, and a couple of these other different things that people want to say, Oh, you just didn’t want to fight him.

I promise you this, if you’re a fighter and you’re at that 1% level, that will never happen to anyone, not wanting to fight somebody. That’s not in our DNA. That’s not how it works. That’s not how fighter’s brains work. That’s what we do for a living. It’s like, that’s how we make money. You think we’re afraid of an individual because we may get hit? Come on.”

When asked about the desire to fight Lashley, Shamrock confirmed they both wanted the match, mentioning that other fights had also fallen apart during negotiations. He expressed frustration at the misconceptions surrounding these situations, insisting that any breakdown in talks was unrelated to the fighters’ willingness to compete.

“Yeah. And again, I don’t know how or what happened and why it didn’t happen. There’s a couple of other ones too that happened. I’m supposed to fight somebody in England. I forget his name, and it fell through at the last minute, and had to do something with negotiations, and all of a sudden they’re screaming he didn’t want to fight him. He was afraid of him. I was like yeah, that’s how I became a champion because I’m afraid to fight people. It’s unbelievable. But just as an education, man, anytime that ever happens, I promise you, it has nothing to do with the fighter.”

Bobby Lashley has since left WWE and fans will always be disappointed by the fact that he and The World’s Most Dangerous Man never got to square off against each other inside the Octagon, as that would have been a fight for the ages.

What’s your view on what Ken Shamrock had to say regarding his match with Bobby Lashley never coming to fruition? Do you feel it should have happened? Let us know in the comments section below!