Ken Shamrock Knocked Out at Cage Rage 25
If you didn’t catch Cage Rage 25 last night on Showtime, you missed an entertaining show. In what might be considered an upset in the main event, 37-year-old Robert “Buzz” Berry knocked out Ken Shamrock at 3:46 in the first round. Shamrock, who said on the PWB Podcast Hotline that he’s currently in the best shape of his life, couldn’t stop Berry, who had a decided size advantage over Shamrock.
From the outset, it looked like Shamrock would be in for a tough fight simply due to Berry’s size advantage. Still, it looked to me like Berry wasn’t landing his punches very well–they seemed to be wild and looping punches rather than fierce ones. At one point, Shamrock tried to take Berry to the ground, but to no avail. Suddenly, Berry landed clean left jab on Shamrock, and all it took was one more glancing right hand to knock Shamrock down. The ref immediately stepped in.
This is a very disappointing result for Shamrock. I thought for sure he’d have a better showing than this. At age 44, you have to wonder how much longer he’ll be able to fight effectively.
On the undercard, there was some nice action. Masakazu Imanari and Jean Silva put on an exciting grappling display for the Cage Rage Featherweight title, with the champion Imanari coming out on top with a sick heel hook submission. Silva went into the fight with an injured knee, and Imanari exploited it, submitting Silva halfway through the first round. This match showed how exciting jujitsu and grappling can actually be. Unfortunately, Silva appeared to be seriously injured after the submission.
Neil Grove took on Rob Broughton in a battle of super-heavyweights. I didn’t care too much for this fight, and I surely don’t want to see Grove ever fight Kimbo Slice. I’m not a big fan of the super heavweights–the matches just seem plodding to me, like two big drunks fighting in a bar, and this match was the perfect example of that. Broughton eventually beat the undefeated Grove after a majority decision.
The first televised match, British fan favorite Tom “Kong” Watson knocked out American Pierre Guillet at 2:05 in round one. Guillet was actually dominating this fight on the ground, but made a critical mistake. With Watson laying prone on his back, Guillet tried some sort of a flying punch from a standing position. Watson reacted by up-kicking at the incoming Guillet, and knocked him silly. It was so fast, I didn’t even realize what happened until I saw the replays. Guillet hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I’m sure Ian will have a live report upcoming on this event, including more on the undercard, but if you’re in the U.S. and didn’t get to see it, try to catch the replay on Showtime.
