"It took a long long time for me to trust anyone" - UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock describes rough upbringing and how Bob Shamrock helped change his life
Ken Shamrock is known for being one of the pioneers of MMA, but what some may not know is that the UFC Hall of Famer had a very rough upbringing.
Shamrock recently sat down with VladTV, where he talked about how his living conditions, environment, and experiences affected his ability to trust others. During the conversation, he mentioned that Bob Shamrock, his adoptive father who owned and operated the Shamrock Boys’ Home, helped him trust others:
“It took a long long time for me to really trust anyone and I remember he was always trying to hug me because that’s what he did to every boy there. He would discipline him then he would hug him and the only time I ever got hugged is if somebody was trying to take advantage of you and so for me, it was like ‘Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me,’ and so, it was probably I would say a year… year-and-a-half before I really started to let go and really start to care for someone like literally have somebody care for me and me care for them.”
The former UFC Superfight champion also brought up that after his family moved to Napa, California, he ended up running away from home at age 10 and was stabbed. Ken Shamrock was clearly not on the right path as a child and as a result, he had to overcome a very traumatic event and the consequences for associating with others who don’t have the best intentions:
“We [Ken and his brothers] were pretty violent. Needless to say, because we were different, being that young and a kid at that age if somebody started making fun of you, you just beat them up. And so, that didn’t go well in school and I got suspended quite a bit, got in lots of trouble, hung out with the wrong crowd, and eventually gotten stabbed at 10 years old…ended up in juvenile hall.”
Check out the full clip from the interview below:
Ken Shamrock was the inaugural inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame
Nov21.2003
17 years ago today,
Ken Shamrock & Royce Gracie became the first fighters to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. https://t.co/MEDtLvN0Dy
Ken Shamrock was influential in the early years of the UFC. He was one of the top fighters in the world during the '90s and was the first-ever UFC Superfight champion.
‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ also had a successful pro wrestling career, which included stints in WWE and TNA (later IMPACT Wrestling). Some of his accomplishments include being the WWE Intercontinental champion, WWE Tag Team champion, 1998 King of the Ring, and the first-ever TNA world champion.
Based on the impact they had on MMA, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie were the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2003.