Frank Shamrock Will Be In Ken’s Corner For Fight With Royce Gracie

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Ken Shamrock spoke about ending his feud with his adopted brother Frank, who will be in his corner at Bellator 149 when he fights Royce Gracie. The fight happens on February 19 in Houston. This will be the third fight between Gracie and Shamrock. Here are highlights:

Ken on fixing his relationship with Frank: “You gotta forgive and just gotta move forward. And work with what you’ve got. I think me and Frank have been doing that slowly. He’s not fake; I’m not fake. So, it’s not like we’re gonna smile and hug each other and pretend like nothing ever happened, because it’s not true. But what we will do is recognize that we need to move forward.”

Frank on finally resolving their issues: “I’ve always loved Ken and never really had an issue with him. It was kind of him with me. I’d like to think we’ve all grown and we’re back to being a family again. There was a huge part of my life where he was my teacher and he was my guiding force for a long time. Then he just wasn’t there. It was challenging. As a fighter and a student, he was the fighter I emulated. To lose that, it took a lot of searching and a lot of moving around until I was able to rebuild that guiding force again.”

Frank on preparing for Gracie: “He doesn’t really have any other positions of strength that are gonna hurt Ken. Our whole strategy for that — or my strategy — will be to change the dynamics of the guard, so that he can’t hold it and he can’t rest there, and force him to wrestle and box and do the other things that will make a 49-year-old jiu-jitsu man tired.”

Ken on working with Guy Mezger: “I want to get back to that mentality I used to have. When I see those faces around me, training me, it’s been a huge motivational boost for me. Get that edginess and toughness back. In the last fight, I felt soft. I just felt like I could win the fight, like it wasn’t a problem. I just went in and didn’t put a finish on him. I didn’t go in there with that mentality like I did in the beginning where I just wanted to destroy people get the win and hug them later.”