Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie III Booked Bellator 149

At 46 years old and with a history of serious injuries, it’s unlikely Angle will have a lengthy run inside the cage if he does choose to fight.

It’s a pairing that is synonymous with the sport of mixed martial arts – Ken Shamrock versus Royce Gracie – and Bellator MMA is pleased to bring these two pioneers together for a third time on February 19 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie”.

Kurt Angle was seen with Shamrock in the crowd earlier in the night, but as it turns out, wasn’t a part of the major announcement, aside from oddly announcing that he wasn’t facing Shamrock, but instead Gracie was.

Shamrock and Gracie initially met at the inaugural UFC tournament at UFC 1 in 1993 and against UFC 5 in 1995. The main card will air on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie. Tickets for the event go on sale November 14. Years later his former bodyguard Dada 5000 looked to follow in his footsteps, sporting a similarly distinctive look and running his own “Backyard Brawls” promotion which also paved the way for him to fight in the cage. After the fight, Gracie tested positive for anabolic steroids. While he joined the commentary team for the Lashley fight, what fans really wanted to know was what the big announcement was – and whether he would be joining Bellator MMA as more than just a fan ambassador. Gracie, the UFC 1 victor, has not competed since 2007.

And here we are a few over 20 years later talking about an upcoming rematch between these two legends who by the time the fight rolls around will have a combined age of 101.