Over the weekend UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich surprised a lot of people, including his co-host Ron Kruck, when he stated directly to Ken Shamrock that he would be open to fighting the winner of Shamrock’s fight with Royce Gracie, which takes place at Bellator 149 on February 19th.
Miletich is a former UFC welterweight champ and spearheaded arguably MMA’s most successful camp – MFS (Miletich Fighting Systems). The camp spawned UFC champs such as Tim Sylvia, Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver and current UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler has deep roots within the MFS team.
The last time we saw Miletich fight was in 2008 where he beat veteran Thomas Denny via KO at IFL 11. His last appearance in the UFC came at UFC 36 in 2002 where he lost to the much bigger Matt Lindland. Overall in his UFC career he posted a record of 8-2, six of his fights were title fights.
At 49-years-old Melitich is the same age as Royce Gracie and two years the junior of Ken Shamrock.
Alan’s Angle: I was in two minds about Ken Shamrock competing in general until he swayed me before his fight with Kimbo. The veteran stated that there is nothing wrong with competing simply for the love for it and that people like him who laid the foundations of the sport deserved the right to fight for the enjoyment of it all. As long as everyone is fit, healthy and not being put in one-sided fights I have no problem with the older generation dusting off the gloves and competing for the sheer love of it. So I do like the idea of Pat Miletich, Dan Severn, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock or whomever competing against one another.
Here is the video of Miletich speaking to Shamrock via AXS TV Fights: