Competitive Bouts, Early Stoppages Mark Pride 30:
"...Two legends faced for the first time as Kazushi Sakuraba squared off against Ken Shamrock. Both of these fighters were coming off tough losses and were in desperate need of a victory.
The bout started cautiously, with both fighters moving around the ring. Sakuraba often feigned the shot, but Shamrock seemed ready for it. After a few brief exchanges on their feet, the Japanese grappler came charging in out of nowhere with a left hand that caught the American veteran square on the chin. Shamrock staggered back and fell towards the ropes, turning his back to his opponent.
Sakuraba followed Shamrock down, continuing to throw punches to the head from behind. The referee charged in to stop the fight and Shamrock, who quickly regained his feet, couldn’t believe the call. He complained to the referee that he was still in the fight but to no avail.
This one looked like a case of a flash knockout: Sakuraba caught Shamrock cleanly with the left, rocking him and sending him to the mat, but the Lion’s Den fighter seemed to recover just as Sakuraba was throwing punches at him from behind. Unfortunately, Shamrock turned his back to the Japanese legend as he fell into the ropes, which may have made him seem defenseless in the referee’s view.
Shamrock was clearly upset with this call. After his fight he did not come to the backstage interview area and speak with the media. This is definitely a tough, unlucky loss for such a great pioneer this sport..."
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