10 Crazy Facts About UFC 1

4. Ken Shamrock's Hectic Schedule

When it comes to the greats of the early days of MMA and UFC, very few hold the same sort of legendary status as Ken Shamrock. After all, Shamrock’s WWE nickname of The World’s Most Dangerous Man was well and truly earned the hard way in the fight game.

At UFC 1, Shamrock suffered a controversial submission loss to eventual winner Royce Gracie in the semi-finals, although Shamrock’s schedule at that time had been nuts.

Having debuted for the recently formed Japanese MMA organisation Pancrase in September 1993, Shamrock actually fought again in Japan for Pancrase on 8 November – just four days before competing at UFC 1 in Denver, Colorado.

After getting a submission victory in Japan, Shamrock then grabbed a long ol’ flight to the US before desperately attempting to recover from jetlag and train before competing at UFC 1 on 12 November.

A true badass athlete amongst some slightly less athletic, less badass names on that first UFC show, it’s easy to see why Ken quickly became one of the megastars of the early UFC.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.