It’s the trilogy bout no one thought would ever happen. Mixed martial arts pioneers Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie will fight for a third time Feb. 19 at a Bellator MMA event in Houston’s Toyota Center.
The promotion made the announcement Friday night. It also revealed Kimbo Slice’s next opponent, fellow former street fighter Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris.
Gracie and Shamrock first met at the inaugural UFC event on Nov. 12, 1993. Gracie won that bout by submission. An anticipated rematch took place on April 7, 1995 in the main event of UFC 5 where they fought to a draw. In November 2003, the two men became the first two inductees to the UFC Hall of Fame.
Shamrock (28–16–2) recently returned to MMA competition for the first time in five years, losing by knockout to Kimbo Slice at Bellator 138 in June.
“Few can understand the magnitude of importance that this fight personally is to me,” Shamrock wrote on his blog. “Rounding out my career as a professional fighter has to be done with the right fighter…We have been in discussions with Bellator for over a year to make this Gracie fight a reality, and it has finally happened…The recent record breaking fight that I did with Kimbo Slice showed me that I was still both physically and mentally prepared to battle.”
Meanwhile, Gracie (14–2-3) has not fought since a unanimous decision win over Kazushi Sakuraba in 2007.
When the two step into the cage next year, their combine age will be 101. Shamrock will be 52 and Gracie will be 49.
