Fight legend Ken Shamrock tackles new chapter with Valor BK at UNF Arena in Jacksonville

This weekend's hardest hits in Jacksonville sports won't be the ones dished out at the Florida-Georgia football game.

A new bare-knuckle boxing series organized by a fighting legend touches down at the University of North Florida when the Valor BK series holds its first Jacksonville fight card at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 inside UNF Arena.

For Ken Shamrock, Friday's VBK2 bare-knuckle bouts represent the essence of fighting.

"To me," he said, "that is the purest fighting style."

Now 59, the Georgia native held the UFC Superfight Championship and won multiple wrestling titles in both the United States and Japan through the 1990s and into the 2000s.

On top of all the accolades and the championship belts, Shamrock may be best known throughout the fight world for the title that's accompanied his name for more than a quarter-century: the World's Most Dangerous Man.

KEN SHAMROCK'S NEW CHAPTER

Shamrock stepped outside the fighting arena years ago, but pulling away from the sport entirely was never in his plans.

"Sometimes guys step away from fighting and they were ready," Shamrock said in a remote interview with the Times-Union. "Me, I've never felt that way. I'll always be a guy that thrives on the competition."

That's what led him to the Valor BK fighting venture — it officially launched just prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Jacksonville fight card is designated as the one that could begin the series' next chapter.

No gloves. No ring. No ropes.

"Back in the days when I was fighting, you go out there, you fight, and it was like, 'Wow, that was cool,'" he said.

Shamrock argues that bare-knuckle boxing may actually be safer than the gloved variety, leading to quicker finishes.

Boxing without gloves, a throwback to the 19th-century exploits of champions like John L. Sullivan, isn't the only change from the traditional rules that fight fans may be accustomed to.

There's no MMA-style cage, square boxing ring or even ropes. Instead, the fighters will compete within a "bout circle," with an unobstructed view for spectators.

The rules are also designed to minimize clinching, grabbing and the like, tactics for which Shamrock doesn't hide his disdain — "cheat codes," he calls them.

"If you're an aggressive fighter, there's nowhere for the other guy to hide," Shamrock said. "It [the bout circle] forces guys to be accurate in their strikes."

JOHNSON, WIUFF HIGHLIGHT MAIN EVENT

The main event pits Lavar Johnson, a 46-year-old from Fresno, California, against Travis Wiuff, a 45-year-old Minnesota native long known as "Diesel" on the fight circuit.

Shamrock described Wiuff as a "really slick fighter," while Johnson's game is classic power.

"With Lavar, if he hits you, you're going down," Shamrock said.

Both previously include UFC among their career stops, with Johnson in the UFC octagon in 2012 and 2013 and Wiuff in the series in 2002, as well as numerous other fighting series around the world. Johnson also fought in the first Valor BK event in September 2019 in North Dakota.

"It really feels good being in the next phase of my career, helping other fighters be able to follow the same dreams that I did," Shamrock said.

Doors open at 6 p.m., with tickets on sale through ValorBK.com and the UNF box office.

Friday night's fights will include a collaboration with the Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Athletic League, an organization that Shamrock said "saved my life" by helping him find direction while growing up.

In the long run, Shamrock aspires for the series to take its place as a major fight circuit -- with Friday's bouts in Jacksonville as one step in the climb.

"Once we get this really going, with the rule sets, with the style, we're just going to grow, turning into one of your top combative sports in the world," he said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ken Shamrock-led Valor BK boxing series to fight in Jacksonville