A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, tributary and rill; there is no general rule that defines what can be called a river, although in some countries or communities a stream may be defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example is "burn" in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, because of vagueness in the language.

Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through a drainage basin from surface runoff and other sources such as groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (e.g., from glaciers). Potamology is the scientific study of rivers.

Topography

The water in a river is usually confined to a channel, made up of a stream bed between banks. In larger rivers there is also a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Flood plains may be very wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred especially in urban areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing and industry. The term upriver refers to the direction leading to the source of the river, which is against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term downriver describes the direction towards the mouth of the river, in which the current flows.

The river channel typically contains a single stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water, producing a braided river. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide, such as the South Island of New Zealand. They also occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are also quite rare. They have multiple sinuous channels carrying large volumes of sediment.

A river flowing in its channel is a source of energy which acts on the river channel to change its shape and form. According to Brahm's law (sometimes called Airy's law), the mass of objects that may be carried away by a river is proportional to the sixth power of the river flow speed. Thus, when the speed of flow increases two times, it can transport 64 times larger (i.e., more massive) objects. In mountainous torrential zones this can be seen as erosion channels through hard rocks and the creation of sands and gravels from the destruction of larger rocks. In U-shaped glaciated valleys, the subsequent river valley can often easily be identified by the V-shaped channel that it has carved. In the middle reaches where the river may flow over flatter land, meanders may form through erosion of the river banks and deposition on the inside of bends. Sometimes the river will cut off a loop, shortening the channel and forming an oxbow lake or billabong. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment may develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths, if conditions permit. Rivers whose mouths are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries.

Throughout the course of the river, the total volume of water transported downstream will often be a combination of the free water flow together with a substantial contribution flowing through sub-surface rocks and gravels that underlie the river and its floodplain (called the hyporheic zone). For many rivers in large valleys, this unseen component of flow may greatly exceed the visible flow.

Subsurface streams

Most but not all rivers flow on the surface. Subterranean rivers flow underground in caves or caverns. Such rivers are frequently found in regions with limestone geologic formations. Subglacial streams are the braided rivers that flow at the beds of glaciers and ice sheets, permitting meltwater to be discharged at the front of the glacier. Because of the gradient in pressure due to the overlying weight of the glacier, such streams can even flow uphill.

Permanence of flow

An ''intermittent river'' (or ephemeral river) only flows occasionally and can be dry for several years at a time. These rivers are found in regions with limited or highly variable rainfall, or can occur because of geologic conditions such as having a highly permeable river bed. Some ephemeral rivers flow during the summer months but not in the winter. Such rivers are typically fed from chalk aquifers which recharge from winter rainfall. In the UK these rivers are called ''Bournes'' and give their name to place such as Bournemouth and Eastbourne

Classification

Rivers have been classified by many criteria including their topography, their biotic status, their relevance to white water rafting or canoeing activities.

Topographical classification

Rivers can generally be classified as either alluvial, bedrock, or some mix of the two. Alluvial rivers have channels and floodplains that are self-formed in unconsolidated or weakly consolidated sediments. They erode their banks and deposit material on bars and their floodplains. Bedrock rivers form when the river downcuts through the modern sediments and into the underlying bedrock. This occurs in regions that have experienced some kind of uplift (thereby steepening river gradients) or in which a particular hard lithology causes a river to have a steepened reach that has not been covered in modern alluvium. Bedrock rivers very often contain alluvium on their beds; this material is important in eroding and sculpting the channel. Rivers that go through patches of bedrock and patches of deep alluvial cover are classified as mixed bedrock-alluvial.

Alluvial rivers can be further classified by their channel pattern as meandering, braided, wandering, anastomose, or straight. The morphology of an alluvial river reach is controlled by a combination of sediment supply, substrate composition, discharge, vegetation, and bed aggradation.

The work of William Morris Davis at the turn of the 20th century used a classification based on river “age” as a way to characterise rivers.

Youthful river: A river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider. Examples include the Brazos, Trinity and Ebro rivers.

Mature river: A river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper. Examples include the Mississippi, Saint Lawrence, Danube, Ohio, Thames and Paraná rivers.

Old river: A river with a low gradient and low erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood plains. Examples include the Yellow, Ganges, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus and Nile rivers.

Rejuvenated river: A river with a gradient that is raised by tectonic uplift.

The way in which a river's characteristics vary between the upper course and lower course of a river are summarized by the Bradshaw model. Power-law relationships between channel slope, depth, and width are given as a function of discharge by "river regime".

Biotic classification

There are very many systems of classification based on biotic conditions typically assigning classes from the most oligotrophic or unpolluted through to the most eutrophic or polluted. Other systems are based on a whole eco-system approach such as developed by the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. In Europe, the requirements of the Water Framework Directive has led to the development of a wide range of classification methods including classifications based on fishery status A system of river zonation used in francophone communities divides rivers into three primary zones:

The ''crenon'' is the uppermost zone at the source of the river. It is further divided into the eucrenon (spring or boil zone) and the hypocrenon (brook or headstream zone). These areas are characterized by low temperatures, reduced oxygen content and slow moving water.

The ''rhithron'' is the upstream portion of the river that follows the crenon. It is characterized by relatively cool temperatures, high oxygen levels, and fast, turbulent flow.

The ''potamon'' is the remaining downstream stretch of river. It is characterized by warmer temperatures, lower oxygen levels, slow flow and sandier bottoms.

Whitewater classification

The International Scale of River Difficulty is used to rate the challenges of navigation—particularly those with rapids. Class I is the easiest and Class VI is the hardest.

Stream order classification

The Strahler Stream Order ranks rivers based on the connectivity and hierarchy of contributing tributaries. Headwaters are first order while the Amazon River is twelfth order. Approximately 80% of the rivers and streams in the world are of the first and second order.

Uses

Rivers have been used as a source of water, for obtaining food, for transport, as a defensive measure, as a source of hydropower to drive machinery, for bathing, and as a means of disposing of waste.

Rivers have been used for navigation for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of navigation is found in the Indus Valley Civilization, which existed in northwestern Pakistan around 3300 BC. Riverine navigation provides a cheap means of transport, and is still used extensively on most major rivers of the world like the Amazon, the Ganges, the Nile, the Mississippi, and the Indus. Since river boats are often not regulated, they contribute a large amount to global greenhouse gas emissions, and to local cancer due to inhaling of particulates emitted by the transports.

In some heavily forested regions such as Scandinavia and Canada, lumberjacks use the river to float felled trees downstream to lumber camps for further processing, saving much effort and cost by transporting the huge heavy logs by natural means.

Rivers have been a source of food since pre-history. They can provide a rich source of fish and other edible aquatic life, and are a major source of fresh water, which can be used for drinking and irrigation. It is therefore no surprise to find most of the major cities of the world situated on the banks of rivers. Rivers help to determine the urban form of cities and neighbourhoods and their corridors often present opportunities for urban renewal through the development of foreshoreways such as riverwalks. Rivers also provide an easy means of disposing of waste-water and, in much of the less developed world, other wastes.

Fast flowing rivers and waterfalls are widely used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants. Evidence of watermills shows them in use for many hundreds of years such as in Orkney at Dounby click mill. Prior to the invention of steam power, water-mills for grinding cereals and for processing wool and other textiles were common across Europe. In the 1890s the first machines to generate power from river water were established at places such as Cragside in Northumberland and in recent decades there has been a significant increase in the development of large scale power generation from water, especially in wet mountainous regions such as Norway

The coarse sediments, gravel and sand, generated and moved by rivers are extensively used in construction. In parts of the world this can generate extensive new lake habitats as gravel pits re-fill with water. In other circumstances it can destabilise the river bed and the course of the river and cause severe damage to spawning fish populations which rely on stable gravel formations for egg laying.

In upland rivers, rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls occur. Rapids are often used for recreation, such as whitewater kayaking.

Rivers have been important in determining political boundaries and defending countries. For example, the Danube was a long-standing border of the Roman Empire, and today it forms most of the border between Bulgaria and Romania. The Mississippi in North America and the Rhine in Europe are major east-west boundaries in those continents. The Orange and Limpopo Rivers in southern Africa form the boundaries between provinces and countries along their routes.

Ecosystem

The organisms in the riparian zone respond to changes in river channel location and patterns of flow. The ecosystem of rivers is generally described by the River continuum concept, which has some additions and refinements to allow for spatial (dams, waterfalls) and temporal (extensive flooding). The basic idea is that the river can be described as a system that is continuously changing along its length in the physical parameters, the availability of food particles and the composition of the ecosystem. The food (energy) that is the leftover of the upstream part is being utilized downstream.

The general pattern is that the first order streams contain particulate matter (decaying leaves from the surrounding forests), which is processed there by shredders like Plecoptera larvae. The leftovers of the shredders are utilized by collectors, such as Hydropsyche, and further downstream algae that create the primary production become the main foodsource of the organisms. All changes are gradual and the distribution of each species can be described as a normal curve with the highest density where the conditions are optimal. In rivers succession is virtually absent and the composition of the ecosystem stays fixed in time.

Chemistry

The chemistry of rivers is complex and depends on inputs from the atmosphere, the geology through which it travels and the inputs from man's activities. The chemistry of the water has a large impact on the ecology of that water for both plants and animals and it also affects the uses that may be made of the river water. Understanding and characterising river water chemistry requires a well designed and managed programme of sampling and analysis

Like many other Aquatic ecosystems, rivers too are under increasing threat of pollution. According to a study of the WWF's Global Freshwater Programme, the 10 most polluted rivers are: Ganges, Indus, Yangtze, Salween-Nu, Mekong-Lancang, Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, La Plata, Danube, Nile-Lake Victoria, and the Murray-Darling.

Brackish water

Some rivers generate brackish water by having their river mouth in the ocean. This, in effect creates a unique environment in which certain species are found.

Flooding

Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycle. The majority of the erosion of river channels and the erosion and deposition on the associated floodplains occur during flood stage. In many developed areas, human activity has changed river channel form, altering different magnitudes and frequencies of flooding. Some examples of this are the building of levees, the straightening of channels, and the draining of natural wetlands. In many cases human activities in rivers and floodplains have dramatically increased the risk of flooding. Straightening rivers allows water to flow more rapidly downstream increasing the risk of flooding places further downstream. Building on flood plains removes flood storage which again exacerbates downstream flooding. The building of levees may only protect the area behind the levees and not those further downstream. Levees and flood-banks can also increase flooding upstream because of back-water pressure as the upstream water has to squeeze between the levees.

Flow

Studying the flows of rivers is one aspect of hydrology.

Direction

A common misconception is that most, or even all, rivers flow from north to south. Rivers in fact flow downhill regardless of compass direction. Sometimes downhill is from north to south, but equally it can be from south to north, and usually is a complex meandering path involving all directions of the compass. Three of the ten longest rivers in the world - the Nile, Yenisei, and Ob - flow north, as do other major rivers such as the Rhine, Mackenzie, and Nelson.

Rivers flowing downhill, from river source to river mouth, do not necessarily take the shortest path. For alluvial streams, straight and braided rivers have very low sinuosity and flow directly down hill, while meandering rivers flow from side to side across a valley. Bedrock rivers typically flow in either a fractal pattern, or a pattern that is determined by weaknesses in the bedrock, such as faults, fractures, or more erodible layers.

Rate

Volumetric flow rate, also called discharge, volume flow rate, and rate of water flow, is the volume of water which passes through a given cross-section of the river channel per unit time. It is typically measured in cubic meters per second (cumec) or cubic feet per second (cfs), where 1 m³/s = 35.51 ft³/s; it is sometimes also measured in litres or gallons per second.

Volumetric flow rate can be thought of as the mean velocity of the flow through a given cross-section, times that cross-sectional area. Mean velocity can be approximated through the use of the Law of the Wall. In general, velocity increases with the depth (or hydraulic radius) and slope of the river channel, while the cross-sectional area scales with the depth and the width: the double-counting of depth shows the importance of this variable in determining the discharge through the channel.

Management

Rivers are often managed or controlled to make them more useful, or less disruptive, to human activity.

Dams or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or extract energy.

Levees, known as dikes in Europe, may be built to prevent river water from flowing on floodplains or floodways.

Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or navigation.

River courses may be modified to improve navigation, or straightened to increase the flow rate.

River management is a continuous activity as rivers tend to 'undo' the modifications made by people. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure. The benefits sought through managing rivers may often be offset by the social and economic costs of mitigating the bad effects of such management. As an example, in parts of the developed world, rivers have been confined within channels to free up flat flood-plain land for development. Floods can inundate such development at high financial cost and often with loss of life.

Rivers are increasingly managed for habitat conservation, as they are critical for many aquatic and riparian plants, resident and migratory fishes, waterfowl, birds of prey, migrating birds, and many mammals.

See also

Aqueduct

Baer's law

Blackwater river

Canal

Drought

Estuary

Hack's law

Hydrology

List of international border rivers

List of rivers by discharge

List of rivers by length

List of rivers of Africa

List of rivers of Asia

List of rivers of Europe

List of rivers of Oceania

List of rivers of the Americas

List of river name etymologies

List of waterways

Mainstem (hydrology)

Playfair's Law

River civilization

River continuum concept

River cruise

''The Riverkeepers'' (book)

Rock-cut basin

Salt tide

Sediment transport

Water dispute

World Rivers Day

Crossings

Bridges

Ferries

Fords

Tunnels

Transport

Barge

Riverboat

Sailing

Tow-path

References

Further reading

— a non-technical primer on the geomorphology and hydraulics of water.

External links

River Network - Connecting people, saving rivers (Environmental organization)

Category:Fluvial landforms Category:Geomorphology Category:Sedimentology Category:Water streams

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Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
name	Kenneth L. Onion
birth date	January 16, 1963
birth place	USA
occupation	Knifemaker
spouse	Noel Onion }}

Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American award-winning custom knifemaker based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA who invented the "SpeedSafe" assisted opening mechanism for Kershaw Knives. Ken Onion was the Premier Knife Designer for Kershaw Knives.

Designs

As a US Marine, Onion devised a helicopter mechanism that was adopted for use by the military. In 1989, Ken’s wife, Noel, made arrangements through a friend for Onion to meet custom knife maker, Stanley Fujisaka. The two became friends and Onion learned his basic knifemaking skills from Stanley, building his first knife in 1991. Five years later, in 1996, Doug Flagg, then with Kershaw Knives met Onion while calling on an account for Kershaw and the two discussed an arrangement for the assisted-opening mechanism, which led to a contract. This contract led to Kershaw expanding its factory and number of employees to accommodate the demand for these knives.

Onion holds 36 design patents on different items including locks, mechanisms, and knife designs. Most notable of these is the Speed-safe mechanism used by Kershaw Knives. For these many designs and his work throughout the cutlery industry promoting the art of knife making, Onion was inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 2008 Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia as the 45th and youngest living member.

In 2005, Onion collaborated with Spyderco on the Spyker knife design. In 2010 Onion parted ways with Kershaw Knives to start his own production company and to collaborate with Columbia River Knife and Tool on several designs.

Celebrity knives

An article in Blade Magazine asserts that celebrities, such as Steven Seagal, Steven Tyler, Nicolas Cage, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson, Wayne Newton, Stephen Lefebvre, Wayne LaPierre and Ziggy Marley collect custom knives made by Onion.

See also

References

External links

US Patent and Trademark Office

Official Ken Onion website

Brief Ken Onion Story

German article about Ken Onion

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Knife makers Category:United States Marines

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
name	Ken Shamrock
other names	The World's Most Dangerous Man
birth date	February 11, 1964
birth place	Macon, Georgia, U.S.
residence	Reno, Nevada, U.S.
nationality	American
height
weight	(current) (peak)
weight class	Heavyweight Light heavyweight
reach
style	Shootfighting
stance	Orthodox
fighting out of	Reno, Nevada, US
team	Lion's Den
teacher	Masakatsu Funaki
years active	1993–present MMA
mma win	28
mma subwin	23
mma kowin	2
mma decwin	3
mma loss	15
mma koloss	9
mma subloss	4
mma decloss	2
mma draw	2
relatives	Frank Shamrock, ''adopted brother'' Ryan Shamrock, ''son''
sherdog	4}}

Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick; February 11, 1964) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler. Shamrock emerged as one of the biggest stars in the history of mixed martial arts, headlining over 15 main events and co-main events in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships during the course of his career and set numerous pay per view records with his drawing power. Shamrock is widely considered to be a legendary figure and icon in the sport of mixed martial arts. Shamrock was named The World's Most Dangerous Man by ABC News in a special entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Things" in the early part of his UFC career, a moniker which has become synonymous as his nickname.

Shamrock became known early on in the UFC for his rivalry with Royce Gracie. After fighting to a draw with Gracie in the inaugural Superfight, he became the first UFC Superfight Champion after defeating Dan Severn at UFC 6; the title was eventually renamed the UFC Heavyweight Championship when weight categories were introduced to the UFC. He was also the first MMA Heavyweight Champion in Japan, winning the title of King of Pancrase. During his reign as the UFC Superfight Champion, he was widely considered the #1 mixed martial artist in the world. Shamrock was also ranked by Inside MMA as one of the top 10 greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time. He holds notable victories over Bas Rutten (twice), Dan Severn, Masakatsu Funaki (twice), Maurice Smith and Kimo (twice).

Shamrock is the founder of the Lion's Den mixed martial arts training camp. The Lion's Den became one of the most successful camps in mixed martial arts history and was famous dominating the early scene of mixed martial arts. He is also the older adopted brother of former UFC champion Frank Shamrock.

In addition to his mixed martial arts career, Shamrock enjoyed considerable success in professional wrestling, achieving championship success during his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Among other accolades, he is a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, one-time WWF Tag Team Champion, and the 1998 WWF King of the Ring. World Wrestling Entertainment—formerly the World Wrestling Federation—has credited Shamrock for popularizing the ankle lock (later used by fellow professional wrestling world champions Kurt Angle and Jack Swagger), which was named by the organization as the second best submission hold in its history.

MMA career

Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling (1993–1996)

The origins of Shamrock's mixed martial arts career began in the Japanese pro wrestling organization Fujiwara Gumi. On October 4, 1992, at the Tokyo Dome, a legitimate match between "Wayne" (Shamrock's show title in Japan) Shamrock and kickboxing champion Don Nayaka Nielsen took place. Shamrock took Nielsen down and submitted him with an arm lock in 45 seconds. The success of this match made young pro wrestlers Shamrock, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki question what they had been told since entering into predetermined wrestling: that nobody would ever pay to see real matches.

Shamrock, Funaki and Suzuki then founded a group of pro wrestlers and decided to pursue marketable legitimate matches. They formed a promotion called Pancrase, named by ’60s wrestling star Karl Gotch after the sport of Pankration in the ancient Olympics, which combined all different forms of fighting into one sport. defeated world kickboxing champion and future UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith and Alex Cook in the Opening Round of the 16 man King of Pancrase Tournament and Masakatsu Funaki and Manabu Yamada in the Second Round to become the first King of Pancrase before crowds of 11,000 fans both nights at Tokyo’s Sumo Hall in December 1994.

In addition to his MMA bouts in Pancrase, Shamrock also competed in a kickboxing match in 1994 with kickboxing legend Frank "The Animal" Lobman, who holds a pro record of 110-6 with a 90% KO ratio. Shamrock broke Lobman's nose with a right cross early in the bout but was ultimately defeated by TKO due to leg kicks.

Shamrock eventually had a falling out with Pancrase management in early 1996 and left the company to compete in the UFC full time. Shamrock left Pancrase with a record of 17-3. Gracie then secured a rear naked choke and advanced to the finals. The bout was a source of controversy at the end because the referee did not see the tap and ordered the two fighters to continue fighting after Gracie had let go of the hold. Shamrock paused for a few seconds but declined, admitting to the ref that he tapped out and that it would not be fair for him to continue fighting. After the fight, Shamrock admitted that he underestimated Gracie: “I didn’t know who Royce Gracie was...when I saw him in his gi, I thought he was some karate guy (with no ground skills).” The loss to Gracie haunted Shamrock and was the beginning of a large rivalry between the two fighters.

Shamrock, haunted by his loss to Gracie, aggressively sought a rematch. He was originally scheduled to compete at UFC 2 but broke his hand after blocking a high kick while sparring with a teammate. He still wanted to compete, but when doctors told him that he might never fight again if he injured his hand any further, he reluctantly withdrew from the show.

On September 9, 1994, Shamrock returned to the octagon at UFC 3 in an event that was marketed by the UFC as the ultimate rematch between two-time champion Royce Gracie and #1 contender Ken Shamrock. Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki and Frank Shamrock served as Ken's cornermen for the event. Shamrock's first fight was against top ranked judo practitioner Christophe Leininger. Leininger was the #2 ranked judo player in the United States with U.S. Olympic team experience and was also versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. and with the melon sized welt closing Gracie's eye after the fight it appeared as though Gracie had lost. However, the swollen eye was a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on their feet.

Although many people viewed this fight as a dull match with little action, Shamrock did earn a lot of respect for this performance; back in those days, the Gracie guard was a mythical death trap and Shamrock became the first person to ever neutralize Royce Gracie's jiu jitsu attack. In addition, Shamrock also became the first person to visibly hurt Gracie in a fight. Some fans felt that Shamrock was the unofficial winner of the Superfight. Play by play commentator Bruce Beck said at the end of the fight, "Gracie is a mess. Shamrock looks marvellous!" Shamrock was also treated with a lot of adulation from the fans after the fight was over as if he was the winner, cheering him as he left the octagon with his arms raised.

Despite this, Shamrock was not satisfied with his performance against Gracie, saying "it's certainly not a win. You gain nothing (with a draw)". Shamrock expressed desire to fight Gracie again for a third time in 1996, saying that if it went to a draw again, he would have Gracie declared the winner and Shamrock would forfeit his UFC Superfight Championship belt to Gracie. Gracie left the UFC after his fight with Shamrock and did not return until 11 years later at UFC 60. Shamrock would headline the subsequent 'superfight' bouts in Gracie's absence and became the main draw in the UFC.

UFC Champion

Despite some fans holding the opinion that Shamrock unofficially won the UFC 5 Superfight with Gracie, the UFC was still without an official reigning Superfight champion. Shamrock was then matched up with UFC 5 tournament champion Dan Severn at UFC 6 on July 14, 1995 to determine the reigning champion of the UFC. The 'superfight', a match presented as a fight between the "best of the best", was still the match that would determine the UFC champion and the tournament winners would be considered the #1 contender for the newly created UFC Superfight Championship, the first single world MMA championship outside of Japan. The Superfight title would later be renamed the UFC Heavyweight Championship when weight categories were introduced to the UFC. The Superfight title was created for the UFC 5 Superfight between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, but since the match ended in a draw, the title remained vacant.

Before the match started, a storm was brewing between Severn and Shamrock, which led to the second major UFC rivalry: Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn. The feud began at the pre-fight press conference. After most of the attention from the media was given to Shamrock, Severn got up and walked out of the door without explanation.

The Detroit Dance

After defending his UFC title at UFC 8, Shamrock was scheduled to face number one contender and rival Dan Severn at UFC 9 in a rematch of their fight at UFC 6, which Shamrock won by guillotine choke in 2:14. Severn was coming off winning the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tournament and by all accounts Severn and Shamrock did not like each other. Their rematch at UFC 9 was highly anticipated and was marketed as the "Clash of the Titans 2" and took place in the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, in Severn's home state.

Shamrock had a lot on the line at UFC 9; ''Sports Illustrated'' was there to do a story on him and if he beat Severn again, Shamrock was going to be on the magazine's cover. In addition, he would also be featured in a story on the mainstream network CNN. Combined with the rule that he could not punch, he did not think he could win a fight because all of his weapons were taken away from him. If Shamrock withdrew, the main event would have been cancelled and the UFC could have suffered substantial monetary damage. After UFC owner Bob Meyrowitz and other UFC officials pleaded with Shamrock to go on with the show, Shamrock, despite the injuries and new rules, reluctantly gave in to the pressure for the sake of the UFC. This fight would mark the last time Masakatsu Funaki would serve as Ken Shamrock's trainer and cornerman.

After taking time off away from the octagon, including being a guest on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', Shamrock entered the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate 96 in December 1996. Frank Shamrock served as Ken's head cornerman for the event. Before the event, Shamrock promised to be aggressive in this fight to make up for the dance with Severn. Shamrock honored his word, beating Brian Johnston in the quarterfinals. Shamrock, however, broke the same hand during this fight that kept him out of UFC 2 and had to withdraw from the tournament.

Leaving MMA for the WWF

After UFC 9, United States Senator John McCain was successful in pulling UFC pay-per-view broadcasts from numerous cable systems, including TCI cable, which greatly hurt pay-per-view revenue. Combined with money drying out and being burnt out from fighting, Shamrock left MMA for professional wrestling, signing with the World Wrestling Federation. Shamrock left MMA while he was seemingly at the top of his game; he was in his prime and he was at this time considered by many to be one of the best fighters in the world. Shamrock was never close to the same fighter after the transition to pro wrestling, largely due to the amount of injuries he received while in the WWF, including a serious neck injury he suffered in late 1999 during a feud with Chris Jericho and Curtis Hughes.

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Despite not competing in the UFC as a fighter while with the WWF, Shamrock continued to coach his Lion's Den fighters in the UFC and even coached Mark Coleman at UFC 18. Shamrock left MMA with a professional record of 23 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws.

Return to MMA- Pride Fighting Championships (2000–2002)

In 2000, Shamrock made a comeback to the mixed martial arts scene following a 4 year hiatus from the WWF. He signed with Pride Fighting Championships and defeated Alexander Otsuka by TKO due to punches at the Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals in the superfight, his first fight back from the WWF. Shamrock was very impressive in this fight as he was able to knock out Otsuka, something that powerful striker and PRIDE superstar Igor Vovchanchyn could not do to Otsuka in their fight a few months earlier. This was the first ever Pride event to be broadcasted live in America and Pride strategically used Shamrock's drawing power in America by making his Superfight with Otsuka the co-headliner of the event.

Shamrock then fought consensus top 10 heavyweight "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita at Pride 10, who was coming off a huge upset victory over Mark Kerr. Fujita was highly accomplished wrestler in Japan; he missed making the Japanese Olympic wrestling team by one point and was also a national champion in Greco Roman wrestling. Fujita was also famous for his ability to take inhumane amounts of damage to his head without being knocked out (hence his nickname "Ironhead") and for his ability to withstand a guillotine choke due to his strong neck. During the time before the fight, Shamrock was going through a divorce and had to take care of his young kids during the day, which severely cut into his training time for the fight. Despite this, Shamrock dominated Fujita throughout the entire fight, putting on a sprawl and brawl and nearly knocking Fujita out. However, he eventually had his corner throw in the towel because he felt like he was having a heart attack, ending an exciting fight in anticlimactic fashion. He was evaluated after the fight and it was determined that he was suffering from heart palpitations. Shamrock talked about what happened to him in an interview: "I'm not sure, even to this day, I'm not sure. Everything went white and I couldn't see. My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest. I'm not quite sure what happened. I couldn't control my vision, my balance, I don't know what was wrong with me. I was going through a lot just then, I was going through a divorce and my 4 kids were dropped off on me in a two bedroom apartment, so I didn't get to train properly for the fight. There was a lot going on in my life at the time and I think that there was a whole bunch of stress built up on me and it came out when I didn't want it to."

In December 2000, PRIDE tried to set up a dream fight between Ken Shamrock and then current PRIDE Grand Prix Champion, former UFC Heavyweight Champion and consensus #1 ranked heavyweight Mark Coleman. The fight was offered to Shamrock and he accepted it. The dream match up with Shamrock greatly excited Coleman, but after training for a few days, Coleman decided that he was not physically ready to fight someone of Shamrock's caliber. Coleman talked about his feelings on the fight in an interview: "For about a four day stand I contemplated taking the fight because it's something that's very hard to turn down. It's a dream match up and a question I've been asked over and over again, whether I would fight Ken Shamrock. So I wanted to take the fight very badly, I turned up my training for about 4 days, then on Friday night I came to the conclusion that I'm just not physically ready to fight Ken Shamrock...Certainly if you're going to fight someone with Ken Shamrock's skills then you want to be as close to 100 percent as you can."

Shamrock was then scheduled to fight feared PRIDE superstar Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 13, but suffered a neck injury during training two weeks before the fight. Tra Telligman, a Lion's Den fighter, replaced Shamrock on two weeks notice and defeated Vovchanchyn in an upset victory.

Shamrock engaged in a feud with Don Frye during his career in the Pride Fighting Championships. The feud ended in a match during Pride 19 – Bad Blood, where Shamrock fought Frye in the main event in a match that potentially had PRIDE Heavyweight Championship title implications (PRIDE FC considered giving the winner of this fight a title shot against current Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira). In what many fans regard as one of the greatest MMA fights of all time, Shamrock lost an incredibly close split decision, despite successfully applying several leglocks on Frye, who refused to tap, ruining his knees and ankles and resulting in Frye becoming addicted to pain killers from the damage he suffered.

The background of the feud was Don Frye's trash talking. In 1999, Alicia Webb (also known as Ryan Shamrock) dated Ken Shamrock until early 2003. Don Frye made comments to the effect that Shamrock cheated on and divorced his wife to date a young girl (Alicia Webb was 19 and Ken Shamrock was 35 when they started dating). Frye also joked that Ken's (at the time) estranged father Bob and brother Frank would be in Frye's corner for the fight. Ken Shamrock was enraged by Frye's trash talk, causing a feud between Ken Shamrock and Don Frye. Since then, Frye has stated that he only resorted to personal trash talk to make Ken want to fight him. Frye said: "I saw Ken Shamrock whoop him (Dan Severn) at UFC 6 and I thought, "That's a guy I gotta fight. Anybody who can whoop Dan Severn like that has gotta be a man and I want to test my size against his size. I had the chance to talk trash and they gave me the fight; I crossed the line. I wasn't professional about it, but Ken was and after the fight, we shook hands and went our separate ways." Frye also commented on how Shamrock injured his ankles: "I talked a bunch of trash, so I had to back it up. I couldn't walk away after talking all that garbage. You're damn right it hurt. He messed up both my ankles real bad. That caused me to start taking the pain pills and I got a little dependent on the pain meds for a couple of years." Frye also said: "If I'd known it was going to hurt this bad, I'd have kept my mouth shut!"

ESPN's Josh Gross attended the event from ringside and described his experience: "It was an all out war...I've taken the time to thank fighters for their efforts maybe three times. This was the first. The next day, as each man struggled to get on a bus in Tokyo that would take us back to Narita airport, I was stunned -- and admittedly upset -- by how beat up they were. Regular folk would be in an ICU. These guys were hardly normal."

The two fighters have been on good terms since that match.

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Many feel that the war with Frye was the last great bout of Shamrock's career and his final showing as a top level MMA competitor. Both Frye and Shamrock would go on to greatly decline after this point.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (Second spell – 2002–2006)

Feud with Tito Ortiz and fighting to reclaim UFC championship gold for the second time

Shamrock's Lion's Den camp has engaged in a feud with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. The feud began to build on January 8, 1999, at UFC 18. After upsetting top UFC fighter and Lion's Den member Jerry Bohlander, Ortiz, with his fingers, acted like he was shooting at the Lion's Den corner and coach Ken Shamrock and additionally put on a disrespectful shirt in the octagon after the fight with Bohlander which read "I just f**ked your ass".

On March 5, 1999, at UFC 19, the feud with Ortiz exploded in one of the biggest and most famous altercations in mixed martial arts history. After Ortiz won a referee stoppage in his rematch with Guy Mezger, Ortiz immediately flipped off the Lion's Den corner and then put on a shirt that said "Gay Mezger is my Bitch". The actions by Ortiz shocked and stunned the MMA world because at the time, the Lion's Den was highly respected, arguably the most elite fight team in MMA and was composed of numerous top fighters. At the top was the leader, Ken Shamrock, who at the time still held a reputation as being one of the scariest and most skilled fighters associated with the UFC.

After Shamrock saw the shirt, he yelled into the octagon "Hey Tito, don't let me see you wearing that shirt!". Shamrock then famously leaped onto the top of the cage, screaming at Ortiz and angrily waving his finger in Ortiz's face. Referee John McCarthy picked Ortiz up and carried him across the octagon to prevent the situation from escalating further, as a livid Shamrock was on the verge of jumping into the octagon.

Shamrock, who was still in the WWF at the time, was furious after the event. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva said: "SEG knew this was bad. Ken was ''really'' freaking out. Tables were getting flipped, who knows what was going to happen. So they have to usher Tito back to a room and get him away from the Lion's Den. It was craziness, everybody was just looking at each other and saying, 'Did I see that right? Did that shirt really say what I thought that it said?' Everybody's freaking out about it...there was such a buzz about it, everybody was running around everywhere."

Ortiz's manager, Sal Garcia, added: "one of the other fighters comes in at that point and says, 'hey, Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den, they want to come over and kick Tito and Sal's ass'." The tension backstage was so great that some feared a brawl between the Lion's Den and Tito Ortiz, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman and others from the Hammer House (who were in Ortiz's locker room after the event). The situation was escalated to the point that police and security had to be called in to monitor the situation. Jeff Sherwood, creator of Sherdog.com, wrote after the event: "Someone needs to remind Ken Shamrock that it wasn't Monday Night RAW out there. Not saying he wouldn't tear Tito up though."

Sherwood was not alone in his opinion that Shamrock would have been too much for Ortiz to deal with at the time. Shamrock had a reputation of thoroughly and brutally dominating everybody in training at the Lion's Den, including top UFC fighters Guy Mezger and Jerry Bohlander, and Shamrock, at north of , was considerably larger than Ortiz and would be a full weight class above him. Ortiz also said shortly after UFC 19: Many fans were upset that this fight probably would never happen due to the weight difference. However, over time, Shamrock began to lose size and by the time he fought Don Frye three years later in 2002, Shamrock was down to around 220 lbs, making it possible to cut weight to 205.

On November 22, 2002, at UFC 40, nearly four years after the confrontation at UFC 19, Shamrock returned to the UFC for the first time since December 1996 to fight Ortiz in a title match for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in one of the biggest, most anticipated and most important fights in UFC history. By this time, Shamrock's skills had diminished significantly due to injuries and aging but he was still considered to be a very dangerous and strong opponent. Although it was understood that Shamrock was past his prime, many people gave Shamrock a good chance to win based on his size (Ortiz had not fought someone as big as Shamrock to that point in his career), punching power and submission skills. Shamrock's apparent size advantage did not factor into the fight, however; Shamrock experienced difficultly cutting weight for the first time and cut too much weight, weighing in at 201 lbs, 4 lbs under the 205 lb. limit. Ortiz shed light upon his feelings before the fight in his book This is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Arts Champion; "Ken Shamrock is a real good fighter. I was not intimidated by him, but I guess you can say I was a little bit afraid."

Color commentator Joe Rogan called the fight a "dream match" and "the most incredible night in mixed martial arts history" at the start of the show and admitted that he had no idea who was going to win the fight. The hype and buzz surrounding the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the event was unlike anything mixed martial arts had ever seen before. The event was also monumental for the future of the UFC and the sport as a whole in America for a variety of reasons. UFC 40 sold out the MGM Grand Arena and sold 150,000 pay per view buys, a rate over three times larger than the previous Zuffa events. It also garnered mainstream attention from massive media outlets such as ESPN and USA Today, something that was unfathomable for mixed martial arts at that point in time. Many have suggested that the success of UFC 40 and the anticipation for Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz saved the UFC from bankruptcy; the buyrates of the previous Zuffa shows averaged a mere 45,000 buys per event and the company was suffering deep monetary losses. The commercial success of UFC 40 provided a glimmer of hope for the UFC and kept alive the dream that mixed martial arts could become big.

Although many in the mixed martial arts media either deemed the fight too close to call or gave a slight edge to the younger Ortiz, the fight was not nearly as close as originally expected. Shamrock nearly scored a knockout early in round 1, buckling Ortiz's knees with a punch and dropping him to one knee. However, Ortiz recovered shortly after and went on to dominate the fight with takedowns and ground and pound. The manner in which Ortiz dominated the fight was surprising to some because the fighters at the Lion's Den claimed that nobody took Shamrock down in training yet Ortiz easily scored takedowns numerous times throughout the fight. Shamrock provided excitement for the crowd at the end of rounds 2 and 3, dramatically scrambling to his feet after being dominated from his back, but was unable to mount any significant offense after getting up. Right before Round 4 started, Shamrock's cornerman threw in the towel and Ortiz successfully defended the UFC light heavyweight championship.

After the fight was over, Shamrock revealed that he fought Ortiz with a serious knee injury (a torn ACL). Bruce Buffer has said on various occasions that this fight was one of the greatest fights he has ever seen and that the energy from the crowd that night was one of the greatest feelings he has ever experienced.

Shortly after the Ortiz fight, Shamrock seriously contemplated retirement from MMA, citing the fact that he had never lost two fights in a row in his career before and also citing a build up of injuries. Shamrock ultimately decided to not retire.

UFC Hall of Fame

On November 21, 2003, at UFC 45, Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock became the first inductees to the UFC Hall of Fame. The event celebrated the 10th anniversary of the UFC. UFC President Dana White said; Shamrock spoke to the fans with a heartfelt speech: "Until now, I felt I had a satisfying career in the UFC. But, being one of the first to be inducted in the Hall of Fame brings it all together. I will never forget you and now I will not be forgotten. God bless." A poll was also conducted on the UFC's website among UFC fans to determine the most popular UFC fighters and Shamrock was voted the second most popular fighter in the UFC by the fans.

In 2003, Shamrock had surgery done to repair a torn ACL in his knee. Shamrock originally injured it during training in preparation for the Don Frye fight in February 2002 and completely tore it prior to his fight with Tito Ortiz in November 2002. Shamrock has said that since his knee injury, he has had difficulty shooting and taking people down, which resulted in Shamrock changing his primary style from a wrestler/grappler and moving more towards a standup fighter.

On June 19, 2004, at UFC 48, a 40-year-old Shamrock returned to fight the Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 48 in a rematch of the UFC 8 Superfight Championship match, which Shamrock won via submission due to a kneebar. Shamrock was coming off a long layoff to recover from ACL surgery. Kimo's previous fight consisted of an impressive win over Shamrock's longtime rival, Tank Abbott. Shamrock won the bout in the first round by KO via knee to the head. Shamrock's knee strike to Kimo's chin was so hard that he opened up a cut on his knee after landing the shot. Shamrock's mega drawing power was evident when the pay per view numbers came out for the event; UFC 48 amazingly drew more pay per view buys than the ultra hyped super fight between mixed martial arts stars Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz one event earlier at UFC 47.

Shamrock injured his shoulder during his fight against Kimo at UFC 48. He originally thought it was just "wear and tear", but a MRI revealed a rotator cuff tear. Shamrock had surgery to repair the tear in his shoulder.

April 9, 2005, was a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. Shamrock faced rising star and future UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin in the main event in a light heavyweight bout on the popular reality series ''The Ultimate Fighter'' finale. The event was a monumental moment in UFC history because it was the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV. Shamrock slapped on a heel hook early in the fight that put Franklin on crutches for a week, but Franklin escaped and defeated Shamrock by a TKO in the first round after taking advantage of a Shamrock slip while executing a high kick. At 41 years old, this was the first time Shamrock had ever been knocked out in a mixed martial arts fight in his career. Franklin's win over an icon like Shamrock propelled him into UFC stardom and established him as one of the organization's biggest stars.

On October 24, 2005, Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in Pride: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The stoppage was very controversial because Shamrock immediately got up and protested to the referee, showing no signs of damage. There was also a feeling that PRIDE may have had a quick trigger on Shamrock because they were heavily biased in favor of the Japanese legend Sakuraba. However, his brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "...if you're sleeping with your head through the second rope, you're in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that's the end of the fight."

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 3

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The season unexpectedly turned out to be very problematic between Shamrock and his fighters. This was unexpected because Shamrock had a reputation for being an outstanding coach; he built one of the most successful MMA fight teams of all time, the legendary Lion's Den and molded his Lion's Den fighters into UFC Champions. Shamrock was portrayed very badly on the show, feuding with his fighters and often appearing uninterested. Shamrock admitted to doing a poor job with his fighters: "I failed them miserably, completely. So I have to figure out a way to get this...back in the driver's seat", Shamrock said during the show. The problems between Shamrock and his fighters on the show caused many newer fans to question Shamrock's coaching style. Shamrock responded to his critics in an interview: "I trained three fighters that were the first three (UFC) Middleweight Champions: Jerry Bohlander, Guy Mezger and Frank Shamrock. And I’ve trained dozens of guys to be champs in other organizations. In Pancrase, I had eight fighters in the top ten at one point. I was the champion and (Masakatsu) Funaki was the number one contender. The rest were all Lion's Den fighters. My reputation doesn’t have to be spoken for or defended. The UFC and Spike TV did what they thought they needed to do for ratings, but in the end, my fans, my family and my God know exactly who I am." Shamrock also commented about his portrayal on "TUF": "People always come up to me now and say, ‘They portrayed you in such a bad light on that show.’ That’s always how they phrase it. They portrayed you that way. I guess that means people really know what I’m like. They wouldn’t say that if they thought that was really me. It makes me feel better to know that people feel that way." Roy Nelson also defended Shamrock as a coach. Roy said, "He's not how they depict him on The Ultimate Fighter. He's a good guy and he's been in the business for a long time. He knows what works and what doesn't."

In a separate interview with UGO.com, Shamrock shed light upon the reason for the turmoil between himself and his fighters on "TUF": "Anytime you're put into a situation where the fighter or the trainer have to work with each other whether they mesh or not, it always becomes a problem. Then, when there are one or two guys you don't really mesh with, then it trickles down to the rest of the team. Unfortunately for me, not that the fighters were bad or anything, I just got a bunch of guys on the team that I didn't see eye to eye with. Me being a coach and running my own team for a long time, being able to call all the shots, it didn't work very well for me to have guys telling me what they wanted to do...It's a tough thing for a coach, especially for me. For so long I've been in control things and bring these guys up and nurture them and mold them into great fighters. I was very successful at that early on. But when I was thrown into that situation, I knew the score. I knew there could be problems and there were. I had a hard time with that. Other guys, like Tito (Ortiz) and Randy (Couture) really had some success with it. But for me it was difficult."

On July 8, 2006, at UFC 61, the highly anticipated rematch between Shamrock and a heavily favored Tito Ortiz took place. The pay per view numbers set North American MMA records with 775,000 buys on pay-per-view and a $3.4 million gate. Nevada State rules, however, allow a fighter in a non-title match to go over the limit by one pound, so Shamrock's weight was not against the rules. Ironically, Ortiz proceeded to weigh in at 206.5 lbs. and had to drop the half-pound before weighing in again.

Shamrock lost the rematch with Ortiz in 1:18 of the first round by a technical knockout in a fight that ended in chaotic controversy. Shamrock came out firing, landing a combination of punches to back Ortiz into the cage, but Ortiz successfully secured a double leg takedown on Shamrock, lifting him up and slamming him to the mat. Although Shamrock was now on his back in a disadvantageous position, he did have Ortiz in his full guard. Ortiz, while in Shamrock's full guard, was able to land several elbows to Shamrock's head which went undefended. Referee Herb Dean deemed that Shamrock was no longer able to intelligently defend himself and stopped the fight. Watching the slow-mo, Shamrock did go limp from one elbow but revived for the next. Quoting MMA Weekly's Ivan Trembow, "That breaks down to an amazing 5.7 million viewers for the Ortiz vs. Shamrock fight. This shatters the UFC's previous record for the number of people watching a UFC fight at any given time." The overall ratings record would not be matched until ''UFC 75'' on September 8, 2007. Immediately after the fight, Ortiz initially celebrated his victory with a mocking "grave digger" routine and an offensive t-shirt that said, "Punishing Him Into Retirement" after giving him the finger. However, Shamrock approached Ortiz and, after the two talked for several seconds, Shamrock said they could put all of their animosity aside as it was always "just business", shaking hands and burying the hatchet. Ortiz then declared that facing Shamrock had made him a better fighter and thanked Ken for "passing the torch". Ortiz added in his post-fight interview that he has always looked up to Shamrock. Shamrock gave a gracious speech after the fight but left it ambiguous whether he would retire from the sport. In an interview with Sherdog.com, he stated he was not leaning one way or another whether he will not fight again, but he did not want to lead the fans on. Ken also expressed his feelings after the match:

Ultimately, Shamrock's feud with Ortiz was critically important for the UFC's future and present day success. Shamrock and Ortiz's trilogy, along with the emergence of stars like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, resulted in the sport's explosion into the mainstream.

Release from UFC

Shamrock was rumored to fight Englishman Michael Bisping at UFC 75 but was ultimately released from his UFC contract shortly after in June 2007.

Shamrock expressed anger about his release, saying that he was released from the UFC solely because his decision to coach in the International Fight League. Shamrock said, "I talked to Dana White when I was fighting with Tito Ortiz on the Ultimate Fighter show and let him know there was an opportunity to get some of the Lion's Den fighters some fights on the team concept in the IFL. Dana kind’ve flipped out on that, saying he was gonna squash them and kill them, and that they’re nothing but scumbags and he was gonna crush ‘em. And it just kind of took me off guard, and he was very upset at them. And I guess he took them to court and lost a lawsuit to them, so he was pretty upset about that, because he thought that they had taken some things from him or whatever, but they were found innocent of all that. So, I told him, “You know, it’s not like I’m fighting and it’s not against my contract to coach my fighters on a show.” And he said, “Well, if you do that, even if it’s not in your contract, you will never work for us again.” Which I thought was kind of a threat - it had no bearing on my contract and that he was just trying to push me around. And at that point, I went ahead, and - because I didn’t want to cause a problem at that point in time - I went ahead and said, “Alright, I’ll just wait until I’m done with the fight with Ortiz.” So, I finished the fight with Ortiz and then I went ahead and coached in the IFL. At that point, Dana White decided that he was going to go ahead and breach my contract and cut me loose."

Shamrock then engaged in a feud with White in the media and ultimately sued the UFC for breach of contract, citing that he had one fight left on his deal that the UFC had to honor. Shamrock added, "I’ll tell you what I’m looking for right now. I’m looking for UFC to step up to the line, sit down, and start talking - and stop acting like children. Because what they’re doing … this is a multi-billion dollar business, and they’re acting like they’re in high school or kindergarten, and they just broke up with their girlfriend. I was a big part of their business in helping them make money. And they completely turned their back on me. And of course I’m angry. But you know what? I’m also a man, and I can sit down at the table and discuss things. But these guys have no intentions of doing that. The fact is, Dana White would rather go on the air and trash me and try and make me look bad and try and hurt my credibility, rather than step up like a man and sit down and let’s work this thing out...they’re hurting the people who built this sport. They didn’t do it themselves, this is what we call a “team”. They did their part, we did our part, and everybody should be holding up to their end of the bargain.

Shamrock ultimately lost his suit against the UFC and was ordered by the court to pay Zuffa's attorney fees, totaling $175,000.

Post-UFC Career (2007–present)

In early 2007, Ken Shamrock became the coach of the Nevada Lions for the IFL. Roy Nelson, one of Shamrock's fighters, was the reigning IFL Heavyweight Champion when the league was bought out and disbanded.

On March 8 at the Cage Rage 25, Shamrock fought Robert Berry, but lost in the first round by Technical knockout due to punches. It was announced on August 25 that Shamrock's next opponent would be Kimbo Slice at Elite XC Saturday Night Fight Special on October 4, 2008. However, Shamrock would never get the chance as he was injured shortly before the two men were to start the bout. On the day of the fight, Shamrock was warming up and received a head butt which opened a cut. He needed 6 stitches and was not able to compete against Slice. The doctor who examined Ken said he would not be able to compete for at least 45 days because of the injury.

Ken Shamrock Productions co-promoted an event with War Gods on February 13, 2009, in which Ken fought in the main event against 6'6, 380 lb. Ross Clifton. Shamrock knocked Clifton down with a right hand and finished him via arm bar from side control in the first round. The fight was streamed live on Sherdog.com and had over 200,000 live views. Shamrock was then scheduled to fight fellow WWE alum Bobby Lashley, but tested positive for steroids after the Clifton fight and received a one year suspension. Shamrock's manager and attorney Rod Donohoo said the fighter has adamantly denied the allegations.

Shamrock faced fellow UFC legend Pedro Rizzo on July 18, 2010 at an event called Impact Fighting Championships in Sydney, Australia. Shamrock lost by TKO due to leg kicks. His next fight was against Johnathan Ivey for the USA MMA promotion on October 16, 2010. Shamrock earned a unanimous decision against Ivey, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 for the 46-year-old. His most recent bout was against Mike Bourke on November 25, 2010 in Durban, South Africa for the King of the Cage promotion. Shamrock knocked Bourke down with a punch but was injured shortly after during a scramble and subsequently lost the bout via TKO (injury) in the first round, as he was unable to continue due to a leg injury.

Shamrock was scheduled to face Antony Rea at WEF 46 on April 22, 2011. Ken withdrew from the fight with Rea due to a staph infection.

Shamrock was rumored to be scheduled to face Mike Bourke, in a rematch, on 24 July 2011 for King of the Cage, but Ken has denied all knowledge of the rematch.

Shamrock has stated that he wants to fight 4 or 5 times in 2011 and is trying to put fights together with Royce Gracie, Tank Abbott, Marco Ruas, Dan Severn and his brother Frank Shamrock. Shamrock currently has no fights scheduled and is recovering from MRSA, a serious bacterial infection he contracted while taking care of his son at the hospital.

Shamrock vs. Toney

Shamrock is now scheduled to face IBA Heavyweight Champion Boxer James Toney in a special rules bout, in which there will be 8 three minute rounds instead of the traditional 3 five minute rounds. There will also be a '30 second stand-up rule' which means if the fight goes to the ground, after 30 seconds the referee will stand up the fighters. The time will be held if a submission hold is in place, and it will continue if the hold is broken or released. Despite these new rules gives James Toney more of an advantage, it was Shamrock who suggested it, saying it will make the fight more fun to watch.

The proposed special rules mixed martial arts match between UFC veteran Ken Shamrock and boxing world champion James Toney is being targeted for November. Ivaylo Gotzev, one of the fight’s promoters, advised MMAWeekly.com of the month targeted for the unique bout. In addition, Gotzev and his partners are nearing finalization of the venue, which could be in one of two American states or out of the country. “(We’re looking at) two different states and, actually, going outside of the country,” Gotzev said. “We’re zeroing in right now, but it’s going to be November.”

Criticism and Calls for Retirement

Shamrock has been criticized by some in the mixed martial arts media and fanbase for fighting too far past his prime. Jeremy Botter of Heavy.com wrote: "Ken Shamrock used to be the baddest man on the planet. In the early days of mixed martial arts, it was tough to find anybody who inspired more fear than Shamrock. His muscled and ripped frame...his intensity was unequaled in the sport at the time, and his bag of submissions made him a very real threat to any opponent he faced during those early years. But those early years were a long time ago, and Shamrock is no longer even a shell of the man he once was."

After the Impact FC 2 show, sympathy for Shamrock's decline became even more pronounced. Longtime mixed martial arts reporter Dave Meltzer wrote: "Impact Fighting Championship's pay-per-view show from Sydney was a sad reminder of what the future may hold for many of today’s top stars. Ken Shamrock, Carlos Newton, Murilo Bustamante, Pedro Rizzo and Josh Barnett were all at various points either UFC champions or groomed to be top stars. But there they were, on the other side of the world, fighting before quiet, small crowds in an atmosphere that hardly felt like they were part of a booming sport."

UFC President Dana White said in 2008; "Ken Shamrock was in a beef with us over his contract. We thought he retired, he was claiming he didn't and still had one fight. And my attitude was, I'd rather pay Ken Shamrock to not fight. I'd rather pay him to not fight and just say, "stay home, Ken". Ken is ''way'' past his prime, it gets to the point where it's dangerous for that guy to still be fighting."

Former WWE announcer Jim Ross said before Shamrock's scheduled fight with Bobby Lashley in early 2009; "There was a time that I could see the veteran, 45 year old Shamrock, a former WWE superstar, schooling the MMA rookie Lashley but that ship has long since sailed. I have great respect for Ken but he's outstayed his welcome in the octagon, cage, whatever and needs to teach and coach and stop fighting...Kenny is fighting for one more pay day while Lashley is fighting to help establish what he hopes will be a long term, lucrative, MMA career."

Professional wrestling career

Name	Ken Shamrock
Names	Vince TorelliKen ShamrockShamrockWayne Shamrock
Billed height
Billed weight
Billed	Sacramento, California
Trainer	Nelson RoyalBob SawyerBuzz Sawyer
Debut	1990 }}

Early career

In 1988, Shamrock trained as a professional wrestler under Bob Sawyer, Buzz Sawyer and Nelson Royal. He debuted in 1990 in the Charlotte, North Carolina-based South Atlantic Pro Wrestling promotion under the ring name Wayne Shamrock. He later changed his ring name to just Shamrock and turned heel, adopting the nickname "Mr. Wrestling". In 1990, Shamrock travelled to Japan, where he competed in the Universal Wrestling Federation and its successor promotion, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi.

His first taste of mixed martial arts came following the exodus of his mentors Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki from Fujiwara's promotion to found one of the formative Japanese mixed martial arts associations, Pancrase. Later, he returned to America to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Shamrock would split time between the two organizations until 1996, whereupon he returned to professional wrestling, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation (1997–1999)

Shamrock made his WWF debut on the February 24, 1997 episode of ''Monday Night Raw''. On March 23, 1997, Shamrock, identified as Ken Shamrock and billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man"—a name given to him by ABC News, refereed a submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13.

Shamrock returned to the ring following WrestleMania, squashing Vernon White (one of his Lion's Den students) in his debut WWF match. He went on to feud with Vader, Bret Hart and The Hart Foundation throughout 1997, culminating in a bout between Shamrock and The British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1997 which Shamrock lost after refusing to relinquish a chokehold, following Shamrock going on a rampage after being slapped across the face by The British Bulldog with a handful of dog-food. Shamrock was considered a candidate to win the WWF Championship from the departing Bret Hart, before the Montreal Screwjob occurred. Shamrock went on to challenge Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at In Your House in December, defeating Michaels by disqualification after Triple H and Chyna interfered in the match.

Throughout early 1998, Shamrock feuded with WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia. He lost to Maivia via disqualification at the 1998 Royal Rumble and a victory over Maivia at WrestleMania XIV was reversed after Shamrock continued to apply his ankle lock after Maivia had submitted. In June 1998, Shamrock won the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jeff Jarrett in the semi-finals and Maivia in the finals. Following the King of the Ring, Shamrock feuded with Owen Hart, with Hart defeating Shamrock in a "Hart Family Dungeon match" at Fully Loaded and Shamrock defeating Hart in a "Lion's Den match" at SummerSlam. In September, he formed a short-lived stable with Mankind and The Rock.

Shamrock turned heel in October 1998 and won the vacant Intercontinental Championship on October 12, defeating X-Pac in the finals of an eight man tournament. In November, Shamrock consolidated his heel status by joining Mr. McMahon's Corporation. On December 14, Shamrock and fellow Corporation member Big Boss Man defeated the New Age Outlaws for the WWF Tag Team Championship, making Shamrock a dual champion. The duo held the titles until January 25, 1999, when they lost to Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart.

In January 1999, Shamrock began feuding with Billy Gunn, Goldust and Val Venis, all of whom had made overtures to his sister, Ryan. He lost the Intercontinental Championship to Venis on February 14 when Gunn, the guest referee, delivered a fast count. Shamrock took part in a four way bout for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XV. The reigning champion Road Dogg, was able to retain his title by pinning Goldust after Shamrock and Venis were counted out while brawling outside the ring.

In mid-1999, the Corporation began feuding with The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness, with The Undertaker's minions repeatedly ambushing Shamrock and kidnapping Ryan, sacrificing her on the Undertaker's symbol. After breaking away from the Corporation, thus turning face once more, Shamrock went on to feud with The Undertaker at Backlash and lost. In May, Shamrock, The Big Show, Mankind and Test formed The Union, a stable of wrestlers in opposition to the Corporate Ministry. The Union dissolved soon after defeating the Corporate Ministry at Over the Edge in May.

Shamrock briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett before beginning a rivalry with martial artist Steve Blackman that saw he and Blackman fight one another in a series of unorthodox matches. The feud ended at SummerSlam 1999, where Shamrock defeated Blackman in a "Lion's Den weapons match". He went on to feud with the newly debuted Chris Jericho until departing the WWF in late 1999 in order to resume his mixed martial arts career. His departure was attributed to an injury inflicted by Jericho's bodyguard, Mr. Hughes.

Ring of Honor (2002)

Shamrock returned to professional wrestling in March 2002 after being billed as The World's Most Dangerous Man, refereeing a Ring of Honor match between Bryan Danielson and Low-Ki.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002, 2004)

In May 2002, he signed a one year contract with the newly formed Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. On the inaugural TNA pay-per-view on June 19, Shamrock won the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a Gauntlet for the Gold match, and is recognized as TNA's first ever World Champion. After feuding with Malice for several weeks, Shamrock left TNA shortly after losing the title to Ron Killings on August 7. He briefly returned to TNA in June 2004 as an ally of Jeff Jarrett before leaving the company and the sport once more.

Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2009)

Shamrock made an appearance in the independent Wrestling company Juggalo Championship Wrestling, owned by Psychopathic Records, during their flagship annual event, Bloodymania 3.

Personal life

He legally changed his name to Ken Shamrock in tribute to Bob Shamrock, owner of the Shamrock Ranch, a facility for troubled boys in Susanville, California, who was instrumental in turning Shamrock's life around as a teenager. Along with his brother Frank Shamrock, he is adopted. According to Shamrock, he lived in cars and was abandoned as a child. This was also integrated into the personal history of his WWE persona. He is the head trainer of the Lion's Den, a school of shoot-fighting, or what is more commonly referred to as submission fighting. He attended junior college at Shasta College in Redding, California and has been considered a possible choice for induction into the Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame.

Ken and Frank have an estranged relationship; Ken has claimed that Frank mistreated their foster father Bob, while Frank claims that the real reason for the fallout with Ken is due to his feeling that Ken was trying to keep Frank's career down. Frank asserts that he and Ken have never been close and that his attempts to mend their relationship were rejected by Ken.

Shamrock has been married twice. His first marriage, to Tina Ramirez, ended in divorce in early 2002. Together they have 4 children: Ryan (born November 24, 1988), Connor Kenneth (born September 26, 1991), Sean and one daughter, Fallon. In 2005, Ken remarried a woman named Tonya whom he had known since childhood. He is now stepfather to her 3 children. In total, Ken has seven children and two grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Malen.

Shamrock's eldest son Ryan Shamrock made his MMA debut on August 25, 2007 at the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville, California defeating Josh Besneatte.

Shamrock's third son, Sean Shamrock made his MMA debut against Lucas Goulet on July 31, 2010 at KOTC - Underground 59. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Sean Shamrock was diagnosed with kidney cancer in March 2011 and is continuing his fight career after having the affected kidney removed.

He appeared in the films ''Champions'', ''Virtuosity'', ''Scarecrow Gone Wild'', the wrestling documentary and the high school wrestling movie which are both coincidently titled ''Beyond the Mat''. He also appeared in ''That '70s Show'' episode "That Wrestling Show" as Wrestler #1.

On January 14, 2010, Frank and Ken Shamrock's adoptive father, Bob Shamrock, died due to health complications from diabetes.

Theme music

In the UFC, Shamrock frequently used the song "What You Got" by Reveille as he made his entrance towards the Octagon. For his last 2 fights in the UFC Shamrock used the song "Slayed" by British DJ Rob Overseer. His professional wrestling theme song which originated in the WWF was titled "Dangerous", composed by longtime WWF theme music creator Jim Johnston and first appeared on ''WWF The Music, Vol. 2'' a remixed version appeared on ''WWF The Music, Vol. 3''.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*Ankle lock toe hold, sometimes while also locking in the Achilles tendon

*Guillotine choke

*Rear naked choke

Signature moves

*Headscissors takedown

*Heel hook

*Jumping calf kick

*Cradle suplex

*Key lock

*Kneebar

*Side belly to belly suplex

*Roundhouse kick

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship

*UFC Superfight Championship (1 time, first)

*UFC Hall of Fame

UFC Viewer's Choice Award

*UFC 1 Tournament Semifinalist

*UFC 3 Tournament Finalist

Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling

*King of Pancrase (1994)

*King of Pancrase Tournament winner

PRIDE Fighting Championships

*Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals Superfight Winner

World Mixed Martial Arts Association

*WMMAA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Black Belt Magazine

2000 Full-Contact Fighter of the Year

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*2002 Feud of the Year vs. Tito Ortiz

*2006 Feud of the Year vs. Tito Ortiz

Professional wrestling

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1997)

*PWI ranked him #226 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling

*SAPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

*NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation

*WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

*WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Big Boss Man

*King of the Ring (1998)

Mixed martial arts record

|- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 28–15–2 | Mike Bourke | TKO (injury) | King of the Cage: Platinum | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:00 | Durban, South Africa | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 28–14–2 | Johnathan Ivey | Decision (unanimous) | USA MMA: Return of the Champions | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Lafayette, U.S | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 27–14–2 | Pedro Rizzo | TKO (leg kicks and punches) | Impact FC 2 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:33 | Sydney, Australia | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 27–13–2 | Ross Clifton | Submission (armbar) | WarGods: Valentine's Eve Massacre | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:00 | Fresno, U.S. | Shamrock tested positive for steroids after fight. |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 26–13–2 | Robert Berry | KO (punches) | Cage Rage 25 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:26 | London, England | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 26–12–2 | Tito Ortiz | TKO (punches) | Ortiz vs Shamrock 3 – The Final Chapter | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:23 | Hollywood, Florida, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 26–11–2 | Tito Ortiz | TKO (elbows) | UFC 61 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:18 | Las Vegas, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 26–10–2 | Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (punch) | Pride 30 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:27 | Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 26–9–2 | Rich Franklin | TKO (punches) | The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:42 | Las Vegas, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 26–8–2 | Kimo Leopoldo | KO (knee) | UFC 48 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:26 | Las Vegas, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 25–8–2 | Tito Ortiz | TKO (corner stoppage) | UFC 40 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Las Vegas, U.S. | For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 25–7–2 | Don Frye | Decision (split) | Pride 19 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 25–6–2 | Sam Adkins | Submission (kimura) | WMMAA 1: Megafights | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:26 | Atlantic City, U.S. | Won WMMAA Heavyweight title |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 24–6–2 | Kazuyuki Fujita | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride 10 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 6:46 | Saitama, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 24–5–2 | Alexander Otsuka | KO (punches) | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 9:43 | Tokyo, Japan | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals Superfight |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 23–5–2 | Brian Johnston | Submission (choke) | Ultimate Ultimate 1996 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:48 | Birmingham, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 22–5–2 | Dan Severn | Decision (split) | UFC 9 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 30:00 | Detroit, U.S. | Lost UFC Superfight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 22–4–2 | Kimo Leopoldo | Submission (kneebar) | UFC 8 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:24 | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | Defended UFC Superfight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 21–4–2 | Yoshiki Takahashi | Decision (lost points) | Pancrase: Truth 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 20:00 | Yokohama, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 20–4–2 | Katsuomi Inagaki | Submission (arm triangle choke) | Pancrase: Eyes Of Beast 7 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:19 | Sapporo, Japan | |- | Draw | style="text-align:center;"| 19–4–2 | Oleg Taktarov | Draw | UFC 7 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 33:00 | Buffalo, U.S. | Retains UFC Superfight Championship. Match was declared a draw because there were no judges. |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 19–4–1 | Larry Papadopoulos | Submission (achilles lock) | Pancrase 1995 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:18 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 18–4–1 | Dan Severn | Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC 6 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:14 | Casper, U.S. | Won UFC Superfight Championship |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 17–4–1 | Minoru Suzuki | Submission (kneebar) | Pancrase: Eyes Of Beast 4 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:14 | Urayasu, Japan | Lost King of Pancrase title. |- | Draw | style="text-align:center;"| 17–3–1 | Royce Gracie | Draw | UFC 5 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 36:00 | Charlotte, U.S. | For UFC Superfight Championship. Match was declared a draw because there were no judges. |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 17–3 | Bas Rutten | Submission (kneebar) | Pancrase: Eyes Of Beast 2 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:01 | Yokohama, Japan | Defends King of Pancrase title |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 16–3 | Leon Dijk | Submission (heel hook) | Pancrase: Eyes Of Beast 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:45 | Nagoya, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 15–3 | Manabu Yamada | Decision (unanimous) | Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Second Round | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 30:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Won King of Pancrase Tournament: Became first Pancrase Champion |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 14–3 | Masakatsu Funaki | Submission (arm triangle choke) | Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Second Round | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:50 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 13–3 | Maurice Smith | Submission (arm triangle choke) | Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:23 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 12–3 | Alex Cook | Submission (heel hook) | Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:31 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 11–3 | Takaku Fuke | Submission (rear naked choke) | Pancrase: Road To The Championship 5 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:13 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 10–3 | Felix Mitchell | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 3 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:34 | Charlotte, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 9–3 | Christophe Leininger | Submission (punches) | UFC 3 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:49 | Charlotte, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 8–3 | Masakatsu Funaki | Submission (choke) | Pancrase: Road To The Championship 4 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:30 | Osaka, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 8–2 | Bas Rutten | Submission (rear naked choke) | Pancrase: Road To The Championship 3 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 16:42 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 7–2 | Matt Hume | Submission (armlock) | Pancrase: Road To The Championship 2 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:50 | Amagasaki, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 6–2 | Ryushi Yanagisawa | Submission (heel hook) | Pancrase: Pancrash! 3 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 7:30 | Osaka, Japan | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 5–2 | Minoru Suzuki | Submission (heelhook/kneebar) | Pancrase: Pancrash! 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 7:37 | Yokohama, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 5–1 | Andre Van Den Oetelaar | Submission (heel hook) | Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 4 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:04 | Hakata, Japan | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 4–1 | Royce Gracie | Submission (rear naked choke) | UFC 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:57 | Denver, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 4–0 | Patrick Smith | Submission (heel hook) | UFC 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:49 | Denver, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 3–0 | Takaku Fuke | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 3 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:44 | Kobe, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 2–0 | Yoshiki Takahashi | Submission (heel hook) | Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 12:23 | Nagoya, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 1–0 | Masakatsu Funaki | Submission (arm triangle choke) | Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 6:15 | Urayasu, Japan |

References

External links

The official website of Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock IFL Page

Category:American mixed martial artists Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Fictional kings Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Category:People from San Diego, California Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:American Christians Category:People from Macon, Georgia Category:American sportspeople in doping cases Category:Doping cases in mixed martial arts

de:Ken Shamrock es:Ken Shamrock fr:Ken Shamrock it:Ken Shamrock nl:Ken Shamrock ja:ケン・シャムロック pt:Ken Shamrock ru:Шемрок, Кен simple:Ken Shamrock fi:Ken Shamrock sv:Ken Shamrock uk:Кен Шемрок

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
name	Tait Fletcher
birth place	Alpena, Michigan, United States
nationality	American
height
weight
weight class	Light Heavyweight
team	Jackson's Submission Fighting
mma kowin	1
mma subwin	2
mma decwin	1
mma koloss	2
updated	}}

Tait Fletcher is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. He was born in Alpena, Michigan. He appeared on the third season of ''The Ultimate Fighter'' and lost by decision in his first bout. He lost his last fight at KOTC - Badlands against Chad Herrick on July 12, 2008.

Mixed martial arts record

|- |Loss |align='center'|4-2 | Chad Herrick |KO (punch) |KOTC - Badlands | |align='center'|1 |align='center'|2:34 | Hawaii, United States | |- |Win |align='center'|4-1 | Auggie Padeken |Decision (split) |X-1 - Grand Prix 2007 | |align='center'|3 |align='center'|3:00 | Hawaii, United States | |- |Loss |align='center'|3-1 | Scott Smith |TKO (punches) |World Extreme Cagefighting 17 - Halloween Fury 4 | |align='center'|1 |align='center'|3:55 |California, United States |WEC Light Heavyweight Championship |- |Win |align='center'|3-0 | Andy Montana |Submission (rear naked choke) |PNRF - Explosion | |align='center'|1 |align='center'| | Mexico | |- |Win |align='center'|2-0 |Shane Schartzer |TKO (punches) |KOTC 34 - Ohio | |align='center'|1 |align='center'|2:05 |Ohio, United States | |- |Win |align='center'|1-0 | Jimmy Westfall |Submission (rear naked choke) |KOTC 26 - Gladiator Challenge | |align='center'|1 |align='center'|3:10 | Mexico | |-

External links

Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Living people Category:Mixed martial artists from Michigan

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
name	Hikaru Utada
background	solo_singer
alias	Utada, Hikki, Cubic U
birth name	Hikaru Utada ()
born	January 19, 1983
birth place	New York City, New York, United States
origin	Tokyo, Japan
occupation	Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Composer, Arranger
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano
genre	Pop, R&B;, rock, ethereal wave, experimental, electronica, dance, hip-hop, funk, dance-pop, electropop
years active	1996–2011 (on hiatus)
label	EMI Music JapanIsland Def Jam Music Group (2004 - 2010) EMI (2010 - present)
website	EMI MusicU3 Music (Personal Blog)Official Twitter accountOfficial YouTube account }}

, known by her stage name Utada () in America and Europe, is a Japanese/American singer, song writer, arranger, and producer. Since the release of her Japanese debut album ''First Love'', which went on to become the best-selling album in Oricon history, Utada has had three of her Japanese studio albums in the list of Top 10 best-selling albums ever in Japan (number 1, 4, 8) and six of her albums (including one English-language and one compilation) charting within the ''275 Best-Selling Japanese albums'' list. Utada has had twelve number-one singles on the Oricon Singles chart, with two notable record achievements for a female solo or group artist: five million-sellers and four in the Top 100 All-Time Best-selling Singles. Utada has an estimated more than 52 million records sold worldwide.

She was described by ''Time Magazine'' as a "Diva On Campus," a reference to her having attended Columbia University for a brief, career-break semester in 2000. In 2009, she was considered "the most influential artist of the decade" in the Japanese landscape by The Japan Times. In 2003, Utada was ranked number 24 in the survey of ''Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists of All Time'' by HMV, number 10 in HMV's ''Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time'' in 2006.

Additionally, Utada is most well known in the West for making two theme song contributions to Square Enix and Disney's collaborative video game series ''Kingdom Hearts'': "Simple and Clean" (which is the re-written English version of her 10th Japanese single Hikari) for ''Kingdom Hearts'' and "Sanctuary" for ''Kingdom Hearts II'' (later re-recorded with new Japanese lyrics as "Passion" for the Japanese releases of the game). In 2007, her single "Flavor of Life" reached number 2 in worldwide digital download yearly single chart with over 7.2 million downloads, and contributes to 12 million digital sales for her over the same year.

Career

Early life and beginnings

Hikaru Utada was born in Manhattan as the only child of Teruzane Utada, a Japanese record producer, and his wife Junko Utada, an enka singer, performing under the stage name Keiko Fuji. She did her recordings with her mother, releasing songs under a band named “U3” (also known as Utada 3) until 1996 when she started her first solo project, "I'll be Stronger."  The "Cookin' With Moses Vocal" from this project was called the "Cookin' With Gas Vocal" on the promotional release.

"I'll Be Stronger" was the first song Utada wrote. It was released under the artist name "Cubic U", a mathematical reference to her being the third Utada 'power', which was Hikaru's pseudonym before becoming a superstar in Japan. The song was not released in the United States, and in 1997, she started her next project, though at first she was hesitant. Cubic U released her debut single "Close to You", which was a cover of The Carpenters' song. She then released her debut album ''Precious''.

She released ''Precious'' in Japan on January 28, 1998, and then later re-released it on March 31, 1999.

Japanese debut and breakthrough success: 1998–2003

Utada moved to Tokyo in late 1998 and attended Seisen International School, and later the American School in Japan, while continuing to record on a new contract with Toshiba-EMI. Her movement originally came from Japanese FM radio. Unlike other pop-stars at the time, she was more focused on becoming a singer and songwriter while other Japanese female singers were attempting to become idols. Leading up to the release of her Japanese debut album ''First Love'', Utada released two successful million-selling singles: "Automatic/Time Will Tell" and "Movin' on Without You". "Automatic/Time Will Tell" sold over two million copies. Backed by her singles, her debut album ''First Love'' went on to sell over 7 million units in Japan alone (with an additional 3 million overseas, bringing it to a sum of at least 10 million units), becoming the highest selling album in Japan's recent history. The album yielded the single "First Love", which peaked at the number-two spot. By the end of the year, Utada was rank number 5 on a Japanese radio station Tokio Hot 100 Airplay's ''Top 100 Artists of the 20th Century'' by the station and its listeners.

After a two years' break, Utada released her follow up album ''Distance'', garnering a first-week sales of 3 million units sold. Ayumi Hamasaki's first greatest hits compilation album was released the same week in the aim to make a positive duel by Hamasaki's label, Avex Trax. This duel helped the two albums to break the record of fastest selling album worldwide, with Utada's album reaching first position by less than 150,000 copies. Backed by her singles — "Addicted to You", "Wait & See: Risk", "For You/Time Limit" and "Can You Keep a Secret?" — ''Distance'' became the best-selling album of the year, with 4.469 million copies sold in Japan alone. Additionally, "Addicted To You" became Utada's best-selling single, selling one-million in its first week which became the highest first week sales for a female solo artist and staying on top of the chart for two consecutive weeks. "Wait & See: Risk" and "Can You Keep A Secret" also were later ranked at number 6 and number 10 respectively on Oricon's list of 10 Best-Selling Singles from January 1, 1999 to April 24, 2006. Utada also went on to release a single which was dedicated to the female victim of a murder case in Ikeda, Osaka, titled "Final Distance".

In 2001, Utada has recorded a song for the action-comedy film ''Rush Hour 2'', ''Blow My Whistle'', which is a collaboration with American rapper Foxy Brown, and was written by Utada herself, alongside Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The song is included on Def Jam's Rush Hour 2 soundtrack, which peaked the 11th spot on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums and also the 1st on the Top Soundtracks. Although Hikaru usually produces her own songs, ''Blow My Whistle'' was produced by The Neptunes.

Leading to her third album, Utada released "Traveling", "Hikari", and "Sakura Drops/Letters": all the songs reached the top of the charts. Before the release of Utada's third album, ''Deep River'', the artist underwent surgery after being diagnosed with a benign ovarian tumor, causing Utada to put her promotional activities on hold. After recovering, she released ''Deep River'' and immediately went on promotional tours. While there were no TV appearances, she promoted her album in magazine and radio interviews.

''Deep River'' sold 2.35 million copies on its first-week sale: Oricon reported that sales eventually surpassed 3.60 million, making Utada the only singer or group in Japanese music history to have three consecutive albums surpass the three million mark, by RIAJ standards. It was her third consecutive time to hold the number 1 position on Oricon's Yearly Albums chart and became the eighth best selling album of all time in Japan.

In 2003, Utada's promotional and personal life schedules became more active due to her marriage and an imposing agreement with Island Records in the United states to release a "proper" full-English debut album. Though she released "Colors", it was her only single release for 2003. The song featured heavy ethereal and experimental tones for the first time in Utada's discography. It became her longest charting single ever with a 45 week trajectory on the Oricon Singles chart, selling 881,000 copies, and was number 3 on the Yearly Singles chart.

Foray into International Market: 2004–2005

Her first singles compilation album ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.1'' was released on March 31, 2004. It became the best-selling album of 2004 in Japan, making her the only solo or group artist to reach number 1 four times on the yearly charts. It was the first compilation album to reach number 1 in six years on the yearly charts, and the first compilation album to reach number 1 in twenty-six years by a female artist. Despite its success, the album received very little promotion and contained no new material or photos; moreover, it charted longer on the Oricon Albums chart longer than any other Utada release to date (over 2 years). The album sold over 2.575 million units in Japan, making it the 34th best-selling album ever in the country. A month later, on April 21, she released her only Japanese single in 2004, "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro," which topped the singles chart for two consecutive weeks and sold 365,000 units by the year's end and was also the main theme song for ''Casshern'', her now ex-husband's directorial debut.

In mid-2004, Utada moved back to New York, and began work on a new recording contract with Island Def Jam Music Group. On October 5, 2004, she released her North American English-language debut album, ''Exodus'', under the name "Utada," which was her new American-given artist title at the Universal Convention. It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: "I don't think it's the music that I'm concerned about. It's obviously that I look really different and there really aren't any completely Asian people [who are popular singers in the U.S.] right now." ''Exodus'' became Utada's fourth consecutive release to debut at number 1 and boast 500,000 copies in its first-week sales in Japan. In spite of enlisting the help of Timbaland to produce and co-write some songs, her American debut as an Island Records artist was met with indifference by the American market, selling 55,000 units. "Easy Breezy" was released as the lead single in early August 2004, peaking at number 9 Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay chart, followed up by "Devil Inside" a month and two weeks later. And Utada became the cover of the ''Interview'' magazine June, 2005 issue.

"Exodus '04" was released at the end of June 2005 and featured remixes from The Scumfrog, Richard Vission, JJ Flores and Peter Bailey. In the UK, Mercury added another 2 remixes for "You Make Me Want to Be a Man" in the original album Exodus 04, titled "You Make Me Want to Be a Man [Bloodshy & Avant Mix]" and "You Make Me Want to Be a Man [Junior Jack Mix]." By the end of the year Utada was voted "Number 1 Favorite Artist of 2004" by Oricon's annual readers poll.

The fourth single from ''Exodus'', "You Make Me Want to Be a Man", was released in October 2005 in the UK. "Devil Inside" became a club smash in the U.S. and topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay charts. Both the ''Exodus'' album and the "You Make Me Want to Be a Man" single were released in the UK, with different artwork from the USA and Japanese versions.

Return to Japan: 2005–2008

A year after the international release and promotion of ''Exodus,'' Utada moved back to Tokyo and returned to the Japanese music scene. Leading up the release of her fourth album, ''Ultra Blue'', Utada released a string of successful hit singles: "Colors" (number 1), "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" (number 1), "Be My Last", (number 1), "Passion" (number 4), and "Keep Tryin'" (number 2). The digital single "This Is Love" was released to promote the album, netting 1,000,000 digital downloads.

''Ultra Blue'' sold 500,317 copies in the first week, lower than that of the previous album, although it still topped the Oricon Daily, Weekly, and Monthly charts. ''Ultra Blue'' gave the artist her fifth consecutive chart-topping Japanese album (excluding her English album) to sell in excess of 500,000 copies for a first-week sales. On July 13, Toshiba EMI published a report stating that ''Ultra Blue'' had sold over one million copies worldwide and four million digital ringtones already making it one of EMI's 10th best-selling album of the past year. The album, which did not contain much pop music, was met with indifference and did not boost sales, although the album was certified Million by RIAJ for one million shipments. Additionally, it was the highest-selling original studio album by a Japanese female artist in 2006.

''Ultra Blue'' later became available on the iTunes Japan online music store, charting at number 4 on the 2006 yearly download rankings. Two weeks after the release of ''Ultra Blue,'' Utada began a nationwide tour titled "Utada United 2006" on June 30, 2006 which ended on September 12, 2006. This was Utada's second concert tour after her debut tour "Bohemian Summer 2000" and five performances at the Nippon Budokan in 2004. Aside from her Japanese work, the tour's set list featured three tracks from her 2004 English-language album, ''Exodus''.

The singles that were released prior to Utada's fifth studio album, ''Heart Station,'' were able to reach the Top Five position on the chart, including the number 1 hit "Flavor of Life", which would become the best selling digital single in Japan with over 7,500,000 copies download. Around the same time, Utada said she visited New York to talk with producers and executives at Island/Def Jam about recording a new English album. Later in the year a digital track by American R&B; artist Ne-Yo, titled "Do You" from his 2007 album, ''Because of You'' featured Utada and was released in Japan on November 21 (the song was later featured on Ne-Yo's "best of" album, Ne-Yo: The Collection, released on September 2, 2009 in Japan and November 2009 in the US).

The year 2007 ended with the single "Flavor of Life" becoming the best seller of 2007 and with Utada being voted "Number 1 Favorite Artist of 2007" by Oricon's annual readers poll, three years after she was last voted number 1 on the poll. She sold 12 million digital ringtones and songs in 2007, the highest of a Japanese artist in one year. The single was featured as the main song in second season of TV drama Hana Yori Dango.

Utada's fifth studio album, ''Heart Station'', was released on March 19, 2008, becoming her fifth consecutive number-one Japanese studio album. Although it had collected the lowest first week sales for Utada's career, with 480,081 copies sold, the sales of this album reached a million on the Oricon charts in January 2009, making it her first Japanese album to do so since her 2004 compilation album. It was given a certification of one million for shipments by the RIAJ. ''Heart Station'' became the best-selling digital-format album on the iTunes 2008 yearly album charts in Japan, and was also the highest-selling original studio album by a solo female artist on the Oricon Yearly Chart.

Her song "Prisoner of Love" was used as the theme-song for the highly successful TV drama ''Last Friends'', which was aired in the spring TV season. Although not originally released as a single, after being used in the show, the song was released as a single and it reached number 1 in iTunes and the Chako-Uta charts. It reached number 2 at the Oricon Weekly charts. It won Best Theme Song at the 57th Drama Academy Awards and sold 2.9 million downloads. It marked the fourth successful Utada drama tie-in (following 1999's ''Majo no Jouken'' and ''First Love'', 2001's ''Hero'' and ''Can You Keep a Secret'' and 2007's ''Hana Yori Dango'' and ''Flavor of Life'').

On October 20, 2008, her song "Eternally" from her 2001 album ''Distance'' was used as the theme for the drama ''Innocent Love''. The song was later released as a digital single.

By the end of the year, Utada was also voted the "Number 1 Favorite Artist of 2008" by Oricon's annual readers poll, making it her second consecutive year, and third time overall, to win the vote; her previous years being 2004 and 2007.

Return to North America: 2009–2010

On December 16, 2008, information leaked onto the Internet that Utada's next English-language single, titled "Come Back to Me", would be scheduled for airplay release through U.S. Rhythmic/Crossover and Mainstream formats on February 9 and 10, 2009 respectively via Island Records, according to credible American radio news sites FMQB and R&R;. The song then was made available for streaming on Island's, All Access' website, and her MySpace Music Page for advanced promotion. Island Records also updated their webpage with information regarding Utada's new single, and included a link to her official Japanese website and MySpace page, both featuring a track preview. Additionally, a number was included that fans could text to join Utada's mobile list to receive future news updates. The new English album, titled ''This Is the One'', was released on March 14, 2009 in Japan and on May 12, 2009 in the United States. On February 23, 2009, Utada announced that she was in studio recording her next Japanese-language single. ''This Is the One'' debuted at number 1 in Japan on March 13, 2009, the day it was released in Japan, but became Utada's first album not to top the weekly chart since ''Precious''. On March 30, 2009 she appeared on New York City radio station Z-100 (100.3), the largest pop radio program in the U.S., and granted a live on-air interview on the station's Elvis Duran Morning Show, a noteworthy breakthrough that would lead to a promotional schedule up and through the album's international physical release on May 12. Utada also sang the theme song for the latest Evangelion film, Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. The single was released on June 27, 2009, and is a remix of her previous single, Beautiful World. The new single is titled Beautiful World -PLANiTb Acoustica Mix-.

On October 14, Utada mentioned that she was writing lyrics that were due on October 15. She also added that some "German magic" would be added to the music. It was revealed that Goetz B, who had previously worked with Utada on her album Ultra Blue was in the process of mixing tracks for her. Most notable was a track called "Show Me Love", which is reported to be released as a Japanese single at a then-unspecified date.

On November 30, 2009, at Studio Coast, Tokyo, Utada sung a duet of ''Let It Snow'' with pop singer Mika. Mika posted on his Twitter account about Utada: "''Was joined on stage by Hikaru Utada tonight. We sang "let it snow". It was glorious. I love her.''"

On December 21, 2009, Utada's ''Dirty Desire'' remixes were released only on Amazon.com, Zune Marketplace, and the U.S. iTunes Store, in support of This Is the One and her upcoming tour. The tour, Utada: In The Flesh 2010, was her first concert tour outside of Japan and included eight cities in the US and two dates in London, UK. The tickets for the second London performance went on public sale November 13, and reportedly sold out in just 5 hours. In an interview before she kicked off ''In The Flesh'', Utada said she is planning on promoting ''This Is the One'', and her newest single, ''Dirty Desire''. She also expressed she could be planning to do a cover album, or just take a break to get some new ideas.

Return to Japan and Hiatus: 2010-2011

On August 9, 2010, Utada announced on her personal blog that beginning in 2011, she would go on an indefinite hiatus, citing fatigue since her debut 12 years previously. She also stated a need for rest, to study new things and learn more about the world, as well as see to some personal matters. She said the hiatus would last anywhere from two to five years.

Before her hiatus began, she said that she would go "full throttle" on her artistic activities, and soon after her site was updated, and a new compilation album, ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2'', was announced, with a release date of November 24, 2010. This new album would include all her Japanese singles from ''Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro'' to ''Prisoner of Love'' on disc one, as well as an extra EP, featuring five new tracks. Later it was announced a DVD containing the promotional video for ''Goodbye Happiness'' would be included in all first-press edition pre-orders.

On September 27, 2010, Utada revealed a new single, entitled ''Hymne à l'amour (Ai no Anthem)'', which became a commercial tie-in for Pepsi's newest soft drink, Pepsi NEX. The song features both French and Japanese lyrics, specifically translated and written by Utada herself. At this time, official Twitter accounts were set up by Utada, her staff, and her father, Teruzane were created to keep fans and the public with up-to-date information.

An announcement was made that Utada would perform a short concert tour titled ''Wild Life'' (December 8 and 9 2010 only) at Yokohama Arena, Yokohama to promote the album, her first Japanese concert since 2006's Utada United.

On October 3, 2010, Utada's official EMI Music website was updated with the album artwork and final track list for ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2''. First Press editions included a 3-fold paper slip case, along with a Kuma-chang good luck charm, and a lottery slip for fans to have a chance at winning one of 1000 tickets to ''WILD LIFE'' (this idea was, however, later scrapped).

On October 15, 2010, it was announced that the anticipated footage from Utada's ''In The Flesh'' 2010 tour would be released in the following months, confirmed by both Utada and Teruzane's Twitter accounts, and a physical DVD release would be ousted in favor of a digital-only package with a promise of release before the year's end. On the same day, Teruzane posted on Twitter that the plans for ''Wild Life'' were beginning to take shape, as talks were under way and a mock-stage had been created. The show was the first self-produced by Utada, with Teruzane acting as co-producer.

In late October, despite no previous announcements from Utada or any of her staff and management, it was revealed online at Tower Records Japan and several other websites that an English-language 'best of album' titled "''Utada the Best''" would become available in Japan on the same day as ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2'', November 24. Utada herself reacted to the news, stating "I understand that if it doesn't sell I'm the one who will take the hit, but to be honest, I don't want my fans putting down money for something that my heart isn't in.", and later "The release of 'Utada the best' is entirely against my will. I wish that my fans won't have to buy it. There's no new material in it."

Utada later announced a new single, ''Goodbye Happiness'', began radio airplay in Japan on November 1, 2010, and Chaku-Uta downloads began on November 3, with its accompanying PV appearing publicly on November 9, 2010. The song was also chosen as the new Recochoku Chaku-Uta TV commercial theme song.

On 8 November 2010, EMI Music announced on their website that they had made a "new global recording" deal with Utada, also stating that all of her future works regardless of any language will be released under one name: ''Hikaru Utada''.

From November 24, 2010, first-week sales for ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2'' were 231,000 units according to Oricon album daily charting. Although replacing Heart Station as her lowest first week sales of any Utada Hikaru album to date, this release marked Utada's seventh consecutive number 1 album (5 original and two best-ofs) since her debut, surpassing Kinki Kids' previous record of six and making her the artist with the most successive consecutive number 1 albums in Oricon chart and Japanese music history (the latter according to her label EMI) since premiering. On April 10, 2011, Utada won the award for "Best Conceptual Video" in the SpaceShowerTV Music Video Awards for the PV for "Goodbye Happiness", which also marked her directorial debut.

''Wild Life'' Tour (December 2010)

Utada held the last two concerts before her hiatus, called ''Wild Life'', on Dec 8-9, 2010, performing both dates at Yokohama Arena, Yokohama. The December 8 concert was broadcast in 64 cinemas in Japan; whilst it was simultaneously broadcast on Ustream.tv, a live video streaming website. Between the two channels set up for the concert on Ustream, they were accessed a total of 925,000 times, with 345,000 unique viewers, as well as 185,000 comments left on the feed. This was a global record on Ustream.tv, for the highest number of simultaneous accesses of any video, with the previous highest being only 100,000.

The Japanese TV station NHK premiered a documentary about Utada on January 15, 2011. Titled ''Utada Hikaru ~今のわたし~'' (''Utada Hikaru: Ima no Watashi'', ''Utada Hikaru: What I Am''), the documentary featured new studio performances by Utada (Show Me Love (Not a Dream) and Goodbye Happiness), as well as some of her ''Wild Life'' performances from December. It also featured a post-''Wild Life'' interview with J-Wave host Chris Peppler about her decision to go on hiatus as well as what she plans to do, in which she said she wanted to do volunteer work overseas, and also travel. Utada also stated that she would continue writing music during her hiatus. It was later revealed that the documentary would be broadcast internationally, specifically the US on February 12, 2011 and Europe on February 2, 2011, on the NHK channel (TV Japan in America, and JSTV in Europe).

A DVD and Blu-ray release of ''Wild Life'' was confirmed and initially set for release on April 6, 2011. However, on 24 March 2011, Utada Tweeted that both the DVD and Blu-ray release of ''Wild Life'' had been postponed, due to the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan damaging the pressing factories. The DVD was released on 20 April 2011, the Blu-ray followed under a month later on 8 May.

Personal life

On September 7, 2002, Utada married Kazuaki Kiriya, a photographer and film director who was fifteen years her senior and who had directed several of her music videos. After four and a half years of marriage, the couple announced their divorce (which became official on March 2, 2007), citing personal changes, different viewpoints on the future of their marriage, and lack of communication due to the nature of their jobs. Utada confirmed she had a boyfriend 8 years her senior, and began their relationship in at least September 2009. On January 27, 2010, it was reported that they had ended their relationship, due to the fact they never saw each other, and that she was much too busy with her ''In The Flesh 2010'' tour. However, in August 2010, it was reported that the couple had reconciled.

Musical style

Influences

On her official website, Utada cites 15 musicians: Freddie Mercury, Cocteau Twins, Nine Inch Nails, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Édith Piaf, Chick Corea, The Blue Nile, Björk, Lenny Kravitz, Béla Bartók, Mozart, Jeff Buckley, Yutaka Ozaki and Hibari Misora as some of her favorite artists.

Discography

Japanese studio albums

1999: ''First Love''

2001: ''Distance''

2002: ''Deep River''

2006: ''Ultra Blue''

2008: ''Heart Station''

English studio albums

Cubic U:

1998: ''Precious

Utada:

2004: ''Exodus

2009: ''This Is the One

Japanese compilation albums

2004: ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1''

2010: ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2''

English compilation albums

2010: ''Utada the Best''

References and notes

See also

List of 50 Best Selling Artists of All-Time in Japan

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

Capitol Records

List of awards received by Hikaru Utada

External links

Diva On Campus (Time Magazine)

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Musicians from Tokyo Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Video game musicians Category:English-language singers Category:Japanese female singers Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:Japanese pop singers Category:Japanese rhythm and blues singers Category:American musicians of Japanese descent Category:Japanese-language singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:Musicians from New York Category:American dance musicians Category:Dance musicians Category:American expatriates in Japan Category:World Music Awards winners Category:American people of Japanese descent

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