Exclusive: When a UFC Hall of Famer addressed criticism for his decision to fight too long

A UFC Hall of Famer once addressed the criticism surrounding his decision to compete well past his prime years in the sport. He explained his reasoning for accepting bouts following his departure from the MMA leader when he was well into his 40s and why he continued fighting rather than pursuing other hobbies.

At the height of his career, Ken Shamrock was one of the top fighters in the world, however, the combination of injuries from his WWE stint and age took a noticeable toll on his performances when he returned to MMA.

'The World's Most Dangerous Man' was criticized for his decision to continue fighting on the regional circuit after his UFC departure and his final bouts took place under the Bellator banner, where he lost back-to-back bouts to Kimbo Slice and Royce Gracie.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA last year, the UFC Hall of Famer explained his reasoning for why he fought until he was 52 years old. Shamrock mentioned he enjoyed competing and wanted to continue doing so as long as he was physically able to rather than retiring on top like Georges St-Pierre:

"I loved hearing the crowd, I loved the camaraderie in the gym of preparing for fights and putting in three months and working with the crew...These are things that are adrenaline rushes. They're something that you can't replace...I wasn't fighting for rankings either. I wasn't fighting in the UFC, I wasn't trying to be the best fighter in the world. I was doing fights that made me happy, that made me feel like I was still competitive."

Check out Ken Shamrock's comments below:

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UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock explains why he didn't want to retire

Although Ken Shamrock eventually stopped fighting and transitioned into a promoter role with his bare-knuckle boxing promotion, he explained why he didn't want to retire when he was physically able to.

During the aforementioned clip, Shamrock mentioned that he didn't want to retire to do traditional activities that retired athletes do because he enjoyed fighting and would much rather do that:

"I didn't wanna sit on the couch...go hunting...fishing...camping, I didn't wanna go do retirement [stuff]. If somebody asked me, 'What do you wanna do when you retire?' Well, fight. I wanna fight, I wanna go and fight in small shows and entertain myself and entertain fans and have fun at what I'm doing with no expectations...And I think it's hard to get people to grasp that."

Check out the full exclusive interview with Ken Shamrock below: