Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock took a loss in the legal system from his former employer when a judge ruled against the MMA legend in his contract squabble with the Las Vegas-based UFC.

In a suit filed in April 2008 in Nevada's Eighth Judicial District Court, Shamrock claimed the company violated contract provisions of his deal and, according to the UFC demanded "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in compensation he claimed he was owed as a result.

The court, however, ruled in a 16-page decision that the contract was not breached.

"Zuffa has issued a clear directive that we are to pursue every legal remedy to ensure that the UFC's contracts are scrupulously honored and defended," UFC trial counselors Donald J. Campbell and J. Colby Williams said in a statement. "The resulting judgment in this case is just one more example of the UFC's resolve to vigorously vindicate its contractual rights in the courts."

The original complaint was based on Shamrock's deal with the UFC, reached just before the finish of a three-fight trilogy with Tito Ortiz in Oct. 2006. Under the terms of the deal, Shamrock was promised two fights unless he chose to retire after the first. Facing Ortiz, Shamrock suffered a first-round TKO loss, and seemingly retired in the octagon following the match. But after deciding to continue on with his career, the UFC claimed it no longer had to honor the deal since he had called it quits, thereby nullifying the terms of the contract.

In addition to the ruling, the press release noted that the UFC would file a motion against Shamrock seeking recovery of attorney fees incurred in the defense.

The 45-year-old Shamrock (27-13-2) is one of only seven men inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame.

He resumed his fighting career in 2008, and was expected to face Seth Petruzelli in March in Cancun, Mexico. While that event has run into roadblocks and appears unlikely to happen, rumors suggest that the two may square off in May, possibly in Miami.

Earlier in the year, Shamrock had unsuccessfully brought suit against Zuffa challenging various provisions of his UFC contract during a two day trial before Judge Johnson. As a result of today’s decision, Shamrock was ordered to pay Zuffa nearly $175,000 in related attorney fees, costs and expenses.

Zuffa was once again represented by Las Vegas lawyers Donald J. Campbell and J. Colby Williams whose legal efforts during the trial were characterized by Judge Johnson as “stellar.” When asked to comment on today’s ruling by Judge Johnson, Messrs. Campbell & Williams remarked as follows:

“This latest legal victory on behalf of Zuffa demonstrates, once again, that the UFC is fully committed to vigorously enforcing all of its contractual rights. Judge Johnson has determined Mr. Shamrock’s hard lesson learned in this case will cost him approximately $175,000."

Right now, where we are at this stage of the game, where we started so early, that we kind of play it from here depending on how I feel, if we're gonna go hard or if we're just gonna kinda go through some of the motions.