"That made me a better fighter" - Ken Shamrock credits Royce Gracie loss for motivating him to improve after UFC 1

Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie were two of the most influential fighters during the early years of the UFC and were the promotion's first rivalry.

In a recent video uploaded to the UFC's YouTube channel, the living competitors from UFC 1 reunited to reflect on the inaugural event that featured a one-night, no-holds-barred tournament. While reflecting on his submission loss to Gracie in the semi-finals, 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' mentioned that he credits the Brazilian for motivating him to improve as a fighter.

He said:

"Because of that night [UFC 1], I never tapped out after that again because of that night, right? That made me a better fighter because before that, I was winning, I was going through everything even over in Japan. I mean, I was beating everybody." [38:11 - 38:29]

Despite his success competing in the Japanese promotion Pancrase, Ken Shamrock noted that the loss to the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner was an eye-opening experience. He mentioned that his goal was to improve as a fighter so he could avenge his loss and defeat Royce Gracie, saying:

"By having that experience made me a better fighter and made me want to work harder to try to beat you. I mean, that was my whole world, was you." [38:30 - 38:39]

Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie fought each other twice more during their Hall of Fame careers. They fought to a time-limit draw in their highly anticipated rematch at UFC 5, and Gracie earned a first-round TKO win in their trilogy bout at Bellator 149 in 2016.

Check out the full video:

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Royce Gracie reveals what his father told him prior to his bout with Ken Shamrock at UFC 1

Royce Gracie put his family's Jiu-Jitsu on the map at UFC 1 as he submitted all his opponents to win the inaugural tournament.

During the aforementioned video, Gracie opened up about his approach to each bout and noted that his father advised him to change his approach against Ken Shamrock for their bout in the semi-finals. He mentioned that his father wanted him to be aggressive from the start of the fight rather than a feeling out process that he had against Art Jimmerson, saying:

"The fight with him [Art Jimmerson], I stay away for a while...Then my father came over and is like, 'Walk straight through him [Ken Shamrock]. Don't ever stop, just go shoot right in, engage with the grappling.' So I never stopped, I came in straight in and you went for my foot." [29:57 - 30:12]