Dan Severn Reflects on UFC 9: I Stuck to My Game Plan

Dan Severn, on “Rewind,” discussing his much-maligned rematch with Ken Shamrock at UFC 9:

“It was the greatest psychological warfare match ever thought up. … You had 10,000 people in the arena. Ken is basically more of a counterattacker. He never really goes out on an actual true offensive. He kind of sits back and waits for things to come towards him. I kept thinking, If I mirror this, the exact same pattern here right now, who’s going to get a little bit bored with this match? The people. So when the people start to boo, how are you going to let that affect you? John McCarthy was the referee. Someone from the side must have said, ‘You’ve got to get these guys to fight.’ He actually stops the match. He’s pushing Ken back in one direction. He’s pushing me back in another. ‘You guys came here to fight. Blankety-blank-blank. Then get to fighting. Blah, blah blah,’ and as he’s pushing me back, I go, ‘John, take your shirt off. We’ll make it a triangular death match. I don’t care because I’m not about to change my game plan.’ I came in there with a game plan. I stuck to my game plan.”

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