Shannon Ritch

Shannon Grey Ritch (born September 27, 1970) is an American professional mixed martial artist, boxer, grappler, professional wrestler and kickboxer. In mixed martial arts competition he is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and the current BKFC International Heavyweight Champion in bare-knuckle boxing. A professional competitor since 1998, Ritch has competed for M-1 Global, Combate Americas, MFC, Shark Fights, Pancrase, Battlarts, K-1, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, PRIDE, Rebel Fighting Championship, King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and the WEC.

Ritch was born in Coolidge, Arizona and was raised "dirt poor" on a farm in Randolph. Ritch began learning karate from a young age and also competed in high school wrestling before becoming a professional kickboxer beginning as an amateur sometime in 1988. Ritch attended Central Arizona College and Arizona State University, being a member of the ASU wrestling team for 3 years. Shannon also had a brief stint enlisted in the US Army with the 4th Infantry Regiment, later ending in 1996 before being employed by the private military organization Blackwater. With Blackwater, he was deployed to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan which served as a launch pad for his training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and later transition to a career in professional mixed martial arts. Shannon started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1996 and received his black belt in 2007 under Dan G. at the Machado Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Dallas, Texas. Ritch still trains military personnel in mixed martial arts and is a mainstay at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. At one time Shannon was a bodyguard for United States Congressman John Negroponte while serving as a private contractor under Blackwater.

Early career

Ritch made his debut in 1991 at an event in Mexico, but like much of his fighting career this was during a time when sanctioned fights took place under athletic commissions that kept no record of mixed martial arts competitions. Ritch's officially documented professional debut was in 1998. Shannon's full record has over 200 professional MMA fights with 124 wins, 92 losses and 2 draws (4 NC's), some fights going undocumented and dating back as far as 1991, his documented record of fights goes back to 1998 with a record of 58 wins and 89 losses (4 NC's).

PRIDE

Ritch compiled a record of 13-16 (1) with notable wins in the Super Brawl promotion in Hawaii and single night tournaments in Texas before being signed by the PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan. He made his debut in the organization on October 31, 2000 at PRIDE 11 against the legendary Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba. Ritch lost via achilles lock submission at 1:08 into the fight.

After impressing PRIDE brass with his showmanship, Ritch made his next appearance for the organization at PRIDE The Best Vol. 2 on July 20, 2002 against A-class shootist, Daisuke Nakamura and lost via armbar submission in the first round.

Pancrase

In 2004 Shannon drew interest from Pancrase after his wins over future The Ultimate Fighter cast members Ray Elbe and Eddy Ellis that same year, his Pancrase debut would be against PRIDE and UFC veteran Yuki Kondo at Pancrase: Brave 6 in a losing effort. He would later take on professional wrestler and MMA journeyman Hikaru Sato at Pancrase 269, their inaugural event on UFC Fight Pass, in 2015 losing the fight. Despite these loses Ritch maintains a partnership with Pancrase occasionally appearing at the Pancrase Gym in Japan to host training seminars and even appearing in the Pancrase energy drink line.

King of the Cage

Ritch holds a record of 2-14 in 16 fights for King of the Cage and despite his record within the promotion he is a former KOTC Middleweight Champion after defeating Canadian veteran Elmer Waterhen via submission in the first round, making his third title defense before dropping the title to Ritch, Shannon later lost the title to Garrett Davis.

Gender Wars MMA

In 2018 Shannon took part in an event promoted by former UFC fighter Brad Kohler, taking place in Russia with no audience and no ring or cage. The card featured a main event with a woman taking on a man in a mixed martial arts exhibition fight and the winner taking a US$1 million purse. Ritch opened the card in a heavyweight bout against professional wrestler Jerry "J-Rocc" Mires, making his professional mixed martial arts debut, Ritch won the fight in the first round after quickly taking Mires down and submitting him with a straight armbar.

Diamond World Fights

On October 5, 2018 Ritch was to fight in the main event of DWF: MMA Mega Showdown in Delaware against professional wrestler Michael Youngblood, who briefly competed for the WWE and held a 1-0 pro record after beginning his mixed martial arts career earlier in the year, for the DWF Heavyweight Championship and co-headlined by former UFC contender Mike Bronzoulis against veteran Marcus Gaines who is also an occasional training partner with Shannon. After the fighters who were set to compete on the card had conducted the pre fight press conference and weigh-ins to promote the event were later informed as the main card was set to begin that the promoters who made an investment for the card to take place did not have enough funds to pay the fighters and staff and that an announcement would be made to the attendance that their tickets would have to be refunded. The promoter behind the DWF organization, Gail Stallings-Minor who purportedly was the first African-American woman to promote a mixed martial arts event, left the venue after learning the fighters had to be told they would not be paid and that state police had arrived. Bellator MMA Women's Flyweight Champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, who was cornering a fighter on the card, later described the venue as "complete chaos" after watching the promoters rush to flee the scene as police began to enter.

Shannon has found success as a grappler winning multiple NAGA, Grapplers Quest and IBJJF competitions, most recently winning a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the UAEJJF Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championships '17 in Phoenix, Arizona, a gold medal at the Grand Canyon 2017 BJJ Open in the super heavyweight division, 2 gold medals in Gi and No-Gi heavyweight masters division at the 2017 SJJIF World's in Long Beach and a silver medal at the '17 Arizona State BJJ Championships. Ritch has notable bouts in submission grappling against Rodrigo Gracie at a NAGA/Gracie Academy hosted event in 2007, Ben Askren at the 2009 FILA USA World's, Ron Keslar at the SJJIF 2017 Worlds, Robert Drysdale black belt and QUINTET competitor Marcelo Nunes at Submission Hunter Pro 22 that ended in a draw and Jeff Monson in a 2016 no-gi bout that took place in Russia.

Ritch began his bare-knuckle boxing career in the mid-1990s competing in an arena known as the Plaza del Toro in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. After compiling an undefeated record of 22-0 within Mexico in 2001 Ritch was one of the first American fighters invited to compete under Lethwei rules in Myanmar, he would go on to lose by TKO (injury) in round 2 to Ei Htee Kaw. In 2003 he returned to Myanmar again to compete and after beating two fighters Ritch was defeated in his third fight of a single night tournament bringing his bare knuckle record to 24-2. Ritch currently holds a 26-3 record in bare-knuckle boxing with all of his wins coming by way of knockout, and ranked as the #8 heavyweight bare knuckle fighter in the world as of 2019. In 2016 Shannon was to fight against boxing superstar Bobby Gunn for the coveted Police Gazette Diamond Heavyweight Championship and the winner receiving a $100,000 win bonus, the bout never materialized. Shannon later had a bare knuckle fight in 2018 for the BKB promotion in the UK against Canadian fighter Jack Draper at BKB 6 hosted at the O2 Arena, losing in the second round after a controversial TKO. Ritch is set to fight again in bare-knuckle boxing in 2019 for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships at BKFC 4 against Omar Molina in Cancun, Mexico, Shannon would go on to win the fight via knockout in 26 seconds of round 1.

Battlarts

Ritch made his pro wrestling debut in October of 2001 for the Battlarts promotion against Daijiro Matsui at the event Battlarts Yuki-Bom-Be-Ye ‘01 losing via pinfall.

Championship Wrestling from Hollywood

Shannon signed a one match deal with Championship Wrestling from Hollywood in their 2018 event in China to appear on the undercard against Wenbo Liu in a rematch from a 2017 MMA fight, Ritch would go on to lose this match via disqualification after he brought a steel chair into the ring.

Hart Legacy Wrestling

In 2020 Shannon announced his return to pro wrestling and that he was signed to appear in a 2 month tour with Canadian promotion HLW. He made his debut in a match against The New Hart Foundation member Kenny Lester on February 20th in Wabasca, Alberta, Canada and won via pinfall after a distraction from Ken Shamrock.

Ritch has been featured in two episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger as a Biker Gang Member and a character named Knight, Choke in 2011 as an extra, CSI Las Vegas as Thug #2, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Cage Fighter #1, an episode of iCarly as a MMA Fighter, an episode of Numbers in 2010, an episode of Ultimate Soldier Challenge on the History Channel representing a military contracting company and most recently in 2017 the direct to DVD film, directed by Robert Parham and Warren Foster, Bullets, Blades and Blood and upcoming in 2018 No Way Out directed by Jeffrey D. Parker, distributed by New Vision Films. In 2017 Shannon started filming of a biopic centered around his mixed martial arts career, through HBO films, titled The Real Last Samurai and to be released exclusively on HBO in late 2019. In 2021 Shannon will be co-starring alongside Mickey Rourke and Donald Cerrone in The Commando.

Ritch is also an avid golf player, winning 1st place in many state and pro am competitions held within his native Arizona as recent as 2017. Shannon won 2 Veterans Golfing Association 1st place medals in 2018 and the following year, the tournament is hosted by the United States Golf Association.

In July 2001, Ritch was invited to compete under Lethwei rules at the "International Myanmar traditional boxing challenge & Myanmar-Australia talent testing boxing competition" in Yangon, Myanmar. Ritch was matched against the Burmese fighter Ei Htee Kaw. Ritch started the fight strong and forced his opponent to be defensive. At one point, Ei Htee Kaw turned away and raised his knee in defence, pointing his knee forward. Ritch struck himself on Ei Htee Kaw's knee unintentionally, driving it directly into his solar plexus. Ritch went down immediately without Ei Htee Kaw throwing a shot. He couldn't breath and the fight was over.