Shannon Ritch facts for kids

Shannon Ritch (born September 27, 1970) is an American professional athlete. He has competed in many combat sports. These include mixed martial arts, boxing, grappling, professional wrestling, and kickboxing.

In mixed martial arts, he was the King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. He also became the first BKFC International Heavyweight Champion in bare-knuckle boxing. Shannon Ritch has been a professional fighter since 1998. He has competed in major organizations like M-1 Global, PRIDE, and King of the Cage.

Early Life and Training

Shannon Ritch was born in Coolidge, Arizona. He grew up on a farm in Randolph. He started learning karate when he was young. He also competed in high school wrestling.

Later, he became an amateur kickboxer around 1988. Ritch attended Central Arizona College and Arizona State University.

Military Service and Martial Arts

Shannon Ritch served a short time in the United States Army. This was with the 4th Infantry Regiment. His service ended in 1996. After that, he worked for a private security company called Blackwater.

While with Blackwater, he went to places like Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This experience helped him train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He then started a career in professional mixed martial arts. Shannon began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1996. He earned his black belt in 2007. He still helps train military personnel in mixed martial arts. He often visits the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

Mixed Martial Arts Journey

Starting Out in MMA

Shannon Ritch had his first fight in 1991 in Mexico. However, many fights back then were not officially recorded. His first officially documented professional fight was in 1998. Shannon has had over 200 professional MMA fights. His official record shows 58 wins and 88 losses.

Fighting in PRIDE

Ritch had a record of 13 wins and 16 losses before joining PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan. He made his debut there on October 31, 2000. He fought against the famous Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba. Ritch lost this fight quickly.

He impressed PRIDE with his exciting style. He fought again for PRIDE on July 20, 2002. This time he faced Daisuke Nakamura and lost.

Pancrase Fights

In 2004, Shannon got attention from Pancrase. This was after he won against Ray Elbe and Eddy Ellis. His first fight in Pancrase was against Yuki Kondo. He lost that match.

In 2015, he fought Hikaru Sato at Pancrase 269. He lost this fight too. Despite these losses, Ritch still works with Pancrase. He sometimes holds training sessions at the Pancrase Gym in Japan.

King of the Cage Champion

Shannon Ritch has a record of 2 wins and 14 losses in King of the Cage. Even with this record, he became the KOTC Middleweight Champion. He won the title by defeating Elmer Waterhen. Shannon later lost the title to Garrett Davis.

Gender Wars MMA Event

In 2018, Shannon took part in an event in Russia. There was no audience or ring. Ritch fought in a heavyweight match against Jerry "J-Rocc" Mires. Mires was making his mixed martial arts debut. Ritch won the fight in the first round. He quickly took Mires down and made him give up.

Road to ONE: RUF Nation

Shannon Ritch was supposed to fight Aaron Brink on October 23, 2021. This event was called Road to ONE: RUF 44. It was a joint event between RUF and ONE Championship. Brink later pulled out of the fight. Samson Guerrero replaced him. Ritch won the fight by making Guerrero give up.

Grappling Success

Shannon has done very well in grappling competitions. He has won many events like NAGA, Grapplers Quest, and IBJJF.

Recently, he won a gold medal in the heavyweight division. This was at the UAEJJF Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championships in 2017. He also won two gold medals at the SJJIF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. He earned a silver medal at the 2017 Arizona State BJJ Championships.

Bare-Knuckle Boxing

Ritch started his bare-knuckle boxing career in the mid-1990s. He fought in Mexico. He has a record of 26 wins and 3 losses in bare-knuckle boxing. All his wins have been by knockout. In 2019, he was ranked as the #8 heavyweight bare-knuckle fighter in the world.

BKB Fights

In 2018, Shannon had a bare-knuckle fight for the BKB promotion in the UK. He fought Jack Draper at BKB 6. Ritch lost in the second round.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

In 2019, Ritch fought for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships. This was at BKFC 4 against Omar Molina in Mexico. Shannon won the fight by knockout in just 26 seconds of the first round.

Professional Wrestling Career

Battlarts Debut

Ritch made his professional wrestling debut in October 2001. This was for the Battlarts promotion. He fought Daijiro Matsui and lost.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

In 2003, Ritch signed a one-year contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He had one match against Rocky Romero. The match ended in a draw.

WrestleFanFest

Shannon took part in a battle royal match in 2007. This was at the WrestleFanFest Malice in the Palace event. He won the match. He eliminated Timothy Thatcher and Chavo Classic.

Championship Wrestling from Hollywood

Shannon signed a one-match deal with Championship Wrestling from Hollywood in 2018. He appeared in an event in China. He lost his match against Wenbo Liu.

Hart Legacy Wrestling

In 2020, Shannon announced he was returning to professional wrestling. He signed up for a two-month tour with HLW. He made his debut on February 20 in Canada. He won his match against Kenny Lester.

On March 26, 2022, Ritch returned to HLW. He won the HLW Showdown Championship. He defeated TJ Epixx by making him give up.

Personal Life and Other Work

Ritch has appeared in several TV shows and movies. He was in two episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. He also appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and iCarly. In 2017, he started filming a movie about his mixed martial arts career. The movie is called The Real Last Samurai. In 2021, Shannon co-starred in The Commando.

Ritch is also a very good golf player. He has won many golf competitions in Arizona. He won two Veterans Golfing Association medals in 2018 and 2019.

Lethwei Fights

In July 2001, Ritch was invited to compete in Lethwei in Yangon, Myanmar. Lethwei is a traditional Burmese boxing style.

Ritch fought against the Burmese fighter Ei Htee Kaw. Ritch started the fight strongly. He even knocked down Ei Htee Kaw in the first round. However, the referee did not count. Ritch accidentally hit himself on Ei Htee Kaw's knee. He could not breathe and the fight ended.

Lethwei record

Professional Lethwei record

0 wins (0 (T)KOs), 1 loss, 0 draws
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
2001-06-09	Loss	Ei Htee Kaw	International Challenge Fights, Thuwunna NIS(1)	Yangon, Myanmar	TKO	1
Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record

? wins (? KOs), ? losses, ? draws
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
2002-08-17	Loss	Brian Schwartz	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	KO	2	1:40
2001-08-11	Loss	Frank Shamrock	K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	TKO (broken arm)	1	0:53
Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

Mixed martial arts record