Bellator books Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock 3, 'Kimbo' vs. 'Dada 5000' Bellator 149

Royce Gracie

ST. LOUIS – Fans in St. Louis were expecting to see an announcement of a Kurt Angle signing with Bellator and an announcement of a fight booking.

Instead, Angle went all pro wrestling surprise on the crowd at Scottrade Center and said told fellow heavyweight Ken Shamrock that while he hopes for a fight against him one day, for now he was there to announce Shamrock against a foe he has an historic relationship with: Royce Gracie.

Gracie (14-2-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Shamrock (28-16-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) will meet for a third time when Bellator heads to Houston for its debut in that city. Also announced for the card was a heavyweight fight between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (5-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Dhafir Harris (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) – “Dada 5000.”

The event will be Bellator 149 and takes place Feb. 19 at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card will air on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Gracie will fight for the first time in nearly nine years. His last fight came in June 2007, and he tested positive for steroids after the bout. Prior to that, he had fought just six times between 2000 and 2006. Part of the first family of mixed martial arts, Gracie made his mark at the first UFC event, winning the one-night tournaments at UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4. He beat Shamrock in 57 seconds at their first meeting at UFC 1, then fought him to a 36-minute draw at UFC 5.