Here's Ken Shamrock’s Bellator 149 complaint filed with Texas athletic commission

A complaint submitted on Ken Shamrock’s behalf argues Royce Gracie should have been disqualified from their Bellator 149 headliner and the bout should be a no-contest after referee Jacob Montalvo didn’t see an illegal knee.

“Even if Gracie was not disqualified, it was the responsibility of Montalvo … to allow Shamrock a reasonable opportunity to recover from the foul/low blow. Instead, Montalvo failed to stop the bout,” stated the complaint, obtained today after a public records request with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees the state athletic commission that regulated the Spike-televised fight at Houston’s Toyota Center on Feb. 19.

Gracie (15-2-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was ruled the winner of the bout via first-round TKO, though replays showed Shamrock’s (28-17-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) delayed reaction to an obvious knee to the groin that preceded the stoppage (watch the highlights above). At the post-event press conference, Gracie claimed his knee was not illegal.

Shamrock announced his complaint Monday, asking for a no-contest and a rematch.

Shamrock’s attorney, Rodney Donohoo, attached a medical report from the fighter’s physician, Derek Schoppa, in support of his claim that the “force of the blow was of sufficient force to temporarily incapacitate Shamrock.” (The report was redacted for medical privacy reasons.)

“As a direct result, Gracie was able to secure an improper advantage over Shamrock by taking Shamtock to the ground and applying blows to Shamrock’s head while Shamrock was still incapacitated from the low blow,” read the complaint, which was submitted Monday (read/view the complaint as a PDF).

According to TDLR spokesperson Susan Stanford, the complaint has been assigned to the TDLR’s enforcement investigator, who will determine whether a violation has occured. If a violation is found, the respondent, in this case referee Montalvo, has 20 days to make a plea of guilty or not guilty. In the case of a not-guilty plea, the matter goes to the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings, which recommends a course of action to the athletic commission. It’s then incumbent on the commission to accept, change or deny the proposal.

Donohoo stated Shamrock was willing to testify at any hearing that results from his complaint.

Texas combative sports statutes note referees “are responsible for enforcing the rules of the bouts and shall exercise immediate authority, direction and control over bouts.” Groin strikes are prohibited, though there is nothing to address missed fouls in the MMA rules.

In other cases in which fouls have intervened in the official result of a bout, such as in Nevada, commissions have repeatedly ruled in favor of the referee as the sole arbiter of the contest.

For more on Bellator 149, check out the MMA Events section of the site.