Ken Shamrock, who’s very nearly at the point where you have to worry about his longterm well being for continuing his fighting career, has signed to fight in the XFA kickboxing promotion. It’s basically the standup component of MMA, which doesn’t really make things better for Shamrock who if he has anything going for him at this point in his career is a solid technical groundfighting game. Obviously, the decision on when to hang it up is the toughest one a fighter will ever have to make. Still, we’d rather see Shamrock in a position where he can make it himself rather than one where the decision is made for him due to a serious injury:

A bout between UFC veteran Ken Shamrock and Xtreme Couture trainer Shawn Tompkins is in the works for a future Xtreme Fighting Association event, according to MMATraining.com.

“I Just signed a 3 fight deal with XFA, which is a K-1 kickboxing promotion in Las Vegas,� Tompkins told MMA Training. “I’ll be doing my first fight September 26th. Between September, December and February. They are looking at my first fight being Ken Shamrock.�

Tompkins, who coached the Los Angeles Anacondas in the International Fight League (IFL), is 0-4 in his MMA career and has not fought since 2001.

Shamrock (26-13-2) has lost his last four straight bouts and six of his last seven. He was last in action in March, losing to Robert “Buzz� Berry via first-round knockout at Cage Rage 25.

The rules of XFA were described in a recent press release as “K-1 minus the tournament format. Fighters will use hand, foot, leg and knee strikes - essentially the stand-up portion of mixed martial arts (MMA).�

Ken Shamrock vs. Shawn Tompkins @ MMA Frenzy