Berry, a heavy underdog by most accounts, stole Shamrock's thunder with a technical knockout victory 3:26 into the first round at Cage Rage 25: Bring It On at Wembley Arena in London. His win brought an end to an action - packed night that saw only one of the 11 fights on the card go to the judges.
Shamrock underestimated his opponent's boxing skills and made the decision to trade instead of pushing the fight to the ground. Berry caught the MMA icon with a left jab-straight right combination that sent him to the canvas and forced the referee to intervene.
"This was a huge opportunity for me," Berry said. "This win is the most important win of my career."
The decisive victory may clear the way for the 37-year-old Brit to become Cage Rage's next heavyweight golden boy. Shamrock, who appeared tentative throughout the brief bout, has now lost five consecutive matches — all of them by first-round stoppage.
Though Shamrock and Berry stole most of the headlines, the fight between Cage Rage world featherweight champion Masakazu Imanari and Jean Silva captivated the sold - out crowd, too.
As predicted, the bout quickly morphed into a grappling clinic. Silva attempted to keep the fight standing early — and even managed to stun Imanari briefly — but it was only a matter of time before the featherweights hit the mat. Midway through the first round, Imanari caught Silva in a heel hook and forced him to tap out, the Brazilian challenger screaming in agony.
"My body didn't move the way I wanted it to today," Imanari said through his interpreter.
"Regardless, I'm happy that I was able to finish this fight the way I wanted to — with a leg submission."
Elsewhere, South African Neil Grove went the distance with the tough-as-nails former Cage Rage British heavyweight champion Rob Broughton but could not muster enough offense to satisfy the judges. While fans saw a trimmer Grove, his cardio proved to be his undoing, as he wilted late in the fight. Grove dominated round one, but Broughton came back strong in the second and third, claiming a majority decision.
In middleweight action, Tom "Kong" Watson stopped Pierre Guillet in a most unusual finish. Early in the first round, Watson found the mark with a perfectly timed upkick on Guillet, who had launched himself towards the grounded Brit in an attempt to pass his guard. The kick stunned the American and opened the door for Watson to capitalize. He pounced on his wounded challenger and ended the fight with strikes 2:05 into round one.
"I've been training with Greg Jackson [at Jackson's Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, N.M.]," Watson said. "He's the best trainer in the world."
Meanwhile, the heavyweight match-up between Mustapha al Turk and Gary Turner never made it out of the first round, as Al Turk proved to be too much for the former K-1 competitor to handle. Al Turk quickly secured back control against Turner and proceeded to punish his opponent, eventually forcing him to submit. The win puts Al Turk back in contention for the Cage Rage heavyweight title, which is currently held by Tengiz Tedoradze.
In a light heavyweight bout, Ivan Serati won for the second time in as many fights, as he made short work of an overconfident Roman Webber. The Italian took down Webber and landed heavy blows from inside his guard, forcing the referee to jump in and stop the action after just 48 seconds.
At welterweight, Henrique Santana surprised the crowd with a decision win over the favoured Michael Johnson. Santana, who accepted the fight on two week's notice, controlled the action for two rounds and took down Johnson at will. Although the London Shootfighter mounted a comeback in round three, Santana had already built a lead that was too great to overcome. It was Santana's first win in three Cage Rage appearances.
The first female MMA bout in Wembley Arena history failed to live up to expectations, as the Straight Blast Gym's Aisling Daly dominated an overhyped and under prepared Aysen Berik. Daly did as she had promised and took down Berik, ,secured mount and quickly dismantled the Turkish rookie. The match lasted less than two minutes.
In featherweight action, London Shootfighter Giorgio Andrews won over the crowd in an action-packed struggle with Ryan Shamrock. After five minutes of toe-to-toe action, Shamrock was forced to retire from the match with a broken hand. Though both men fought with reckless abandon, Andrews appeared to be in control, especially in the clinch. There, he landed knees at will.
Finally, Cage Rage rookies John Phillips and Jon Hathaway were victorious in middleweight bouts. Phillips stopped Jake Bostwick on strikes in the first round, and Hathaway followed suit, as he finished Marvin Arnold in 92 seconds.
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