It featured fighters such as Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Vernon "Tiger" White, Jerry Bohlander, Tra Telligman, Pete Williams, and Mikey Burnett.

Shamrock attracted the attention of American fighters Vernon White and Guy Mezger early on, and formed the first ever mixed martial arts team in the USA.

He felt his group of fighters should work the same way and be like a family, so he chose to name his gym the Lion's Den.

The Lion's Den was highly successful for many years and was widely regarded as one of, if not the best, mixed martial arts schools in the world throughout the late 1990s and into the early 2000s.

Guy Mezger was consistently ranked in the top 10 as a Light Heavyweight during his time with the UFC and PRIDE, and was ranked as high as the #6 Light Heavyweight fighter in the world in 2001, behind such notable names as Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Chuck Liddell.

Mikey Burnett lost a close split decision to Pat Miletich for the creation of the UFC lightweight championship in 1999, which is today's welterweight title.

[1] Other fighters, such as Tra Telligman and Pete Williams, earned the respect of the MMA world by defeating giants of the sport in upset fashion.

Maurice Smith, a world class kickboxer, offered to help the Lion's Den with their striking in exchange for help with his submission and ground skills.

While training with the Lion's Den, Maurice Smith defeated Mark Coleman to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship, and became the first striker to survive the attack of a world class wrestler.

Smith later joined forces with Lion's Den fighter Frank Shamrock to form their own team, called The Alliance.

[6] However, Lion's Den fighter and UFC champion Jerry Bohlander said the difficulty of the tryouts are exaggerated: "Most of those stories are like urban myth.

Currently, The Lion's Den conducts tryouts by showcasing fighters' skills in a series of drills and live competition put on by Ken Shamrock.

The new tryout format allows Ken to evaluate toughness and skill, while making cuts to determine who he wants to represent the Den.