If Kimbo Slice ever fought Liddell or Rampage, he wouldn't be such an internet sensation. Photo Courtesy: Zuffa, LLC
The Man who is going to kill MMA
Chuck Liddell has spent a career to make MMA mainstream. How quickly will Kimbo Slice destroy that work? Photo Courtesy: Zuffa, LLC
Mixed martial arts has come a long way in this country since the original UFC pay-per-view in November 1993. It has been a non-stop journey uphill to not only get the sport to catch on in mainstream America but to show the legitimacy of the sport and the fighters as truly great athletes. Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin are not only great athletes but epitomize the face of an all-around great fighter. All the blood and sweat and hard work are on the verge of being thrown away. On May 31st, the majority of the country will get to see a man that could not be worse for the sport, Kevin Ferguson better known to fight fans as Kimbo Slice.
Make no mistake about it, Kimbo Slice is NOT a mixed martial artist, he is nothing more than a glorified street fighter in a cage. If you don’t believe me, just check out some of his ‘fights’ on Youtube. Slice has entered the Cage three times as a professional and has seen a total of two minutes and 14 seconds of action. He submitted Ray Mercer with a guillotine choke in 1:12. He won via TKO with strikes over Bo Cantrell in his EliteXC debut in only 19 seconds. His latest fight came against MMA ‘legend’, Tank Abbott in February. That fight lasted all of 43 seconds before Slice knocked out Abbott.
Slice comes out to his opponents like a freight train and there is no doubt he packs a punch. His opponent on CBS will be James Thompson and he is the perfect foil to continue to build the Kimbo legend. Thompson is a six foot, five inch giant that will give the illusion of over-matching Slice. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Thompson has a glass jaw that will likely shatter and send him sprawling when Kimbo starts throwing his haymakers.
EliteXC will likely continue to feed Kimbo fighters that have no hope of beating him but will lose in spectacular fashion to build his ‘reputation’. If you’re a fan of train wrecks, then Kimbo Slice is your man. The smart move would be to tune in to check out the freak show and never, EVER watch another one of his fights again. Better yet, just tune into Spike TV that night as they will pay homage to Chuck Liddell, a real mixed martial artist.
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19 Responses to “The Man who is going to kill MMA”
May 8th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Sort of the same way that Mike Tyson killed boxing? There’s no doubt that he’s nowhere near most of the sport in terms of skill but he’s got the same primal charisma that ‘Iron Mike’ did. Tyson was in the right place at the right time for him to dominate a weak heavyweight class and to this day many insist that he’s the “baddest man on the planet”. No reason Kimbo can’t have a similar type of mainstream popularity. It’ll get new fans watching the sport and after that its up to the various promotions to give them a good product and educate them about the more skilled fighters. Boxing failed to do this with Tyson, hopefully MMA will realize that this is an opportunity. In any case, Liddell whining because he’s not getting as many magazine covers is an embarrassing way for a professional fighter to behave.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
i see what u are saying. But i dont think there is any way he could go 6-0 without fighting a big name thats not past his prime(tank abbott) by then most will see what he is all about. but renember we cant hate kinbo for what he has become. becouse we made him! we wanted the monster. and i think dana white followed right along with the brock lesner hire. but at least his first ufc fight was a formidable opponent.
mike
mad_mikey11@yahoo.com
May 9th, 2008 at 12:44 am
I don’t think Kimbo will make it unless he learns the ground game. If he does that, he may stick around for a while, but I don’t think he will be “carried” with “tomato cans” as some boxers are.
http://www.fromthecage.com
May 9th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Kimbo Slice has not beaten anyone credible, and at this point, he’s not even close. He lost a fight to a guy by the name of Sean Gannon in a street fight, Sean Gannon fought one time in the UFC and got destroyed by a no name competitor….please go away Kimbo, you have no place on the main stage in mixed martial arts….you really think you could take a heavyweight with a jiu jitsu black belt? Frank Mir, or Noguiera?
May 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
EliteXC should have Kimbo Slice fight a heavyweight like Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva after he destroys James Thompson on May 30th. I think a tough Brazilian heavyweight from the slums of Brasilia would overwhelm a tough American heavyweight from the slums of Miami. What do you think???
May 10th, 2008 at 9:04 am
What is it about building up a fighter that some of you don’t you understand? This is BUSINESS, you take a fighter and you feed him fights he can win till its time for a name opponent, by which time hopefully he will have the skills to win. Even a top olympic boxer doesn’t get matched against the champ when he turns pro right away. What is it about this you don’t get???
May 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
The fact is simple: MMA snobbery will continue to comfortably look down on every Slice fight.
Like Jack Johnson in the early days, Slice is a fighter who will have to wait a long time for a defining moment. Instead of the racial barriers that Johnson overcame, Slice has to wait out the red tape of contractual protections for UFC fighters.
White & Co. will continue to belittle Slice until he is free to sign with the UFC. It is that simple.
I hope he demolishes every one of ‘em. Elitism in a blue collar sport like MMA is absolutely ridiculous.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:19 am
[…] MVN: Kimbo Slice - the man who is going to kill MMA […]
May 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Same boilerplate Kimbo article I’ve seen 100 times over. Get over yourself.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
What do you want EliteXC to do with Kimbo? He’s the man that fans want to see most and, they’re giving him to them. He will make himself and, his promotion a lot more money than they would if they just promoted MMA the sport. For any group to succeed in a Zuffa dominated market, they need to promote the entertainment spectacle as well.
It would also be stupid to throw him in against top guys at this time, because that would mean that the big paydays would be gone and, EliteXC would likely falter and, go the way of Bodog.
Also, Kimbo is a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. That’s what he trains with Bas. Saying he’s not is like telling all the guys with his MMA record that they aren’t MAMA. He’s training and, coming along. He is not a freak show. Bob Sapp was that. He apparently never trained for his fights, but was sent out on publicity tours. Kimbo is going the right way.
If he’s promoted as their heavyweight champ, then that is something to complain about, but he’s only being promoted for the spectacle and, that’s why the sport needs it’s Kimbo’s.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
The Man who is going to kill MMA…
On May 31st, the majority of the country will get to see a man that could not be worse for the sport, Kevin Ferguson better known to fight fans as Kimbo Slice….
May 12th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Jesse,
Come on, give Kimbo a break! Numerous times, Kimbo has stated that he is fully commited to learning the full spectrum of the MMA techniques, and he’s traning with, and is endorsed by Bas Rutten, an MMA legend!
I can quite imagine if Kimbo was a talentless joke with no desire to learn, then Bas would have thrown him out.
EliteXC are fully justified to build Kimbo up gradually to see how he can do, and I believe he has the smarts and strength to do pretty well.
If you listen to the man, he doesn’t really come across as a thug (his appearance aside; his past ’streetfights’ are far more gentlemanly and tame than the disgusting assaults you see amongst the drunken youth of today), so as an MMA fan, I have no problem with Kimbo, and wish him good luck with his MMA challenges.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:42 am
My God, what a complete keyboard warrior. This article was abysmal in every way possible. You state he’s going to kill MMA but don’t give a single reason why. It’s like me saying Jesse Motiff will kill MMA journalism but without giving any justification other than the fact that I think you’re a douchebag… your dislike for Slice appears to be your only justification.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
The Ultimate Fighter has featured six plus seasons of fighters getting drunk and behaving like total buffoons.
If this has not killed mma, then Kimbo certainly won’t. Dude, get a grip.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Chris makes a good point, the drunken horseplay coupled with Dana White’s constant cursing is much worse, in my opinion, for MMA because it shows people acting like donkeys while competing on a professional level. Kimbo Slice has left his street fighting days behind and has taken this sport seriously, a lot more so than the immature punks that are on cable every wednesday night. It is obvious that he is no longer just a brawler, all one has to do is look at the fight with Ray Mercer where he took him down and submitted him just like Nog. did to Tim Sylvia. Kimbo has a lot to learn and his career will grow but he is not a top-tier fighter yet and should not be compared to them until he has a lot more experience under his belt. I have no problem with Elite-XC marketing him the way they do because he brings in revenue and is more popular and well-known than most UFC fighters, especially Nog. and Mir. As we can see from UFC 81, neither of them can generate ppv buys.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I’m sick of hearing about kimbo, for a guy who’s done nothing in this sport he certainly gets the lions share of the attention. Dana white and Chuck should start saying Kimbo who? Never heard of him.
In other news,did anyone else I hear that Kimbo Slice sneezed so hard he blew the hair on his head out his chin?
May 14th, 2008 at 4:36 am
If any one man is going to kill MMA it will be Dana White and NOT Kimbo Slice. Houston Alexander was a very similar “one Punch” phenomenon, and his limits soon became apparent, as will Slice’s and probably Brock Lesner’s as well. Dana’s use of foul language and mentoring of moronic, irresponsible, and antisocial behavior are more likely tp turn people off to MMA than a single EliteXC fighter or event.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Chris is right, bashing your head into a wall on public tv doesn’t help the sport.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I agree with Chris. Besides shouldn’t credit be given to Slice for actually taking the sport seriously since his arrival on the scene? It’s not how you got there it’s what you do when you get there.
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