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KIMBO SLICE EXPOSED
6/1/08
It was supposed to be a coming out party for EliteXC and it’s star, Kimbo Slice. Instead, the internet sensation, Slice, was exposed for what he is….a street fighter with limited skills inside the cage. Slice was in serious trouble more than a few times Saturday Night, when the fighting went to the ground. His hand picked glass jawed opponent. James Thompson, at one point, pummeled Slice to the side of the head for 3 minutes straight while he had him on the ground. Slice simply didn’t know what to do. He has no ground fighting skills and would be eaten alive by any experienced, skilled, MMA fighter. He would have lost had he not thrown a vicious hook that landed on Thompson’s cauliflower ear (the worst ear I ever saw) which pretty much made the ear explode before Our eyes.
Let’s be clear, this is not a knock against Kimbo Slice, AKA Kevin Ferguson. Slice is just trying to make a buck. He didn’t burst on the scene claiming to be the next MMA sensation. He was making a buck street fighting in Miami and broadcasting his fights on youtube. He was plucked from the net by EliteXC and Gary Shaw. It was EliteXC who billed Kimbo as the latest and the greatest. It was EliteXC who hyped the guy into something he simply couldn’t live up to.
Fighting is a science. Whether it’s boxing, or Mixed Martial Arts, these are skilled athletes. Athletes who put many years of practice into learning and perfecting these skills. You can understand why there is such a backlash against EliteXC and Kimbo Slice by the hardcore MMA fans. They know the deal. To pluck a guy from youtube and have him headlining a prime time affair, the first ever for Mixed Martial Arts, is insulting to all those who have paid their dues.
So what next? Well, as mentioned above, this is NOT Kimbo Slice’s fault. This is also not to say that Kimbo doesn’t have a place in MMA. He can be very exciting to watch, and can continue to learn and get better. But he has a long way to go and more than likely doesn’t have the time needed to make it anywhere near the top. He’s already old. 34 or so I believe. Heck, he couldn’t catch his breath a good 5 minutes or more after the fight was over. He was spent. (Which, by the way, was also evident in some of his street fights. No stamina)
What will more than likely happen is, we’ll see Kimbo on the under card of some more EliteXC events against some more hand picked opponents he should beat. We’ll probably see some spectacular knock outs and some more hype with claims of Kimbo getting better and better each time out. Perhaps next year around this time, we’ll see a mega fight between Kimbo and a top name in the sport (if Kimbo can even manage to continue to beat the no names) at which point the party will probably be over.
Hardcore MMA fighters and fans shouldn’t be sOur though. These Kimbo events do two things that are very positive for your sport. One, they expose the sport to the masses. You can’t grow as a sport without exposing it to more people. Two, it proves how much skill is really involved. Every time Kimbo steps into the ring, it’s a testament to the real fighters who have paid their dues. MMA obviously isn’t something you can learn overnight. You can thank Kimbo for that.
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