Kimbo is gonna fight on Showtime this weekend, Saturday. You guys have probably seen him on youtube, bareknuckes fighting. YouTube to TV Welcome to the big fight, Kimbo Slice Posted: Tuesday November 6, 2007 12:04PM; Updated: Tuesday November 6, 2007 1:27PM Search "Kimbo Slice" on YouTube and what you get is a multitude of videos totaling millions of views. To some, Slice (aka Kevin Ferguson) has just made it big as a YouTube celebrity (Think: Leave Britney alone girl or I've got a crush on Barack Obama girl). But when he makes his EliteXC debut Saturday the question he'll answer is: Can the internet superstar make himself into more than a YouTube stunt man in a time when MMA is looking for a new heavyweight celebrity? While Slice has dominated almost every street fight he was in, the quality of most of his challengers is dubious and street fighting is not the same sport as MMA. His one loss came at the hands of Sean Gannon, a Boston police officer who trained in MMA and later went on to a very brief and rather unimpressive MMA career of his own. But Slice said he's turned the corner from loving the internet fame to being ready for the real deal. "In a backyard fight, I used to enter those things high," Slice said. "I was smoking before I went out to fight. Definitely it's different. It's not the same. I'm focused. I know something's coming. I know these guys that are fighting me, professionals. I know they're for sure of their game. So I have to bring my A game." So can he do it? Slice's first professional MMA fight earlier this year hardly serves as a valid barometer -- while he showed signs of all-around ability, the victory came against a hapless and equally inexperienced 46-year-old former boxing champ named Ray Mercer. But Slice has shown enough flashes of talent -- athleticism, knockout power, and a decent chin -- to convince some that he may one day possess the skill needed to succeed inside the cage. His training has also turned a corner: he has been training in MMA for the past two years and recently teamed up with two of the sport's top coaches -- Shawn Tompkins and MMA legend Bas Rutten. "Bas Rutten and Shawn Tompkins...swear by this guy's determination [and] swear by this guy's desire to learn, persevere, and succeed," said Luke Thomas, editor of the MMA blog BloodyElbow.com. While there are question marks about Slice's ability right now, there isn't much doubt about his drawing power. The prevailing wisdom is that, at least initially, Slice will be able to capitalize on his vast entertainment value. Mention Slice to industry insiders and the word "marketable" pops up in almost every conversation. He's the subject of the new ESPN show, E:60, and a hot topic with MMA fans ready to see if he's worth the hype. John Rallo, a former professional heavyweight MMA fighter and now a co-owner of a MMA Academy and a MMA trainer, said Slice hasn't earned the right to fight with EliteXC, but said, "Kimbo and his people marketed themselves wisely. They created a lot of buzz on the net... so I think people who are curious to see if Kimbo is 'for real' will tune in to see this fight." Even Slice -- who is articulate and soft-spoken in a way that belies the sheer aggression seen in his videos -- acknowledged in a phone conversation last week that he believes his internet popularity played a big role in EliteXC signing him. And, in a conference call last week, EliteXC President Gary Shaw said, "He's unique in that he's had his career on the Internet. He's got more unique visits than any other fighter ever on the Internet. I think it's over 10 million." Add to that mix the fact that the UFC heavyweight celebrity power is waning quickly with the loss of popular UFC champ Randy Couture, and the business is more than ready for a new hero. YouTube fame only goes so far though. Slice will need to build up wins early in his career to remain marketable. Fans will initially give him a honeymoon period simply because they are intrigued by his story, but mounting losses will eventually relegate him to circus show status. While Slice's path to MMA celebrity may be a fluke (he says there was no strategy behind posting the videos on YouTube: "We just put it [the videos] up to put up something cool. We weren't really looking to reap anything from it."), his marketability and raw skills are tantalizing enough to believe he may enjoy some longevity in the sport. He may never win a title, but thanks to the fame coup he's already pulled, he doesn't have to in order to call himself a success.
Hi fly girl Too bad I prolly missed that fight although I am not a big fan of street fights boxing is much better sport. Is this Him ? There must be something that you like about this brother could it be the facial hair ?? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: What else does he do ???? http://www.myspace.com/kimbofighter .
i'm pretty suprised that a girl would mention "kimbo slice" I watched him on youtube a while ago, because some people were talking about him fighting a guy named "Fedor." I forgot his last name...sounds russian... anyway.. Fedor is a big name in the world of MMA and others were saying that Kimbo was going to beat him down or something... so... I watch this guy on yahoo beating up guys in backyard, bareknuckles brawls, lol... that's a wild mofo..
for all you MMA fans CBS is now Airing MMA on Saturdays http://www.elitexc.com/ Kimbo is fighting THIS saturday check out the website for more info.. I'm not sure if it's going to be as bloody and hardcore as UFC, but I'm going to be watchin' anyway... late edit- Kimbo is a straight up nut.. anyone besides me, watch him fightin thugs on youtube? :twisted:
youre right......kimbo is wild. But i doubt he's as bad as people think he is......he needs to alter his technique drastically if he intends to do anything in MMA let alone UFC......he's more of a boxer type(brawler), where as guys in the UFC and MMA are more "floor fighters"....so if he could up his ground fightin skils he'd be on the level of good UFC fighters,,,but hes got a long way im rooting for him tonight still.......
LOL.....he's a thug himself, so why not??.. But he got handled by that gannon guy......i dunno how that fight would have been if it was outside though (more oxygen for kimbo lol). Sean Gannon got his face smashed the FUCK UP that night,,,but he still won the fight primarily due to endurance After that fight Sean Gannon made his first UFC appearance and got FUCKED UP so bad he was in the hospital for 3 weeks......and we havent seen or heard of his appreance after that....lol cheers
So, who all watched the fight? Props to Kimbo for being humble durring his post interview. He's right; he does have a lot to learn. I'd like to see him develop some jujitsu (or "proper" boxing/striking form), along with MUCH needed grappling tecniques. My fav fight of the night was prob the ladies tho.. it was a good fight.
yuou dont watch much MMA/UFC do you??.. that fight was pretty wack, and im starting to think kimbo is garbage in UFC/MMA He's a boxer not a wreslter
Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and maybe judo/wrestling will help him tremendously. It's tough because he's facing guys who have done this type of fighting for most of their lives. If you put him in a boxing ring...no kicking or grappling etc. He would knock a lot of these guys out....but that added element slants the field. I find it interesting how boxing used to be on top back in the day...but now everyone rushes to MMA. The heavyweight division in boxing is basically all black....and no one knows who the champ is I bet.....and the featherweight, flyweight, bantam weight etc. divisions are dominated by Latinos....welterweight & middleweight are fairly mixed. What if Kimbo (highly unlikely) or a string of other black fighters rise to the top of MMA and dominate the sport enough to where it becomes difficult to look around them and hype a more "marketable" fighter....will another new sport be created?
Take a decent boxer and train him in grappling. (Not to master it, but focus on certain things like escapes, sprawls, passing the guard etc.) and he's going to knock out a lot of people. This is the basic formula that Maurice Smith used to dominate. He was a kickboxer with good hand skills. He never tried to match the wrestlers and jujitsu fighters on the ground. He learned just enough grappling to either prevent the takedown or get back on his feet if he did wind up on the mat. He was a master at forcing wrestlers and grapplers to stand up and fight. Another thing i'd like to see from the stand up fighters is more body shots. This part is damn near neglected (unless the game has changed, haven't watched in a few months.) These guys all seem to be in love with head shots. I think if a trained boxer, cross trained in grappling (with the focus being on counters and escapes) came in throwing heavy to the body a lot of cats would be caught off guard.
I think you're right...a lot of the MMA fighters don't seem like they would take body shots well. The energy required for grappling is great and body shots would sap a lot of their energy.
just b/c there have been better fights, doesn't mean that this one wasn't a good one. i thought the ladies' fight was more interesting than some of the others on saturday night, too. but that's just me.
true the ladies fight was more entertaining....but kimbo's fight was WACK...... When you have fans waiting 3 months. The least you can do is put up a decent fight, which nieither kimbo nor Thomson did
Those girlys showed more heart and balls than a lot of the dudes who "faught" that night brah. I think it was a good fight. Your basing Kimbo off of, what, 3 MMA fights? He has much to learn and he admitted that. He's been brawling in basements and backyards for the longest time... now he's starting to see what its like... time will tell.
Kimbo has taken alot harder shots to the hed than his last fight. Id like to see him fight a brawler like Igor Vovchanchyn. Definately win for Igor mut fun to watch none the less
:smt042 at anyone who thought that Kimbo belonged anywhere near the same ring/cage as Fedor. Hopefully, he'll go back to doing bum fights on the internet where he belongs.
