Kimbo Slice is in your face with only two professional MMA fights under his belt. To many his future in the professional MMA world has yet to be decided.
I, like many others, had my doubts about Slice's transition from street brawling to the professional MMA world. This guy was fighting in backyards a little over a year ago, how could he possibly get into the ring with a professionally trained fighter and hold his own? BAM is the only word one could use to explain how Kimbo is leaving a trail of unconscious bodies on the way to the top.
It is apparent that Kimbo's main weapon is his monstrous punching power. It won him a first round TKO against Bo Cantrell on November 10, 2007, and a TKO in 43 seconds against Tank Abbott on Feb. 16, 2008.
The one thing Kimbo may not have is grappling capabilities. It's easy to see that from his fight against Boston police officer turned MMA fighter, Sean "The Cannon" Gannon. Though it wasn't a professional fight, one can see that once Gannon made it past the bombardment of punches and closed the gap Kimbo had no reaction, nor did he seem to be comfortable. Kimbo himself says that he prefers to stay off the ground, even though he has recently been spending many hours in the gym practicing wrestling and Jiujitsu.
Outside of the ring Kimbo has something that is unattainable to many fighters today, intimidation. His internet broadcast reputation as an undefeatable bare knuckle street brawler follows him into the professional MMA world.
Kimbo Slice might be the greatest thing to happen in MMA within the last few years, but surely he can be pitted up against better fighters than Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott. Both have more losses than wins within the last few years. Personally I think in order to get the challenge that he needs, Slice has to make a name in the UFC. Maybe it's time he starts negotiating with Mr. Dana White if he really wants to leave a scar on the face of the MMA world. Nonetheless, the verdict on Kimbo Slice is out; he's on his way to the top.
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7 months ago
Dear, Racan Alhoch
Finally i see a column that speaks the truth about kimbo---If a man like this learns wrestling and jiu jitsu he could be very dangerous. A lot of these so called analysts think he is just hype and will be exposed very soon. They are building him up now so those kind of comments are just idiotic. If bas keeps teaching him, and he's willing to learn watch out heavy weight division. The man hits harder than anyone and has a chin to match.
Very nice article......keep them coming......!
from 6 months ago
All i can say is give him a chance, Sure he has only had two fights in the cage , they said tank was gonna make light of him and what happen ???? then it came to well tank was old ok lets make our minds up.Now this fight with gannon Ok he got beat but im sure if they fought again it would be different. Bottom line just give him time and we will see.
7 months ago
great read.
keeep them coming sonnnnnnnn
7 months ago
Thanks for the comments guys.
Ill keep the articles coming if you keep up the reading and comments
Peace
7 months ago
Good call. His big hitting power will always dominate. Agreed he needs to back that up coz if some BJJ guy gets him down it could be curtains. Is he single?
7 months ago
i heard paul buentello is calling him out a bit. i would love to see that brawl. but i would agree that kimbo has something that few fighters have, toughness through fighting. knowing that you can walk right up to any opponent and know that you have been hit harder, thats tough. if he can keep his stand up clean and learn some serious jitsu, he could be menecing. good article.
7 months ago
I think Slice would take the win if he was to go against buenotello. If you watch Kimbo fight, he is very good at capitalizing on others mistakes and whether your the greatest kicker in the world or not, it leaves you open and vulnerable even for just a nano-second. I think Buentello would go in for a head kick and Slice would move in for the kill as soon as that leg comes up thus landing him another TKO victory. Id like to see Slice in a boxing ring against Mike Tyson in his Prime, i think kimbo would have his ass handed to him.
7 months ago
While I'm not sure that defeating Tank Abbott can be considered to be an accomplishment and more, this article is very interesting. Thanks to youtube, many MMA fans have seen what Kimbo can do in backyards, and his standup is dangerous, but you pointed it out yourself, his ground game is suspect, if existent at all. The day when great strikers are able to dominate the ranks is fading. Liddell and Sylvia both lost their belts to opponents with superior ground games (though Chuck was knocked out).
7 months ago
way to plagiarize this ESPN article you loser. http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=3251020
7 months ago
haha Wow, i seriously did not see that article before.
I'll make the needed changes to make mine more distinguishable.
Thanks!
7 months ago
i would call it more of a synopsis rather than straight up plagiarize. this might be obvious but, everyone has the same opinion of kimbo and writes about him in the same way. i would still give the nod to buentello, just watched him make justin elliers look stupid in UFC 51. check it out.
7 months ago
So you buentello would beat kimboin a fight?
from 7 months ago
if your questions is "so you think buentello would beat kimbo in a fight?" then my answer is yes. buentello has excellent muay thai and quick, probably one of the quickest at heavyweight. kimbo would have to step up his game in all areas, cause paul is well-rounded and not afraid. im not saying it would be an easy fight for buentello, not by a long shot, there is such a huge difference between paul buentello and anyone kimbo has fought.
is anyone else pissed off that arlovski isnt a main card event for UFC 82!? WTF!?
7 months ago
I understand Buentello is well rounded and quick but Kimbo has an extremely tought chin and his raw power is astonishing. I do agree that he will need to step up his game but i think he can come out on top in this fight.
Yea im pretty pissed that arlovski isnt a main card event. I mention in my other article that the fight isnt even goin to be broadcast on PPV.
7 months ago
"He's on his way to the top." I'm not sure exactly what that means. To really make a name he would have to do it in the UFC like you mention and that will never happen. Also, i'm not real sure why everyone is so crazy about Kimbo. He has proven nothing (fighting against two terrible opponents) other than the fact that he is one-dimensional on his feet. I almost forgot, he can beat guys up in backyard fights, that's great. He's basically a glorified traveling circus.
Why would Dana White want him in the UFC? He would probably have to pay Kimbo a hefty fee up front like Lesnar due to all the hype, b/c by that time he'd probably be 15-0 knocking out 15 john doe's.
Also, Kimbo would get handled easily in the majority of his UFC fights (he always would have a puncher's chance) because of his inferior wrestling and ground skills. Being one dimensional is the kiss of death in MMA. When is he going to get well-rounded skills? He's already 34 years old. He would be, in some cases, a decade or more behind in his training compared with other UFC heavyweights. Even newcomer Lesnar's MMA skills are head and shoulders above Kimbo at this point.
Do you honestly think he could be successful in the UFC? Can we talk about actual legitimate contenders from now on? There are a lot of other great heavyweights out there ... mir, werdum, sylvia, vera, herring, arlovski, couture, fedor, nogueira, etc...
7 months ago
Can you think of any other one dimensional fighters that have gone on to become champions? Because i can...Royce Gracie...all he does is Jiu-Jitsu. Hes doesnt have a strong punch, kick, knee, elbow and he doesnt look very strong but hes a great competitor and fighter. Hes defeated ken shamrock who's skills enbody all of the above. You never know how far a person can go until you throw them in the mix and i think kimbo, Depending on how he plays his cards, can be a champion. He just needs to fight smart and believe me he would make Dana White a lot more money than Slice would recieve. Think about it every idiot that knows nothing of MMA but has seen Kimbos online videos would all of the sudden become a fan. Just like all the wrestling fan who didnt know what the hell MMA was tuned in as soon as they found out brock lesnar was involved.
I understand that there are a lot more legit contenders out there right now but i think Kimbo has the potential to make it into their ranks.
7 months ago
MMA has evolved since Royce Gracie was around. The overall talent has increased and more fighters are well-rounded skill-wise. If Gracie was in his prime today in the UFC he would struggle. He would be exploited.
Look at his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC60. This fight symbolzied the fact that his old school BJJ-only skills (or whatever you want to call it) were a thing of the past. Gracie was dominated by "new school" hughes and lost via TKO in the 1st round. And the fact that Gracie was in the twilight of his career is a moot point. He did not have the stand up or wrestling skills to compete with Hughes regardless of his age at that point.
7 months ago
gonna have to agree with "derek" on this one, even though i get the "kimbo is too urban for me" feel from him. kimbo has exactly zero percent (0%) in becoming HW champ of UFC. i could see him being a contender on a lessor showtime, or WEC. The comparison goes as follows, kimbo has a punchers chance ie; melvin gullard, houston alexander. Whereas Lesnar has a wrestlers chance ie; matt hughes, randy couture. Where are the belt holders in this equation?
6 months ago
With a weak heavy-weight UFC field, Kimbo certainly has a shot. Training under Bas Rutten is a good start, too. Although, he should seriously think about hitting-up the Cobra Kai / Marc Laimon squad to round out his overall skills.
6 months ago
Oh my goodness. You people are so foolish. I am in awe at the B.S. I am reading.
Praising Kimbo like he is the next big thing in MMA? Kimbo has fought all wash-ups and non-professionals. You can get on youtube and find videos of high school kids knocking fellow students out, are you gonna praise them as the next UFC Heavyweight title holder? Kimbo is not a professional boxer, nor mixed martial artist. Kimbo does not have the knockout power of a professional boxer nor the technicality. Sure Kimbo is way better than the average off the street person. Kimbo does practice boxing and amateur fighting, but he is so far from being a MMA legend or cause an impact that deserves notoriety.
Back in 1995 David "Tank" Abbott was my favorite fighter. Not because of his skill, but because I related to him. I was a Harley loving, Beer drinking, knockout praising MMA fan. I have followed UFC and Pride for many years, and have seen the greats win and lose. Tank never has been anything other than a 1 dimensional fighter, and he is no where on the top 50 great MMA fighters.
Tank Abbott has always been a street fighter and nothing more. He can't use technical moves to submit an opponent. All he does is swing at his enemy and hope that one if his heavy sluggers connects and delivers. Tank has more power than Kimbo, but less technicality. Tank is out of shape, past his prime and getting too old. Kimbo is around his prime.
Kimbo's 2 professional MMA fights were with wash-ups. Who here can deny this? All of Kimbo's online fights that he won were with amateur nobodies. Watch his online "underground" street fights and you'll see that none of them are even worthy of fighting Tank Abbott. The one notable street fight that Kimbo loss was with a former UFC fighter that got destroyed in the UFC and never returned. So, if Gannon defeated Kimbo, and Gannon got destroyed in the UFC, therefore it is fair to say that Kimbo = hospitalization if he went into the UFC.
Ok, in all fairness, sure, if you give Kimbo 1 more year of training under Bas and crew, he will probably become a decent MMA fighter, but as it stands right now... Kimbo is horrible and anyone that thinks otherwise is just a neophyte fanatic who has jumped on the UFC bandwagon.
6 months ago
Kimbo Slice is a nobody. He only fights "has-beens" and nobodies.
Kimbo VS Gannon = Gannon victor (actual fight)
[Fantasy with actual results]
Kimbo VS Hughes = Hughes victor
Kimbo VS Silvia = Silvia victor
Kimbo VS Franklin = Franklin Victor
Kimbo VS Liddell = Liddell victor
Kimbo VS Couture = Couture victor
Kimbo VS Coleman = Coleman victor
Kimbo VS Cro cop = Cro cop victor
Kimbo VS Fedor = Fedor Victor
Hell, Kimbo VS Bob Sapp = Sapp the victor and Sapp sucks.
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=11468
Oh my goodness. You people are so foolish. I am in awe at the B.S. I am reading.
Praising Kimbo like he is the next big thing in MMA? Kimbo has fought all wash-ups and non-professionals. You can get on youtube and find videos of high school kids knocking fellow students out, are you gonna praise them as the next UFC Heavyweight title holder? Kimbo is not a professional boxer, nor mixed martial artist. Kimbo does not have the knockout power of a professional boxer nor the technicality. Sure Kimbo is way better than the average off the street person. Kimbo does practice boxing and amateur fighting, but he is so far from being a MMA legend or cause an impact that deserves notoriety.
Back in 1995 David "Tank" Abbott was my favorite fighter. Not because of his skill, but because I related to him. I was a Harley loving, Beer drinking, knockout praising MMA fan. I have followed UFC and Pride for many years, and have seen the greats win and lose. Tank never has been anything other than a 1 dimensional fighter, and he is no where on the top 50 great MMA fighters.
Tank Abbott has always been a street fighter and nothing more. He can't use technical moves to submit an opponent. All he does is swing at his enemy and hope that one if his heavy sluggers connects and delivers. Tank has more power than Kimbo, but less technicality. Tank is out of shape, past his prime and getting too old. Kimbo is around his prime.
Kimbo's 2 professional MMA fights were with wash-ups. Who here can deny this? All of Kimbo's online fights that he won were with amateur nobodies. Watch his online "underground" street fights and you'll see that none of them are even worthy of fighting Tank Abbott. The one notable street fight that Kimbo loss was with a former UFC fighter that got destroyed in the UFC and never returned. So, if Gannon defeated Kimbo, and Gannon got destroyed in the UFC, therefore it is fair to say that Kimbo = hospitalization if he went into the UFC.
Ok, in all fairness, sure, if you give Kimbo 1 more year of training under Bas and crew, he will probably become a decent MMA fighter, but as it stands right now... Kimbo is horrible and anyone that thinks otherwise is just a neophyte fanatic who has jumped on the UFC bandwagon.
6 months ago
Maybe you people should read my article twice before you comment, i mean that in no offensive way, everyone is entitled to an opinion.
The main purpose of my article is to show that kimbo has potential to be a great fighter.
5 months ago
People how can u say he has potential he fought fags on the streets and washed up losers and anyway Sean Gannon beat him he has no ground skills any wrestler or Bjj fighter would kick his black ass
brandon
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