Something occured to me as I watched the E:60 special (on ESPN) that featured Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.
I never thought that I would write what I am about to write. If I had told myself that I was going to write this article even last week I would assume that it was under duress. The words I didn't even think I knew: we all need to lay off of Kimbo Slice.
It is the hot-button topic for MMA websites and forums across the Internet. Even mentioning his name will give an article automatic hits that come just from the thousands of random name searches that come from the moniker of Kevin Ferguson. For the purpose of this article it is an apology, kind of.
I have nothing against Kimbo as a person. I personally wouldn't elect to be a bouncer for a porn company, but the last person they would hire would be a 6'4" 160 pound redhead whose skin actually reflects sunlight.
Kevin Ferguson has done something that no other MMA fighter has ever been able to do, he has built a reputation without fighting, or even promoting himself. He doesn't have to.
Thanks to video-sharing sites like youtube.com we can all watch any of the eight Kimbo Slice fights that have been viewed millions of times before. We can watch the man that was famous before anyone really knew what his face looked like. We just knew the name "Kimbo".
The hype isn't coming from Kevin Ferguson, rather the hype is coming from all of us and I am guilty of it myself. I wrote a fantasy fight article pitting Brock Lesnar versus Kimbo (guess who I picked to win). We have all written articles and posted comments on Kimbo, love him or hate him. Though, I can't recall Kimbo ever posting one himself. He doesn't have to.
When MMA premieres on prime time CBS later this month, Kevin Ferguson will be fighting 6'5" 275 pound James Thompson, by far his toughest competition to date. I think that Thompson put it best when he said, "[Kimbo] can never live up to the hype."
I would have to agree.
The public has put Ferguson on such a high pedestal that people are taking shots at him trying to knock him off. And for no reason at all.
Maybe Ferguson will become a great fighter, maybe he won't. Either way, there is no reason to tear into the guy before he has had a chance to prove what he really has. After all, Brock Lesnar is 1-1 in his MMA career, but people are still ear-marking him for the heavyweight title.
Is Ferguson at the same level as Lesnar? No, not yet, but we cannot say he won't be in the future. At least, not yet.
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about 1 month ago
"He has built a reputation without fighting..." I know what you mean, but he has fought before. Those street fights obviously count for something, otherwise there would be nothing to base the hype upon. Even before Lesnar fought, we knew he was a monster from his NCAA college wrestling days, and his stint with the WWE.
Ya, people create the hype, but Kimbo is bringing attention to MMA, and can attract permanent fans who otherwise would not have become interested in the sport. Personally, I think it is better that he is around.
And what does it all matter? If he is the real deal he will prove it eventually, if not, then he will lose. Don't tell me that there haven't been any other pro athletes who failed to live up to the hype. Besides, hype is hype, and a has a natural tendency to exaggerate itself and become excessive.
Kimbo is looking out for himself financially and trying to provide for his family. If fighting is what he does best, then let him do it. The results will speak for themselves. Don't worry, eventually he will face a top heavyweight. And I think he will beat James "Need a spectacular knockout?" Thompson.
from about 1 month ago
Well, there is something to say about the spectacle of the street fights. The Big D fight is definitely the one that cemented Kimbo Slice into our vocabulary. The frames of his face after the fight were horrifying and grotesque. Sure, the fights give him a little bit of credibility, but only as a brawler. In an organized event with rules and a ref there is still a lot to be proven.
But it doesn't need to be proved for any purpose other than to see if he can in fact live up to the hype.
about 1 month ago
Damn that Gary Shaw! See what he has us doing? Talking and writing about Kimbo Slice, just as he had hoped. I agree we have to lay off Kimbo until he fights somebody for real. We know James "Im gonna rush over and let you hit my chin" Thompson isnt that test, maybe Antonio Silva is. Good article with a good message, only I don't agree with any Brock and Kimbo comparisons. Its disrespectful to what Brock has accomplished. Kimbo won streetfights, Brock won a NCAA national championship. Its not like Kimbo won anything for those illegal streetfights except money and youtube hits. But he is doing the only thing he can do to prove he is legitimate, which is beat whoever they put in front of him.
from about 1 month ago
Appreciate the thought, however it wasn't my intent to directly relate the two fighters. I am just saying that fans are too critical without thinking. Lesnar has the skill, strength and speed to be one of the all-time greats, but he has been forgiven (assuming that he needed to be forgiven in the first place) for his loss in his UFC premiere, which was against a top-tier opponent.
Would MMA fans be as forgiving if Kimbo lost to Mir? I doubt it, even though he doesn't have nearly as much experience (or potential?) as Lesnar.
about 1 month ago
I just find it glaringly obvious that Gary Shaw has two big prospects in his HW division: Kimbo and Silva, and there has never even been a nanosecond mention of pitting the two of them against each other. It's like they exist in their own two separate HW divisions, and fight one-time challengers and cast-offs instead of actually working within the division. One of them needs to at least fight Ricco Rodriguez...
about 1 month ago
That's Jeff Monson in your picture, far from Kimbo Slice.
from about 1 month ago
I know, there wasn't a kimbo pic available. I didn't think anyone would notice.
about 1 month ago
how would we feel though, if we saw an overweight, way past his prime, Ricco submit Kimbo? thats one reason im not sure they wanno go that route yet. but i would put him on the docket for sometime soon after kimbo beats thompson, butterbean, bob sapp, cabbage, mike tyson, and ken shamrock. lol.
from about 1 month ago
Hey, I think that Bob Sapp and Cabbage might actually have a shot. Cabbage alone is a freak of nature that seems to have that same condition as Homer Simpson in the episode he became a boxer (an extra inch of fluid around the brain making it almost impossible to knock him out).
about 1 month ago
I got nothing against him personally I just hate the treatment he is recieving
about 1 month ago
I don't think we need to lay off kimbo slice at all.
It takes two to tango. He's the one who created this kimbo slice moniker and put this imagine out in the first place and caught the eye of Gary Shaw who has perpetuated it to a whole new level.
He's getting so much positive media attention that guys like us need to knock him back down off the pedestal and back to reality. You need to win big fights to be on a pedestal.
The true MMA fans know what his ability is and aren't adding fuel to the fire. We're criticizing like we should. It's the fair weathered MMA fans that he is appealing to and true MMA fans need to set the record straight for all those people who are essentially misinformed and ignorant.
I feel like it's part of my duty to let them know what kimbo is all about and to point them in the direction of great fighters who are on pedestals for all the right reasons including st pierre, silva, etc...
about 1 month ago
What a great self-promoter- can't knock him for that. He knows how to get people to talk about him
about 1 month ago
Brock Lesnar was an NCAA D-1 Heavyweight Wrestling Champion....he has faced and succeeded against legitimate/trained competetiors in a combat sport. Kimbo has only beaten up on Tank Abbott- who has been completely worthless for years now, and random guys in the streets, many of whom don't really know how to fight.
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