MMA: The Fight Every Fan Wants to See—Brock Lesnar vs. Kimbo Slice

Will Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice ever get to brawl? Danny O'Brian speaks his mind.

by Danny O'Brien (Scribe)

29

1384 reads

Editorial

June 23, 2008

Fighting, MMA, Brock Lesnar, Kimbo Slice, Editorial

If you're a fan of MMA, you've probably seen how exciting a stand up brawl can be if you saw Bonner vs. Griffin in the first Ultimate Fighter Finale.

Imagine what would happen to MMA if Kimbo Slice, the Internet/YouTube sensation, fought All-American wrestler Brock Lesnar. If two unknown fighters such as Bonner and Griffin can bring MMA to a more mainstream audience, imagine what a fight Kimbo Slice and Brock Lesnar would put on.

In case you are not familiar with these two special individuals, Brock Lesnar was born in 1977. In 2000 Brock won the NCAA Wrestling Championship and joined the WWE in 2002. After a couple years, he tried out for the Minnesota Vikings but was cut because he was a "no-show" at practices.

After his NFL "career," he did some legit wrestling in Japan, and became the IGWP Heavyweight Champion in 2005.

In 2006 Brock Lesnar signed a deal with Dana White which set him up to fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Brock lost the match by submission in the first round.

Although Brock lost, it was an entertaining fight. Brock came out strong and totally murdered and bloodied up Frank Mir. Mir was able to avoid Brock's heavy fists and ground and pound technique. Brock was in a standing/full guard position when Mir twisted and grabbed Brock's leg, and made him submit.

Kimbo Slice, on the other hand, is a street fighter from the streets of Miami, Florida. Kimbo became a bodyguard for RK Netmedia, a Miami-based pornography company. The company put up YouTube videos of Kimbo giving people a charlie horse or tackling someone at full speed for money.

Kimbo would go from place to place, looking for the area's "tough guy" and fighting them in a bare-knuckle street fight. Kimbo's fight with former Boston police officer and MMA trainer Sean Gannon was Kimbo's first loss, but the fight gained so much popularity on YouTube that it launched him into the MMA spotlight.

Now both Kimbo and Brock are big and strong guys, and can duke it out. Kimbo has a stand-up style, and Brock is a ground and pound fighter due to his wrestling background.

Given that both fighters are relatively inexperienced, it would still be an amazing fight to watch these two monsters pound each other's faces in. It would honestly be a fight to see whose jaw is the strongest.

I don't know if this is ever going to happen, but whatever company does pick up the fight will definitely draw a mainstream audience, and possibly bring in a good amount of money. If the Bonner-Griffin fight can put the UFC on the map, imagine what two popular brawlers can do for a company.

Share what you think about this fight, if it will ever happen, why or why not, and who you think will win.

Editorial

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comments (28) write a comment »

  1. The fight won't happen because Dana will not let it. Brick would win b/c Kimbo is not a real MMA fighter, just a brawler. If it should happen it would end Mr. Slice's career in sudden death. But at least there would be fewer KS articles and blogs. I will write his obituary now and wait for the fight to happen.

    1. Brock isn't a real MMA fighter too. I would compare Kimbo (loosely) with Chuck Liddell's style, both are brawlers. Given that Chuck is a more well rounded fighter, I think it would be a good match for these two b/c they are both inexperienced but popular. It doesn't have to happen in the UFC. K1 or WEC could pick it up. If WEC picks it up they could really start competing with the UFC. Thanks for the comment

    2. to danny I would say that Lesnar has great takedowns and a fantastic college wrestling pedigree to go along with massive size that allows him to throw bombs and overwhelm opponents with his strength. Kimbo overwhelms stupid people with hype, start writing the obituary now Dorothy

    3. Will do Kevin!

  2. Here is how the fight goes , the bell rings , Brock takes him to the ground in the first second and pounds on Kimbo till the refs stops the fight. The fight only lasts 20 seconds. Brock is a wrestler and Kimbo is a brawler. Not both of them!

    1. I do see the fight going like that, but I thought he was going to do better against a smaller Frank Mir too, although I knew Frank would pull it off. I know Brock isn't a brawler, didn't mean to say otherwise if i did, but I think the point i was trying to make was if Kimbo has a takedown defense, Brock will be force to throw. I think it would be an amazing fight

  3. Kimbo is'nt and mma fighter! Why do you think Dana has'nt went after him? Kimbo would get slaughtered by any top fighter in his weight class period in any professional fight ie boxing or mma. His promoters are just trying to bank of his internet sucess; It won't be long untill he's dressd up like the junkyard dog and fighting on smackdown! Respect though; he's getting paid and famous.

    1. You obviously have not seen Kimbo train recently with Bas Rutten...Know what is going on before opening your mouth.

    2. Good point, but Brock doesn't have the experience either. Kimbo is a better fighter tho I think than you're giving him credit for, no disrespect intended, but I could see a company like WEC to bank of the promotion. It would be a good stepping stone for an upcoming company to compete against the UFC. Thanks for the comment buddy

  4. "Kimbo's fight with former Boston police officer and MMA trainer Sean Gannon was Kimbo's first loss"

    If a retired Boston PO took down kimbo, imagine what Brock "XXXL glove wearing" Lesnar would do to the poor guy!

    Just recap Kimbo's primetime fight...he was taken to the ground by a nobody shoot fighter who hammerfisted the guy until his arm got tired!

  5. Did you happen to see Sean Gannon's face after the fight? Did you know he had to go to the hospital after that fight? Gannon may have won a drawn out fight, (it went about 25 minutes, because Gannon held Kimbo for most of it), but he got his butt beat throughout that fight. And yes I saw a 6'5 very strong dewd who had 16 MMA fights uner his belt (that's hard for any noob to match no matter how good he might be) work Kimbo over on the ground, that Kimbo very obviously took without issue (attesting to his ability to take a beating). Think about what you just said Ivan, a guy hammerfisted Kimbo until he got tired, and Kimbo took it all and was right back on his feet. That speaks volumes my friend. Kimbo isn't going to beat anyone with tons of experience. Top tiered fighters would easily handly Kimbo on the ground. But he's just starting. Who jumps in a ring of any fighting sport, his first time and fights top tiered fighters? Who?? He's going to fight the lower ranks until he gets up to speed on the rest of his game. Look at Brockner, his what, 2nd or 3rd fight he takes on Mir, and Mir did him in. That was Dana's fault for Matching Brockner, a noob to MMA, to fight a highly experienced and very talented MMA fighter. Same thing would happen to Kimbo should he have fought Mir. Give the man some time. Let him develop some MMA skills. Then lets throw him in with the lions and see what happens.... Geez.. you wan't a world champion from a noob?? Comon.. Mike Tyson had to go through 10 or 12 opponents as good as he was. He didn't fight for the championship his first fight?

    1. Great insight. "Kimbo isn't going to beat anyone with tons of experience." Thats why I think if he fought brock it would be entertaining

      "Who jumps in a ring of any fighting sport, his first time and fights top tiered fighers?" umm....Brock? haha yeah Frank Mir was the Heavyweight champion but the motorcycle accident made him relinquish his title. The reason Dana matched Brock against Mir is because Mir is restarting essentially his career, and Brock has the wrestling credentials. Forrest blew up quick without the credentials Brock has, why not give Brock a shot?

      I wouldn't see it as a main event, but it definately would market well. I know they're new, but I guess if you give them time and then fight, they can only get more popular and better, maybe if it happens in the next 2 years it'll be better than if it happens in one of the upcoming ufc's. Tx for the comment

  6. It doesn't makes business sense for the ufc to sink to elitexc's level. Kimbo is not even talented enough to be considered for a ufc contract. We already know how the fight would go. Lesnar would end the fight in the first round via ground and pound, likely within 30 seconds. He was able to takedown mir twice within a minute or two and mir is one of the best in the world on the ground. Lesnar wouldn't have to worry about a submission either like he had to against mir.

    Luckily we don't have to worry about the fight ever happening b/c the ufc would never greenlight that circus.

    1. I disagree completely. Though I do NOT want to see this fight happen, as it will tarnish the image of MMA for decades, I fear that it WILL happen because it presents such a lucrative opportunity for the two promotions to make fistfulls of cash in the short-term.

      Lesner is known to the target audience of MMA (i.e. young, single males) via his wrestling days. No need to hype him up - his name is already out there. Same is true with Kimbo via the internet fights. If you are a promotion looking to expand viewer base, nothing could be better than pairing up two names that everyone (both inside and outside the MMA world) already knows.

      MMA insiders forget that almost no one who is not already a fan of the sport even knows who GSP or Fedor or Nogueira are. CBS did not put Kimbo on the air because he is a great fighter -- they did it because they knew people would watch. The fight was a disgrace -- but it was a disgrace that got ratings.

      I fear that we may just see this fight (which, by the way, Lesner wins hands down) - which would be a crying shame, as it may end up markedly lowering the general public's perception of MMA as a sport.

  7. Everybody seems to have about covered it all, almost. I don't think Lesnar/Slice happens because let's face it, the UFC is in the big-boy chair and it doesn't do them any good. Think what you want about Dana White, but he has been trying to legitimize the sport as a multidisciplinary showcase of athleticism, and not a bunch of brawling thugs (see ya Jesse Taylor). Adding Slice to any of his fights makes that go a couple steps backwards. It might make some decent money, but it wouldn't be worth the cost to the legitimacy of the sport as a while, and I don't think the UFC is pleading poverty as it is now.

    Also, if Dana allows one of his fighters to fight a fighter from the third-tier Elite XC he somehow legitimizes Elite XC as an equal, and let's face it, serious MMA folk know it's far from legit, that fix of a couple weeks ago was abhorrent. That seriously waters-down White's product doing inter-league fights, and you know he's not gonna allow that to happen.

    1. What if the EliteXC or even the WEC picked up the card? You can't tell me eveybody wouldn't tune in to see the fight

  8. Second paragraph, last sentence: "sport as a whole."

  9. this isn't even a real fight. kimbo was defeated in the 2nd round by JAMES THOMPSON. the fact that nobody told ace referee dan miragliotta is irrelevant. bas admitted it. everybody's entitled to an opinion I understand but was this a joke? brock lesnar is fighting ranked competition, VERY HIGHLY RANKED, relative to kimbo slice. he knocked down frank mir with a soft jab. this 'fight' lasts 7 seconds, halfway into the lesnar takedown when kimbo taps. this is a freakshow because kimbo's in it, and the only reason anybody would want to see it is for a freakshow factor.

  10. You kept bringing up the Griffin-Bonnar fight like that was a similar situation to what this could be. Those two were on the Ultimate Fighter television series and had 12 weeks of television exposure. They advanced in the tournament to fight each other. Alsom I'm sure since it was the first finale for that series those two wanted to come out with something to prove and put on a show for the fans. I can't believe you're comparing what Dana White calls the most important fight in the history of the UFC to a match-up of these two. Kimbo Slice would get absolutely dominated by Lesnar. The only way he would lose this fight is if Lesnar misiniterprets his corner's instruction and fights with his hands down, chin up.

    1. Do you think after Kimbo trains for a couple years it would be worth doing?

  11. Great point Danny the WEC could pick up the fight and really start competing with the UFC, which is a great plan since Zuffa owns both companies.

    1. Well tickle my balls, I didn't know that haha. Thanks for the slap in the face. Its my first article, did it outta boredom. tx richard headly

  12. After a few years of training maybe but then Lesnar will still have a few years of training and will still be that far ahead of him. Plus, Kimbo is 34 years old already so after he learns how to do more then be huge and punch people he'll be in his late 30's. I don't know if he's going to age like wine such as a Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.

    I'll give you credit it's a good idea to have two of the biggest names in the mainstream media of MMA to get into the octagon. As a fan of MMA I just don't know how great of an actual fight it's going to be. It's like a few years ago when Ken Shamrock wanted to take on Tito Ortiz. Tito was in his prime and just had Shamrock's number. I'll admit the first time they were going to fight I was pretty pumped but Shamrock and his stupid pride kept begging for re-matches and Tito made him look like a bad fighter. I really started to turn away from both of them during their TUF season.

    I will admit if this fight was signed I would definitely watch it just for the potential of an absolute slugfest of two of the biggest mother effers in the world of MMA.

    1. hell yeah bro. thats what i'm talkin about

  13. did you really compare kimbo to the iceman. DO YOU EVEN WATCH THIS SHIT?

  14. Are you for real? I would rather see more technical fighting out of 2 nine-year-girls at a park fighting. I can't think of 2 other fighters I would rather not see. Talk about 2 un-technical oafs trying to bash each other up. Lesnar and Slice know nothing about submissions or ground fighting. Why would you write an article about Slice who has had 3 MMA fights and Lesnar who has had 2 MMA fights? Why don't you write about a thousand other fighters who has actually made their fight record into the double digits?

  15. I really just want Kimbo to fight someone good enough to end all the speculation. It's too bad Dana didn't just sign him for the PPV dollars and match him against a Chuck Liddell and just see what happened. End all the damn speculation of the Kimbo legend.

    For the record, my opinion is that he would get slaughtered by top tier MMA Fighters. But mostly because he has no real in ring experience. I think if he trained properly and didn't have all the hoopala around him and he could focus on training he could be a top tier fighter. But it won't happen.

  16. if they did ever fight brock would probably win. kimbo doesnt have a strong jaw as you saw in the seth fight. brock would KO him in the first few seconds.

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