Will Kimbo Slice Make the Most of His Second Chance?

On the heels of the company EliteXC, which he was the face of, going completely under, the MMA faithful were left to wonder what fate would befall knockout king Kimbo Slice.

Those people now have their answer: Slice will appear on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I have never been a Slice supporter. In fact, I have essentially trashed him in two articles: Where Does EliteXC Go from Here and I Saw It Coming, EliteXC Finished.

I think that he's a one-trick pony, with his only strength being his ability to just clobber an opponent with everything but the kitchen sink. He has no martial arts skills, and more importantly, no stamina.

However, am I the only one that thinks that this stint on TUF might be a little bit beneath him?

Okay, let's look at this whole situation, shall we?

Slice, who made a name for himself destroying all challengers in street fights that were then broadcast on YouTube, is marketable, and leave it to a savvy businessman like the Ultimate Fighting Championship's president Dana White to see dollar signs when he laid eyes on Slice.

Fine, I have no problem with either White or Slice trying to make a buck. My issues are really with White, who up until now has denounced Slice as a "bum" and "a joke," but is now spreading his arms wide open to accommodate the brawny Slice.

However, White has covered himself by stating that the only way Slice will ever see the inside of the UFC octagon in a sanctioned bout is if he actually wins the competition. Smart.

An even bigger issue that I have with this entire situation is, that once again, Slice is setting himself up for complete and total humiliation. He'll more than likely land a few lucky shots on his early opponents and might even make it to the finals of TUF, just so viewers continue to keep the ratings up.

However, if he actually wins the competition, the sports world will likely cry foul, because Slice is not nearly skilled enough to pull off that feat, and something fishy would be taking place.

Anyone who has seen his last two fights (last May against James Thompson and Oct. 4 versus Seth Petruzelli) knows what I mean when I say "fishy."

The matchup against Thompson, which Slice won when his punch burst Thompson's cauliflower ear, could really have gone either way, and many people believed that Thompson was clearly winning the fight when the referee stopped it. Slice appeared completely exhausted at the end of the fight and totally shocked that he had actually won.

The Petruzelli fight, the one in which Petruzelli (a last minute replacement for Ken Shamrock) himself implied that he was told to take it easy on Slice, ended in 14 seconds when Slice fell to the mat and was overwhelmed by a flurry of haymakers from a younger, quicker Petruzelli.

EliteXC and Slice's credibility went directly out the window after this fight. The company ceased operations, and Slice seemed to fall off the face of the planet.

However, Slice is back, and hopefully for White, the UFC, and himself, he's better than ever.

If he was smart, Slice has spent the entire eight months that he's been out of the spotlight training. And in spite of the negative things I have said about him, I really hope that he does well on TUF.

Either way, a ton of people will be tuning in, simply to see whose head will get split open: Slice's or his opponents.