Kimbo, Ref Pay-offs, B/R Respect: James "The Colossus" Thompson Interview, Pt 2

I am just going to dive right in here for the second half of this article. Please feel free to read Part One, if you have not already done so.

On with the show...

Marco: So let me move on and get to the nitty gritty as it were...

James: You just said that with some crappy Mexican accent. That reminds me, thanks for telling me about that steaming pile of a movie. No actually it was pretty funny—escalito!

Marco: Nacho Libre rocks man and you shouldn’t laugh—the way things have been going for you lately, you might just find yourself in a ring with Satan’s Dwarfs!

James: I’m going to kick your ass for that.

Marco: ...OK, let me ask you my question!

There has been a lot of speculation in many expert MMA circles that you in fact tossed that fight with Kimbo Slice at the instruction of Kimbo’s manager/promoter. Is this true? Were you paid money to go easy on Kimbo?

James: Well...No. In fact I wanted to win that fight. I wasn’t paid any money to go easy on Kimbo. What we had was a sort of "gentleman’s agreement." I knew I was picked for that fight in order to build up Kimbo—I knew that since the very first phone call.

The thing is, I was asked to allow Kimbo to display a wider variety of skills. This meant that they wanted me to take it to the ground at some point. They also wanted a stand-up exchange. One of the reasons they picked me is that they knew I could provide both. They also wanted me to refrain from my usual "gong and dash" as it were.

They never said “Let Kmbo win.” There was no payoff, only a "gentleman’s agreement." I would find out later that making agreements with Kimbo’s manager is not a good idea.

Marco: So they wanted you to go easy on him and allow him to showcase different MMA skills? They never offered you money to do that?

James: Yes and no respectively.

Marco: OK, so you wanted to beat him—at what point did you start to turn it on?

James: Look, I wanted to win that fight from the start. Winning a main event in the States would have been very good for my career. I agreed to “go easy" on Kimbo for a while, but I never said I would throw the fight.

I knew something was not on the up and up when Kimbo tapped out from that standing guillotine I put him in. The ref is standing five feet away and he doesn’t see it. I'll tell you right now, that the ref for that fight was paid to “not see that sort of thing.”

I think that is pretty daft considering I could have snapped the man’s neck. For the sake of decency, I let up a little. I gave him some ground and pound and I knew I was winning by a wide margin going into the third round. All I had to do was not suffer a 10-8 round or get knocked out, you know, and the fight was mine.

Naturally it was stopped when my ear burst—I’m still very angry that I gave them the excuse, the way out as it were. I gave them a reason to stop the fight. I swear to this day that my bleeding ear did not affect my vision or my breathing at any time. They just didn’t want the fight to go to the scorecards, you know, because I had beaten his ass for the entire fight, even after allowing him to “showcase his skills."

So that was a bad day for me and it had later repercussions.

Marco: How is the ear now? And by the way I agree, that stoppage was crap. Almost as bad as another one I can think of, but won't mention yet.

James: I’m not sure I like where this is going (laughs). The ear will never be quite the same, but people don’t exactly run away from me. I have my charming personality to make up for it.

Marco: Yeah, I think I heard you mention that in a radio interview not too long ago.

Let me ask you this: What happened with Butterbean? I mean, you have the victory snatched away from you in the Kimbo fight and then the ref in your Esch encounter stopped the fight almost instantly following a small clip and slip that put you on the ground. Please explain this one to me.

James: Well the thing that is significant about that fight and the way it went had a lot to do with the ref. He had recently been fined and almost fired for allowing a fight to go too long. So he calls this one the first chance he gets.

I was so angry, I cannot tell you.

On my way back to the locker, I hear Esch suggest a rematch because of the controversial ending. I was pretty humiliated and extremely angry. I'll never go near that fat bastard again. That was a very bad fight for me to take because even if I beat his ass no one would give me any respect for that. I made $30,000 for that show; however, I can live on that much money for a whole year if I have to.

Marco: You mentioned repercussions that followed your Kimbo fight. Could you explain what you mean? I know myself, I just want to get it from the horses ass...er mouth itself. (chuckle)

James: I’m going to kick your ass for that…

Marco: I don’t think I am in your weight class, James!

James: I don’t discriminate. (laugh)

Really though, it all has to do with my last fight. Once again I was subject to a “gentleman’s agreement”. This time it was the result of the Athletic Commission deciding not to license the event, unless all generally accepted MMA rules applied.

They wanted a stand-up war, but in order to get the event produced they had to accept the commission’s decree so to speak, and the event was held under full MMA rules. Of course they never bothered to tell the crowd, which caused a mess later on.

Marco: What about the repercussions?

James: I’m getting to that. See we had this agreement as I mentioned, to keep it a stand-up contest even though it was under full MMA rules.

So I’m fighting this man and suddenly he puts me into a guillotine! He has broken the agreement, so my reaction was to slam him to the ground and start pounding him out. See I knew that he had the same manager as Kimbo did and I wasn’t going to get screwed twice by the same guy. Once he put me in that guillotine it was all cylinders so to speak.

The ref did nothing to stop it because he knew the fight was covered by general MMA rules, which allowed that. Unfortunately they never bothered to tell the crowd and we got bottled as I have heard you say a few times. The crowd went mad and the fight was called a no-contest.

That’s such a bad memory. I will never have anything to do with any fight involving that manager again.

Marco: So where do you go from here, James?

James: Well I have been lifting, swimming, and running every day. I’m currently about 290 pounds, but I am pretty lean. The extra weight is coming from the power lifting I’ve been dabbling in. I work intensively on my conditioning, however, and never miss my run or swim. I also started doing Yoga about six months ago and it's been a real aid in terms of flexibility and stretching out the muscles I have been building.

Marco: So you are bigger than Brock Lesnar?

James: I’m bigger than any heavyweight in the UFC. Bigger does not mean better though, I am a humble person. Losing four fights and getting one NC in a row tends to take the gas out of you. Your head shrinks a bit so to speak.

I always had a lot of respect for guys like Dan Henderson, Noguiera, and Heath.

Marco: Would you ever fight in the UFC?

James:Of course I would. I would jump at a chance like that. Especially since Mark Coleman has returned. I always wanted to fight him. It would have to be a heavyweight contest, however, as I am not about to cut 90 pounds.

Marco: Is there anything you want to say to the Bleacher Report MMA community in general?

James: Well at first I was pretty angry with some of the comments about me and my ability. Two men enter these fights and one man leaves, it isn’t always the best man and losing a few fights should not condemn a person who obviously has talent for the sport.

Many of you have bad opinions of me and I can't change that with words. I can only change that with action and I plan to do so over the next year and a half. You will see a new Thompson. I have a new trainer and I won't lose again for a long, long time. After I kick a few asses, I'll come back and see if anyone has changed their tune.

So to speak.

There was a lot more to this interview, but I think I was able to pick out the best parts. I wanted to mention he claimed his life was also influenced by a couple of books he had to read for school. Namely, The Catcher In The Rye, and The Outsiders.

In addition, he is not broke at the moment and has saved quite a bit of money from his winnings over the past couple of years. He lives in a modest flat with a modest Honda Civic in the driveway. The thing that really got me about James, was that he really wants to be liked.

He wants to earn everyone’s respect.

The problem I have with that, is he has already accomplished a tremendous amount, fought all over the world, and faced some of the greatest warriors on Earth. If that doesn't warrant some respect, I cant think of anything that does.

If anyone has any specific questions for Thompson, just post them and I'll search my notes or ask him directly when I talk to him again.

I think Thompson is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

He’s a gigantic man with an athletic physique and he studies all aspects of the game. He is still a kid and yet, he has an immense amount of experience. He will turn it around.

I have faith that the next man to get punched in the face by Thompson will be put to sleep in a very painful and shocking manner.