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In 2007, Kevin Ferguson, who is better known as the infamous “Kimbo Slice,” had indulged himself in taking his first taste from the plate of organized fighting. He took on the former WBO World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Ray Mercer in a fight that was promoted by the Cage of Fury Championships organization. Kimbo defeated Mercer with a guillotine choke that Ray practically served up Sliced on a silver platter. Although this fight could be easily and justly debated as to whether or not it was an authentic MMA match-up, it was indeed the beginning of what promises to be a very entertaining career path for Ferguson.
Kimbo, who was recently picked up by Showtime’s MMA organization EliteXC, has cut down each of the first two opponents they have put him up against in a matter of seconds. His first EliteXC fight, which was against Bo Cantrell, lasted all of 19 seconds. After watching the replay over and over I am still not sure what even happened to Cantrell. My best guess is that he fainted. In that 19 seconds I was only able to dip a tortilla chip in some salsa and think about how it was going to taste. I may have blinked my eyes once or twice and licked my lower lip to ready myself for the soon to come salt and spice-soaked taste of the chip in my hand. The chip no sooner hit my mouth and then the fight was over. It was a very short but impressive beginning for Kimbo in EliteXC, to say the least.
For Kimbo’s second fight, I did not get much more snacking in than I did for his debut, as this time around the fight only lasted 42 seconds. For this fight, EliteXC’s match makers put Slice up against old man, David “Tank” Abbott. Tank, a very well-known fighter who began his MMA roots in the early days of the UFC, does not exactly have a record to brag about with 9 wins and 14 losses. The obvious connection that can be made between the two fighters in Kimbo and Tank comes from their street fighting credentials. However, had Tank been a bit younger and better prepared to take on Slice’s murderous fists of fury, he may have lasted well past the first minute of the contest, but not much more. As for me, the fight went something like this: two chips (one dipped in salsa and one plain), a swig of my beer, four blinks and one healthy burp. I believe that I may have accomplished a few more things than Tank did that night.
In any case, my post fight couch coverage involved a bit of head scratching as I contemplated who EliteXC will put up against Kimbo next. A wise choice, in my opinion as well as that of many other well-rounded MMA fight fans, would be anyone who is not a stand up fighter. Whether or not this type of opponent will be productive for Kimbo’s career at this point remains to be seen. I would like to think that his well decorated and respected coach, Bas Ruten, has him working on his ground game for a good part of his training day. As a comparison, and the reason I recommend Kimbo works on his ground game, take note of Houston Alexander’s loss due to lack of ground game experience when he fought in UFC 78. Both Ferguson and Alexander possess similar stand-up game and the potential to destroy anyone who is standing in front of them. Standing, of course, being the key word here, because once he was brought to the ground, Houston’s fight game suffered severely – and his lack of ground training resulted in a TKO loss to the undefeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Thiago Silva.
Either way, it would appear not to matter much, as Kimbo is a brutal and talented individual, who is capable of mind-blowing power punches originating from his intimidating upper body strength. Slice also appears to be more than ready to take on whatever and whoever the EliteXC organization can dish out. This attitude can be seen all over his very raw and heavily-viewed collection of bare-knuckle street fights via the Internet entertainment giant, youtube.com, among other sites. So whether or not you are a fan of Kevin “Slice” Ferguson or have any hope (or doubt) that he will be able to pull off a win over a skilled mixed martial artist, you must at least believe in his ability, and respect the fact that he does indeed represent a serious threat to all those who oppose him.
Written by Contributing Writer, Lyle Thomaschek, of the UMFC's Newsletter, The Beat Down
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