(Link below to story about Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson being dominated by lightly regarded MMA fighter (and former NFL'er) Matt Mitrione this past weekend). First I say that I rarely tread into the world of sports commentary, because the guys & gals who inhabit that realm are completely devoted to that world and absolutely know their stuff (much more so, in my experience, than all the blowhards out there who try to comment on political issues), whereas I'm just a rabid, yet passing observer, of the sports world. That said, I have been fascinated by and have casually observed the Internet sensation that has been known as mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice. After all, Americans love a supposed bad ass. And Kimbo made his beans street-fightin' in Florida and only losing once amongst all of his various street fights, as very well documented on YouTube (although I've never watched one -- read on...).I personally grew up absolutely loving the over-the-top bombastic world of professional wrestling as well as the sweet (yet very brutal) science of boxing. But I've never warmed up to mixed martial arts. Simply put, I don't much care to watch the sight of a man who has been knocked down having another man jump on top of him and pound the living daylights out of his skull. Frankly, I find the same rather repulsive and sub-human. But that's just me. I fully realize that MMA has a HUGE audience nationwide, and I'm cool with that, even if it's not my cup of tea. But as indicated above, as a dude who does enjoy a certain amount of violent sport in his life, I am (just like so many Americans) capivated by image and reputation of the alleged bad ass.
And so it is that I have followed Slice's "career" from the written word. I frankly have not cared to watch even one of his street fights or MMA matches, but I have followed his results. What I see is a man who is now 36 years old and is suddenly trying to transition into the world of MMA. In case you haven't noticed, the top-of-the-line MMA fighters are amongst the true bad asses of this world -- Not only extremely tough and violent men, but highly trained in fighting and defending against multiple fighting styles. As much as I do not care for watching their sport, these men are true professionals, most of whom have labored day-in, day-out, all day long, in their endeavor for many, many years. That's a tough world to hack your way into for a 36-year-old street fighter like Slice. And so I don't find it surprising that he has very much struggled trying to enter that world at his age. But might there be another way?
Although again, I've never watched any of Kimbo's "work" and instead have only read about it, I would assume that his exemplary street fighting record was largely a result of the fact that he's very heavy-handed, as they say, meaning dude can really throw a punch. As such, perhaps he should try his hand in the world of professional boxing, where it seems (if you can swat), you're never too old to have that famous "puncher's chance" in any given fight. The Immortal George Foreman was perhaps the best illustration of this principle. So I think, now that Kimbo has been officially given his walking papers from the UFC, he might want to consider boxing while his name can still garner a bit of jack and publicity. That window will totally close before too long, after all. And I can't imagine he wants to return to the street fightin' scene, since I think he's garnered about as much as one human being can from that world.
http://sickhop.com/2010/05/09/kimbo-gets-sliced-tkod-in-second-round-ufc-fight/
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