Brock Lesnar did not need the Ultimate Fighting Championship belt to strut around with to make him the guy with a target taped on his back. He WAS the target – plus the words “Hit Me” –the very first moment he entered the octagon.

If you say it’s because of his WWE background, yes, it’s because of that – and more.

There are several fighters who hailed from the world of pro wrestling, and some of them (Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and Dan Severn) are hall of famers now. By “several” we mean a whole bunch of 61 cage warriors to date. So why pick on Brock Lesnar?

It’s his WWE background, and more. Unlike the other MMA fighters who dabbled in pro wrestling at one point or another, Brock Lesnar’s entry to MMA was something you would either hate or envy.

An outsider, an “actor” in the fake, “scripted,” and theatrical world of WWE getting a contract like that, and an exposure like that would surely offend both the “legitimate” mixed martial artists and the hardcore fans. And this is not without a valid reason: In Lesnar’s first foray into the octagon (Dynamite!! USA), he earned $500,000 while someone as big an MMA sensation as Royce Gracie only got $300,000.

You know, MMA fighters are not unlike the warriors of Sparta. They are heavily trained in known mixed martial arts disciplines – for years. And they are a proud lot. They are a special breed of disciplined professional fighters. It becomes quite understandable that it becomes inconceivable, even unacceptable that someone who comes from a “different breed”, from a different (and fake) world, could just comes in with a bigger ticket, on a red carpet, with huge media fanfare and an accompanying huge contract to boot. We could not blame the hardcores for hating Lesnar.

It is in this same breath that we could not blame Lesnar for his attitude towards the fans. Not that we agree with or condone his so-called “unprofessional,” and very “WWE” post-Mir-fight antics. But when you are negatively judged, derided, booed, and taken as a phoney even before (and even after) you prove yourself, you’d surely feel sore. And feel unfairly treated. And, since Brock Lesnar is no lame duck, would eventually want to hit back.

And thus, we get Lesnar’s attitude.

It is not WWEish, it is not unprofessional. It is a fighter’s instinct.

Bobby Lashley, another fighter with the “WWE-turning-MMA” stigma written all over is another case in point. Remember Jason Guida’s “You’ve been faking this for how long” question? Or Mike Cook’s Nacho Libre mask to taunt Lashley?

Lesnar, and the still undefeated newcomer Lashley (4-0) are just some of the exciting things helps a lot in the popularity and growth of mixed martial arts. Wait till you get a taste of Kimbo Slice in The Ultimate Fighter (and God forbids if he gets a slot in the UFC).

And wait…there’s still that genie Kazaam hovering around and threatening to wreak havoc inside that bloody cage after he retires from being a cager – no pun intended.

The future is bright for MMA.

 

 

 

What a letdown. 

Official records say it was 14 seconds, but that was just the record.  The spectators swear it was impossibly…and shockingly shorter than that.  The Kimbo Slice circus top has folded….on all fours!

They may deny it but the Kimbo Slice formula (keeping the Kimbo Slice franchise a hot item by pitting him with “beatable” but interesting opponents – “tomato can” is too much of a term, we don’t want to dishonour the warriors with this derogatory term–uhurm!) is becoming more a fact that urban myth.

They had the dinosaur-old Ken Shamrock fitting the bill for this formula.  Elite XC couldn’t be happier with the prospect that this Kimbo Slice vs. The 44 year-old Ken Shamrock could bail them out of their tight financial fix.  After all, this match is the last telecast of their contract with CBS, and we do not know yet how CBS is feeling with this partnership with cash-strapped Elite XC.  What happens after this bout?  After the Elite XC – CBS three-show contract?

With the way things were going, there was no indication to the negative, as far as the CBS contract is concerned—until that accidental cut that Ken Shamrock inflicted on his eye while doing some light training.  “Oh, he’s so old, he’s brittle!” 

They should have sued that Shamrock sham for letting this accident happen to him!  Oh, how they must all have hated Ken Shamrock for letting them down.  Why didn’t Elite XC do a UFC85 “Chuck Liddel-Mauricio Rua” dancing-chair repeat? 

Remember?  Rua was injured so Evans was brought in.  Liddel hurt his hamstring so Irvin was brought in..and so on and so forth.  The match was altogether scrapped, and both Evans and Liddel have to consummate their unfinished business on UFC88.

Why didn’t they just “injured” and excused Kimbo so he could live another day to face a more suitable (read: defeatable) opponent?  Or maybe a Slice-Shamrock at another date—with or without the CBS contract?  But they didn’t!  And Kimbo was sliced!

What a letdown.   

After that 14-second flash-in-the pan (not unlike the Kimbo fame) tussle, true MMA fans rejoiced.  Newbie MMA curiousity-seekers incredulously asked, “That’s it?!!!”  and the suits of CBS rushed back to their boardroom to brainstorm another show– perhaps a reality show about community organizers, or about old guys wanting to take a shot at becoming a president?  Meanwhile, EliteXC employees start scanning the morning paper’s classifieds for job vacancies.  Oh, how they all hated that Seth Petruzelli pizza, or something.

Elite XC have banked all its rolls on the Kimbo Slice franchise.  It played a hangman’s game and they played till the noose was wrapped around its neck.  What’s next?

Some wise-ass suggests that with Gina Carano’s fame still alive and hot as hotcake, Elite XC could concentrate on becoming the world’s women-only MMA organization.  Or perhaps, they should get Chuck Norris as their new poster boy.

(We are not fans of Kimbo Slice, to set the record straight.  We just love the way he helps turn things out for MMA.  We’re sure a lot have the exact opposite opinion on this—they just HATE how Kimbo Slice turn things out for MMA! Har! Har!)

 

  

EliteXC was bleeding when they inked a deal with CBS and came away spectacularly with their first telecast (first MMA telecast on network TV) May 31.  Everyone agrees that headlining that event with Kimbo Slice was the best thing they ever did for that momentous event.  However, some didn’t like an MMA nobody like Kimbo Slice to be the poster boy of an event as important as having MMA introduced to the mainstream (network) TV audience for the first time.

Kimbo Slice, a backyard brawler who won fame and popularity from internet denizens, proved to be EliteXC’s golden boy as the succeeding telecast with “real” MMA gladiators barely tipped the rating scale of network TV.

EliteXC continues to bleed they need more Kimbo Slice headlined events to stay afloat, hence the Kimbo Slice Ken Shamrock bout on October 4 in Ft. Lauderdale for its final show (with their present contract) on CBS.

Hardcore MMA fans have said it before, and they’re saying it again:  Kimbo Slice is just your internet sensation that fits the “freak show” requirement to make the EliteXC-CBS concept work.  Hardcore fans just don’t like Kimbo Slice representing MMA to new MMA fans as he would surely give a different picture of what a Mixed Martial Arts warrior really is.

MMA gladiators are finely-tuned, scientific fighters that have trained for years, are masters of at least one martial arts discipline (tae-kwon-do, kick-boxing, wrestling, judu, etc) and have risen from the ground by fighting real MMA warriors.

On the other hand, Kimbo Slice’s handlers (EliteXC) have to gingerly pit him against has-beens or those who equally have his crowd-drawing powers without posing  a real threat to Kimbo’s hand being raised by the referee at the end of the bout.  Kimbo staying a winner is the only way to make this internet sensation a marketable MMA product.  That’s economics my friend.

Kimbo Slice badly needs to win this bout more than ever.  If he does, he goes further at legitimizing his mettle as an MMA fighter by defeating a legitimate and named fighter such as Shamrock.  If he loses, he gets exposed as who he really is: a street brawler that’s even no match to someone with a long streak of loses as Ken Shamrock.  He will be exposed as someone posing as an MMA warrior used by Elite XC and CBS to drum up viewership.

Kudos to EliteXC and CBS for coming up with a formula as this.  This would really be another TV blockbuster, and this is going to be a good fare for the new MMA fans.  Hardcore MMA fans, just grit your teeth.  For your consolation, this increase of new MMA fans is going to be good for the growth of MMA in the long run.

That is, if the EliteXC-CBS formula of a Kimbo Slice headliner does not backfire.