If losing could be anything but bad, this could be the best defeat Kimbo has ever had. By losing, Kimbo Slice won the hearts and acceptance of a lot of haters…and that includes Kimbo-thrasher Dana White.

Days before the airing of the September 30 edition of the reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” over Spike TV, MMA fans were already raving about it like it was the Lesnar-Fedor match finally taking shape. The reason: after Kimbo crashed and burned under Seth Petruzelli (and after losing to a worm in that Norton Security ad) this is going to be the first time we will see the bearded one slug it out in the cage again.

Kimbo Slice, whether you like it or not, has done in a few matches what Dana White has been trying to do for MMA – and barely succeeded: that is to draw more attention to mixed martial arts. Whether you like it or not, the much maligned, overly belittled and scathingly thrash-talked Kimbo is one of MMA’s biggest crowd-drawers. He drew the biggest TV viewership (at 7.281 million viewers during the Kimbo vs. Thompson bout) for an MMA fight in American TV last year. To top this, two of the three most viewed MMA fights last year are Kimbo Slice headliners.

Most of the hardcore MMA fans hate him, for good reason. Kimbo Slice is not a mixed martial arts fighter, but the amount of hype and attention (and huge pay scale) he gets does injustice to real MMA fighters. He gives the new fans the wrong impression of what real mixed martial arts is. An MMA poser he is, and it didn’t take long before some obscure MMA-fighter-turned-Smoothie King-franchisee Petruzelli showed the world what a fake he is – in just 14 seconds of the first round.

But still…Kimbo Slice was a crowd-drawer.

Now, Dana White struts him off on “The Ultimate Fighter.” And we say, “Good call, DW!” It means Kimbo’s crowd-drawing magic would rub off on the show. And it did – it’s first two episodes raked it’s highest ratings ever. So it came as a shock when White announced that a Kimbo fight was slated as early as the third week of TUF 10 against the much experienced Roy “Big Country” Nelson. If Slice loses, just like any contender who loses, he gets kicked out of the show

What was White thinking? There’s not an iota of doubt that Kimbo would lose.

And Kimbo lost.

But wait…

After losing to “Big Country,” haters started to feel differently about Kimbo. Even “real” MMA fighters and coaches on the show who sneered and swore and mocked him when he was first introduced on the first episode started to warm up on him. They started to praise him and his efforts.

And Dana White is keeping him on the show despite the loss.

…. and he can continue rubbing off his crowd-drawing magic on the show, on UFC, and on mixed martial arts in general.

Kimbo Slice lost this particular battle, but he seems to be winning the war.

The question is: is Kimbo Slice’s victory a loss for MMA?

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.

“I’ve never changed my tune on him, I’ve never changed my mind,” was Dana White’s straight answer to the question.

But.

Listen to the rest of the interview and you’ll see the difference in melody now that he’s “climbing in bed with him.”

It was just last year when Dana White led the pack of those who were so critical of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Fergusson. He called Kimbo a “joke,” a “bum,” “he sucks,” and all sorts of unimaginable demeaning description of the YouTube street-brawling sensation. We also remember White saying Kimbo Slice “will be murdered if he fought in the UFC.”

Now that Kimbo Slice is going to fight to join the UFC via season ten of the Ultimate Fighter, listen to the interview…

“I know he’s a fighter. I know Kimbo is a fighter. The guy fights… he fights. You know, we see him fight in the streets. He’s had professional mixed martial arts fights.” This sounds like someone pitching for Kimbo. Perhaps as a measure, White adds, “Is he a mixed martial artist? We’re gonna find out.”

Here’s more…

“I respect him for coming in and doing the Ultimate Fighter. I respect him, you know. And I did talk a lot of sh@t about him, and he’s here to prove himself.”

“That’s one of the things I respect about him is that he’s honestly…legitimately trying to get into mixed martial arts and trying to get into the big show.” Now, that’s a lot of “respect” as a word coming out of Dana’s mouth talking about Kimbo. How time flies! He even talked about the guy getting some offers in boxing and, not unlike a concerned friend, he said there’s no money in boxing unless you fight a Mayweather or a Pacquiao. Then he proceeded in praising Kimbo Slice’s manager for really taking good care of him.

All in all, we sense a sweeter tune…a love song, in fact, coming from Dana White as regards to Kimbo Slice. In fairness to the guy who made UFC MMA’s biggest outfit, he can easily say he didn’t change his tune. In fact, he reminded us of what he said before, “The only way this guy will ever get to the UFC is through the Ultimate Fighter.”

Interestingly, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have been griping about the lackluster treatment the so-called “real media” (White’s terminology) gives to mixed martial arts. This gives us the feeling that the UFC triumvirate is revving up their efforts at marketing the sport to a wider audience base. What better way to do this than to have the name that earned the highest rating in the history of MMA television – Kimbo Slice.

The fact that The Ultimate Fighter’s format was changed– from requiring wannabe TUF fighter to win a qualifying fight – to simply handpicking the 16 contestants, speaks so much about what Dana White and company want.

This also makes it difficult for us not to think that Kimbo would linger longer in the show by not having him fight early on. Why risk eliminating Kimbo Slice so soon? Just having this hulk do his reality drama without the fight, would be enough to keep the ratings sky high – this will not be a very bad idea.

However, what if Kimbo proves to still possess his crowd-drawing powers, would TUF or UFC fake a Kimbo Slice win so he could join the ranks of UFC gladiators to further boost UFC’s popularity?

How would the fans react to a Kimbo Slice win? Would they cry “fake”? Would it backfire? We see a lot of questions arising from this change of tune. The more reason for us to watch TUF 10.

Dana White, I see what you did there!

 

It seems like it was only yesterday when MMA Weekly first witnessed Gina Carano slugging it out with Julie Kedzie.  If it were your first time to watch a mixed martial arts fight, and one of the first fighters you’d see inside the octagon was Kimbo Slice, you’d surely have a very different idea (humungously different from the real deal) of what real mixed martial arts is all about.

Conversely, it was my first time to watch women mixed martial artists to actually fight, and Gina Carano was the first woman I saw slugging it out inside the octagon.  The result was a very positive impression of what women mixed martial arts is all about.  The two women, Gina and Julie were simply dynamite!  I would even say that they fought better than some of the male MMA gladiators I’ve watched all these years!

With the folding up of Elite XC, Gina Carano’s fate as a fighter hangs in uncertainty.  This should have been a great opportunity for her to hop on to a bigger, more respected MMA organization: the UFC.  Unfortunately, Dana White have expressed reservations about female MMA warriors.  He must share what most of us guys think about women in MMA.

The first time I heard about female mixed martial artists, I thought, “Phooey! If I want to see a catfight, I’d go to some underground sleazy joints that feature mud wrestling.”  Truth is, I am somewhat against the idea of seeing women’s faces getting beaten, bruised, and bloodied.  Hey, they’re supposed to be supple and soft, right?  Besides, Americans, and the world in general may not want to see women (warriors or not) beaten down the mat.  

Seeing that fight between two women a couple of years back made me change my opinion.  The women–real women, not the hulky muscled type with masculine faces only their mothers would love—fought like real fighters that they are.  Watching them fight would make you change your old-fashioned perception of women as the weak, lesser specie of the humankind.  No, no, no.  Gina and Julie were real fighters.  Women MMA fighters have to thank Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie for giving the female version of the sport a very good first impression to the world.

It’s a shame that the possibility of seeing Gina Carano fight again remains an uncertainty.  Unlike in her case, Kimbo Slice seem to have a better chance of getting on the UFC bandwagon.  Dana White just made a turn-around about his stand about how to deal with the internet sensation.  While White previously said Kimbo is not an MMA artist, he said Kimbo can fight in the UFC.  “The offer’s out there if he wants to take it, (but) he won’t win it.”

If ever, there’s still the issue about Kimbo’s and Gina Carano’s contract with Elite XC to deal with before they could consider a UFC fight.  With Gina Carano’s popularity now, a trip to Hollywood tinseltown may be a lot easier.

 

 

 

 

 

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!)

Just a couple of days more and we will see what fate hangs for the second most popular Mix Martial Arts organization in the United States.  Elite XC fields Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano for its third and last live broadcast with CBS, and the network TV ratings games will determine the company’s perilous make-or-break situation as it broadcasts its fight over CBS from the BankAtlantic Center on October 4.

The Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano headliner is an obvious attempt to make a repeat of that first broadcast with CBS last May 31 (which also happened to be the first mixed martial arts fight to be aired on network television).  This move is quite the most obvious and the most expected from the suits of Elite XC and CBS (whoever is really running the show).  After all, the formula they used gave that card an astounding success in the ratings game with a 3.0 rating and 4.85 million viewers.

While that May 31 bout was hugely successful, a lot of feedbacks from hardcore MMA fans were largely negative.  They complained that the bout did give the new fans of MMA a wrong impression of what mixed martial arts is all about, they complained of too much fanfare and pizzazz on the show, and they complained about an MMA nobody, Kimbo Slice, being the headliner instead of some true-blue MMA warrior.  Elite XC and CBS must have been convinced by all these complaints that they fielded “true-blue” MMA fighters on their second telecast. 

It was a costly mistake. 

It turns out the “Biggest Fight in MMA” history works with a Hollywood formula: casting is number one.  You see, movie-goers wouldn’t be interested in watching a movie starred by our regular “true-blue” MMA gladiators. 

On the other hand, cast a show with someone like Kimbo Slice who is more of a celebrity both in and out of the mixed martial arts world.  While at it, throw in the beautiful Hollywoodish Gina Carano and you have a blockbuster.  All the showbiz elements are there: Kimbo Slice looks like a thug but a lot of people know him as a good person who’s just down on luck (at least before the MMA break), a good father of six kids who is given a shot at making it big in the MMA.  Sounds like a good movie characterization and plot to me.

Take Gina Carano, stand her beside Eva Mendez or Hillary Swank, and I’ll pick “my” Gina Carano any day of the week. 

 

Let’s face it, Elite XC is not like our UFC where real fighters get to be appreciated by “real” MMA fans.  Elite XC is doing mixed martial arts a favour by introducing the sport to a wider audience, not without some sacrifices.  You will know when more newbie MMA fans are present, when the crowd boos ground games and delights at fist fights.  Let’s just hope that the CBS telecast on October 4 (which we are sure would be a success) would be able to change Elite XC’s luck.

And Oh, by the way, it’s not me writing this blog.  It’s my Hollywood reporter alter-ego pinch-hitting for me.  The Dr. Jekyll to my Mr. Hyde.  Cheerio!

 

Looking more like “Mr. T” with his do and acting more like the phony wrestler on an 80’s TV show, Brett Rogers went on trash-talking Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock.

Elite XC looks excitedly towards October 4 for another MMA tv blockbuster headlined by Kimbo Slice.  Hanging on to the thin thread of salvation, Elite XC clings on the the Gina Carano-Kimbo Slice combination as sure-fire crowd-drawers.  While it was easy finding a match for Gina Carano in Kelly Kobold-Gavin, fight organizers took a while before deciding on pitting Ken Shamrock against Kimbo Slice.

And here comes Brett “the Grim” Rogers crying, “We waz wobbed!”

Rogers says the October 4 match with Kimbo Slice was, “our spot. Shamrock with his name and giant ego butted in line to get a slice of Kevin. At 103 years of age Ken usurped our rightful place against the YouTube champ. Our sincerest hope is that Ken whips Kimbo and then we can finally euthanize the "World's Most Dangerous Man" and relegate him to some MMA dinosaur exhibit. Maybe taxidermy him and (Dan) Severn and place them on a rotating pedestal where they can endless circle each other.”

Rogers’ contention is that if Kimbo can slice Shamrock, a true-blue MMA fighter inside-out, it would lend more credence to Kimbo’s having “paid his dues.”  As we see it, Ken fits the bill of anyone who should fight Kimbo Slice, if we are to use Elite XC’s requirements of a Kimbo Slice fight: old, fading, has-been MMA fighter who does not pose a threat to their poster boy’s saleability as an MMA crowd-drawer.

Kimbo Slice loses and his gold shines lesser.  In fact, it that it would hurt him far worse than another mixed martial arts warrior who would lose.  Take Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Robbie Lawler…name any MMA fighter and make them lose.  If they do, life would go on for them as they pick up the pieces and pick another fight to regain their glory.

That wouldn’t be the case with Kimbo Slice.  He’s like a clay jar. Crack it, and it’s cracked forever.

This is what makes Kimbo Slice more interesting as an MMA prize bout.  Elite XC dangles him up like a piñata but they dangle him high enough to get hit and that only the short ones are allowed to hold the bat to take a shot.

This is what Brett “The Grim” Rogers is all crying about.  In a way, he doesn’t fare any better than Kimbo Slice in the hierarchy of fighters.  He is an out of shape fighter looking out for a shot at glory and Kimbo Slice is surely a good ticket to the big league casting.

 

 

 

  

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.

 

 

Didn’t we just say Heath Herring’s loss to a rookie could spell disaster to his career?

When asked what happened during that disastrous match with pro-wrestler Brock Lesnar, he pointed out the overhand right punch that caught him right in the eye.  “I didn’t see it coming and I got caught with it. That definitely had an effect on the outcome of the fight…. I wasn’t able to see. Right at the beginning of the fight you’re blind. How much does that affect you? I don’t know. It’s not good.”  

That heavy Brock Lesnar right hand did drop him at the beginning of the fight, and the rest was nothing short of brutal pounding that ended with Herring's loss in a unanimous-decision on that other weekend’s bout.

Last time we heard, Heath is considering some acting parts in movies.  But moving to Hollywood may still seem to be a remote possibility as he is more bent on training harder for that elusive shot at the championship slot.  And he’s got Lesnar in the crosshairs for his choice of opponent once he gets back on harness–if it can be helped.

Heath points out that Lesnar couldn’t finish him throughout the entire fight, he has to win via unanimous decision.  “We took his best shot and went on from there. I’d love for him to take one of mine, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elite XC continues to bleed.

Not even a contract with CBS could help this MMA organization that, a check with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals, they are scampering for more funds from wherever they can find them.  Reports say that the best they could expect to have would just be enough to last them till the end of the year.

It appears that the successful May 31 premier telecast (the first official telecast of an MMA on network TV) was just a flash in the pan, and Elite XC could hardly keep up the fire.  The second telecast only blipped a mere 1.7 rating—a  rating score that is even considered unacceptable for a Saturday night lull.

No amount of an exciting prospect, even of having spectacular matches among “real” MMA superstars like Robbie Lawler and Antonio Silva, could seem to drag people in front of the boob tube for an Elite XC and CBS telecast.  We commented on our earlier posts that CBS have favoured “real fighters” on that July 26 card—without Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano.

Wrong move.  It appears.

Now, they are fielding Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano again for salvation.  Gina Carano is expected to face Kelly Kobold-Gavin, while Kimbo’s opponent remains unknown—this is another source of difficulty.  Outside of his being a crowd-drawer, Kimbo Slice is old and inexperienced.  The safest route to keeping him a star is to ensure he doesn’t lose by pitting him against beyond-their-prime fighters.  However, until when would the fans not see the one-sidedness of this?

Elite XC shakes and rattles

Elite XC is in a bit of a shaky ground nowadays.  Internal layoffs are rife, key officers are resigning, and several shows have been cancelled.  It seems that another Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano headliner is in order.  Perhaps this could pour in a little more money—and confidence to Elite XC.

Elite XC insiders also said CBS is not paying them enough. UFC owners, who have earlier talked with CBS, must be saying, “Told ya!” 

Xxxxxxxx

Watch out for the third instalment of the Strikeforce “Young Guns” series on Sept. 18 at the Civic Auditorium in San Jose, Calif.

• Alvin Cacdac vs. Jose Palacios 
• Luke Rockhold vs. TBA 
• David Barrios vs. Andrew Valladarez 
• Evan Esguerra vs. Gabby Solorio 
• Ron Kesler vs. Eric Meaders 
• Chris Bostick vs. Jose Interiano 
• David Ashkinaz vs. Yohan Banks 
• Adam Antolin vs. Hugo Govea 
• Justin Holdaas vs. Jaime Rodriguez 
• Genaro Strangis vs. Alexander Trivino 
• Mike Davis vs. O.J. Dominguez