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!)
