This past Saturday Mixed Martial Arts was introduced to the mainstream when EliteXC aired on CBS in primetime. It was supposed to be an event that grabbed those still on the cusp of being interested in MMA. Early ratings came in showing that 4.3 million people watched the event and that number could have gone up as the main event came on after 11:00 PM. In addition, this showcase was designed to get EliteXC into the MMA spotlight and take some attention away from the big dog in the sport, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Unfortunately the event did not live up to the hype. The main reason for this being because of the way the main event ended, with a great deal of controversy.
EliteXC is a brand not many people have probably heard of. However, I'm sure most of you that consider yourself even casual MMA fans or sports fans in general have heard the name Kevin Ferguson, or rather you've heard him by his fighting name, "Kimbo Slice." EliteXC has been pimping out Slice for months now as their poster boy. He's the phenom from the streets. He's the YouTube legend. He's the man that came from nothing and into the spotlight. Kimbo is the fighter EliteXC is hitching its wagon to, hoping he'll propel them on toward giving the UFC some competition in the MMA world.
This past Saturday Kimbo could have done just that, but in my mind, he failed. Slice came into his fight against James Thompson with a 2-0 record, both wins coming via KO and TKO. This fight showed how little experience he truly has and that he is still a work in progress. In his first to fights he had only been in the cage for a total of 62 seconds. It was a different story on Saturday as Thompson made Kimbo work into the third round. This was the first fight Kimbo had been taken down and had to fight from his back. His lack of ground game showed as Thompson worked him over and at one point had him completely pinned against the cage. Kimbo did have a few good moves from the ground that got the fight back to a standing position, but his lack of overall experience was on display no doubt.
Thompson came into this fight sporting some serious cauliflower ear. It was even more apparent as the fight went on. By the time the third round came around, his ear was flopping around and it looked like it had a little balloon on it. Thompson's left ear became a target for Kimbo and when he landed a big blow to that ear, it popped. Blood shot out of it. It was one of the grossest things I've seen since I've been watching MMA. The shot to the ear threw Thompson's equilibrium off for a second but he regained his composure. The fight continued, but not for much longer. Kimbo landed a few more shots, and even though Thompson looked like he was OK to continue, the referee stopped the fight and awarded Kimbo the TKO victory. It was a controversial ending to say the least.
So did Kimbo live up to his hype. Not hardly. He's still a raw talent that has to continue to learn. Put him up against almost any heavyweight fighter in the UFC and he wouldn't stand much of a chance I believe. His stand up is that of of a dirty boxer or street fighting style, which makes sense considering where he came from. But his ground game is almost non-existent. He'll learn as he goes and could become a great fighter for EliteXC. But for now he's just a lot of hype without any true credibility.
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