Kimbo Slice fails to beat Roy Nelson, but did he really lose much?
It’s still hard to know exactly what to make of Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson. His exit from the TUF Heavyweight contest last night was perhaps inevitable. By pitting him against unofficial series favorite 17-4 Roy “Big Country” Nelson, rival coach Rashad Evans had given the backyard brawler a mountain to climb and a vast gulf of experience to overcome.
Over the course of a bout, which lasted less than two rounds, fans ultimately learned little that they didn’t already know. Kimbo Slice proved as ever that he’s nothing if not a gamer, taking the fight to his vastly more experienced opponent from the get go. He even threatened to find his way through on occasions. Most notably Slice’s stinging combinations rattled Nelson early in the second before the former IFL champion’s superior top game proved a comfortable match for the ever green Slice.
However way you look at it, Kimbo faired a lot better than most realistic observers could have predicted (despite what remains a total lack any ground game whatsoever). His stand up combinations looked crisp and he remained composed under pressure.
After all that’s been said about Slice’s supposedly civilian technically abilities, it was somewhat ironic that Nelson won through not by some exotically named spinning strike, hold or submission technique, but a by way of a good old fashioned belly smothering. Anyone hoping to see how Kimbo would fair dealing with complex transitions and avoiding sweeps will have been sorely disappointed.
So what the hell is next? The record breaking viewing figures for Kimbo’s TUF debut will have insured the Bahaman born brawler some kind of future with Zuffa. Roy Nelson had only ever been finished by one of the most technically gifted strikers in the Heavyweight division (in Andrei Arlovski), so the fact that Slice even managed to rattle him at all was impressive in itself.
Ironically, as a general acceptance of Slice’s skills and limitations, it could well serve to increase his appeal, (especially amongst more dismissive mma elitists). His rags to riches story certainly won’t end with him lifting any MMA title worth it’s salt, but it’s undeniably captured the imagination of fans that might otherwise not have been drawn to MMA, and that’s definitely a good thing. By stepping up to compete in a sport in, which many argued he didn’t belong in, Slice has shown courage, class and character. And despite EliteXC insisting on erroneously promoting him as the MMA equivalent of Iron Mike Tyson in his ferocious prime, Kimbo Slice himself has always been realistic, attacking the steep learning curve with commendable enthusiasm.
People love a character, be it a counter terrorist cop turned politician (like Mirko Cro Cop), a kick ass high school Math teacher (in Rich Franklin) or indeed the bodyguard of a porn baron turned backyard brawling sensation (in Kimbo Slice).
Whisper it softly, but with ever popular former champions like Liddell and Griffin in need of high-profile, low-risk comeback options, and Kimbo Slice’s mere presence all but guaranteed to insure astronomical PPV figures, things could get very interesting yet for the ‘YouTube sensation.’
