Elite Finish

As I began to write an article about the previous EliteXC event I started to wonder one question, “Who is Kimbo Slice.” This seems to be a mystery that fans around the world are asking themselves as well. Some have the correct answer but many are completely wrong!

Kimbo Slice is a professional mixed martial artist. He is no longer the backyard brawler. He no longer gets paid to fight in the streets, but all of a sudden he is no longer undefeated. Right now the casual fan of Slice is terrified. People are saying that Kimbo is going to lose his Tapout sponsor. They are even saying that he could be done as a fighter… Sure, he lost, but let’s not get crazy. Name me 1 MMA fighter that has never lost in their career. If you are a Kimbo fan take a deep breath, woosa, or count to 10, everything is going to be just fine.

If you are not the casual mma fan and have a solid knowledge of the sport then you understand that Kimbo is a superstar mostly on name and reputation alone. He has not proven that he has been able to add a solid ground game of any kind to his bag of tricks. He has yet to prove that he has the true stamina to control a fight with an active pace from start to finish. If you are a Kimbo fan, you may already be cussing at me trying to find the comment box to tell me just how wrong I am, and how great Slice is. The truth is, against Seth Petruzelli we learned nothing about Kimbo. The truth is, he is not an elite fighter and never will be.

Kimbo is a charismatic figure that is easier compared to a pro wrestler than pro mma fighter. His beard is now as much of a costume or prop than just facial hair. He draws fans that have never heard of Pat Militech, Royce Gracie, or John Hackleman. He brings in the fans with his name, the organization puts up competition that he can beat, and all he has to do is win. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy. Everyone wants to beat Kimbo. Until now, everyone wanted to be the first to dethrone the internet king! He was getting the best out of each of his opponents. Lucky for him they weren’t very good. Not including Sat’s loss the combined records of opponent has been 33-34. That tells you that he hasn’t been fighting the cream of the crop. The loss proved nothing. Most importantly it did not prove that Kimbo is not elite. We already knew that. Kimbo may never be elite in terms of mma talent. He will never be the type that could challenge for the UFC title, never be considered the top heavy weight in the world, and will probably not ever hold any major title. What he will do is continue to live the American Dream, make his money, and smile everyday that he is making a living doing nothing more than being Kimbo Slice.