Kimbo Slice needs no introduction. If by some slim chance you haven’t been on the internet lately, Kimbo is a street fighter that has turned to MMA. The YouTube sensation has finally responded to the comments made by Chuck Liddell. In an article posted on www.mmajunkie and Yahoo, Chuck had nothing good to say about the EliteXC star.

In response to the negative comments made by Chuck, Kimbo recently made and posted a video that is swirling about the internet. In the attached video you can hear his comments, as well as him challenging the UFC super star to a bare knuckle fight. Not only does he challenge him to the fight, but Kimbo also says he would do it at Chuck’s gym! Check it out and let the comments roll.

May 31^st will be a huge day for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as EliteXC is going to be the first major MMA organization on regular prime-time television. Saturday night will have a new show called “Saturday Night Fights” and EliteXc is going all in with this opportunity to show the world their skills. The first card is lining up with their some of their best talent to draw as many viewers as possible. Not only will they showcase one of the most popular street fighters in Kimbo Slice, but they will also show a true gladiator in Gina Carano. The fight card is also rumored to showcase MMA journeyman fighter Robbie Lawler along with Scott Smith, Maurilo Ninja Rua, and Phil Baroni.

Kimbo needs no introductions. The YouTube phenom is as popular as ever. The fans love him, EliteXC loves him, and Bas Rutten loves him. Kimbo is a huge draw for the organization, but he hasn’t been tested yet. He is 2-0 in less than 1:10 of professional fighting and because of that, he is something that people want to see. On May 31^st there will be a handful of people that will be logging in just to see Kimbo fight. EliteXC will grab as much money as they can from Kimbo as he is an an interesting draw. Many are rooting for him, but there are just as many rooting against him.

The American Gladiator, Gina Carano, herself looks to continue her impressive undefeated record on the same night. EliteXC is hoping that her popularity on the first season of the new gladiator show will leak over to Saturday nights on CBS. Like Kimbo she is another big draw, but for far different reasons. She is the most dominant female MMA fighter on the planet. She has a decent ground game, great Muay Thai skills, and is an attractive draw for the MMA organization.

Robbie Lawler is a fighter who has fought almost everywhere; UCF, Pride, IFL, Icon Sport, and even a few other places. He fights out of Team Hughes and will look to use Hughes’ consistent pressure and excellent training to be victories. Lawler is 15-4 and has heavy hands. He is an exciting fighter that can bring old school MMA fans to this new avenue of viewing the sport.

Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni will also look to use this television venture to up his stock. This Hammer House athlete will be in great shape and look to get back on his winning ways. He has lost his last two fights to Frank Shamrock and Kala Hose. Baroni also fought in Pride, UFC, and other organizations. In most of his fights he either knocked his opponent out, or got beat.

This is going to be a good card, and a great opportunity for EliteXC, as well as the sport overall. It is the first step in trying to take some of the wind out of the UFC’s wings. It is going to be a weekly showcase that could bring in new fans, as well as bring back some of the old ones. Don’t get me wrong, this is not the end all be all for MMA. The UFC is still going to dominate the sport for now, but this is huge. There are still questions that stick out in my mind about this journey? Kimbo and Gina can’t fight every card. What happens when Kimbo loses two in a row?

Rumors of late are that Fedor and Tim Sylvia may sign with the organization. If this is the case it raises the competition dramatically, but it won’t be long before the fans want to see Kimbo vs. Timmy, or Fedor. Currently the most dominant fighter in this organization is American Top Team fighter Antonio Silva. He is a true big man that could fight with the likes of Sylvia and others. It has been said that he is the next man to challenge Fedor. If EliteXC can sign Fedor it makes for a good matchup. Dana White and the UFC should be a little worried about this arrangement. Between this and the other organizations, talent is constantly improving and everyone is looking to dethrone the MMA giant; the UFC.

The internet phenomena makes sense to me. The fact that millions of people saw his videos on the internet, saw how hard he hits and how tough he looks and said “damn, that guy is one tough son-of-a-bitch,” makes sense. His ability to entertain makes sense, in the same way that Brock Lesnar’s showmanship does. His athleticism is considered a fixture in the same way that a professional boxer’s is; we may question it’s applicability in MMA, but it’s still there.

What I don’t understand is the shaky mix of feelings about the guy. Long time, hard core MMA fans, fans who experienced the street-fighting era of MMA that quickly dissipated after the appearance of Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and (slightly thereafter) Mark Coleman, hate Kimbo Slice. They hate Kimbo because they know that he’s not a serious fighter, that he doesn’t have the same level of technique that the long time fighters do. That hate is as passionate as it is for any professional wrestler or boxer that says they deserve to be considered a top “fighter” without fighting, except that Kimbo has stepped into the cage. (for that, in my mind, he’s earned a little respect, but it hasn’t done much to dissipate the other issues I have with him)

Many new wave fans (those who haven’t really connected themselves too closely with the hardcore fans) love Kimbo Slice. They think he’s exciting, he’s explosiveness and he’s powerful. They think that his viceral fighting style is all there is to fighting (despite the fact that the upper echelon of this sport has proven time and again that that is absolutely not true). The love him because they think he’s fun to watch.

Here’s what I don’t like, not just about Kimbo Slice, but about the way that he is treated by the fans.

No one talks about Kimbo’s loss. When he was just an internet fighter, his embarrassing loss to Sean Gannon (or what little we saw of it) was a big deal. It called into question his technical skills, even in terms of his fans. Still, that seems to have all been overshadowed by the fact that he is training with Bas Rutten. People take his coaching as proof of improvement, when we have seen absolutely nothing to show that that’s the case.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really like any gimmick fighter, and I see Kimbo as just that. I have no problem with a big, hard hitting dude, but that’s only if he’s got skills. (Tim Sylvia, Gan McGee and Hong Man Choi all have real kickboxing skills, and I’ve got no problem with that) If you put a guy in the cage and say: “This guy has punched out a couple of street punks and has a beard and wears a grill on his way into the cage, this is going to make a great fight!” then I’m going to have to ask you what you’re smoking and where I can get some.

So, Gary Shaw, who’s your dealer?

Look, I’m not going to smash on Kimbo because that’s the popular thing to do among hardcore MMA fans. I don’t have a problem with the guy, and I don’t think anyone can if they’ve seen his interviews, as he’s a decent guy with a kid trying to put food on the table. The fact is, I don’t think that Gary Shaw should be billing him as a serious competitor in this sport when everybody knows that that’s a load of crap.

Kimbo Slice is not the Mike Tyson of MMA. Period.

When we talk about Mike Tyson, yeah, we think of a badass with a thug attitude, but that’s not why he was the greatest sports sensation of the ’90s. Mike Tyson was the most recognizable sports sensation in the ’90s because he had some of the best technical skills and the most aggressive boxing on the planet. He hit harder than anyone and if you stepped in the ring with him, he was going to hit you so hard that you were going to wake up and wonder what your name was.

Kimbo hits hard, but if you put him in a cage with any of the top 20 fighters in MMA or K-1 and he’ll get his face rearranged.

Mirko CroCop would submit him, Jeff Monson would knock him out, hell, Fujita would probably beat him via groundnpound.

We’re talking about a fighter that has done nothing (and promises to do nothing) that will excite the world of MMA, or shock anyone who properly assesses the abysmal level of his competition.

There’s been alot of talk about him fighting Ken Shamrock, and all I have to say is: who cares?

I like Ken Shamrock as much as anyone, and I respect what he’s done for the sport. In my mind, no one has done more for MMA then Shamrock. What I will say is that Ken hasn’t won a fight in almost 4 years, and you’re going to call him serious competition?

That’s like putting Danny Abbadi in the cage with Anderson Silva and calling it the fight of the century.

Get it over with and put Kimbo in with Antonio Silva, so we can see the big bad bearded brawler get smashed and watch his hype machine crumble like the unstable mess it is. If you’re going to bill him as the best, put him on the top of the card and take the fight to his hometown, give him the best competition you have. Not the silver-goateed Tank and the retirement ready Shamrock.

C’mon Gary Shaw, if you’re not going to give us a serious matchup, you’re never going to compete, regardless of the hype you put together. Because if you don’t show that you are going to offer serious competition, then no legitimate heavyweight is going to want to sign with you. It’s that simple. Really, it is.

We recently learned that EliteXC has solidified themselves as a frontrunner in the race to get MMA on prime time television. Already, many are forecasting clouds and thunderstorms even before the MMA organization rounds the final turn as Adam Swift from MMA Payout releases some of the details of the agreement. Sure, it’s easy to predict doom on the organization that has used former street brawler Kimbo Slice, rappers, and cheerleaders during their latest Showtime event, but there’s much more to be excited about. There’s more than setting a live gate record and helping Showtime gain 11% in viewership. There’s the future of the sport.

Forget the ignorant viewers who already wrote off MMA. Forget the financing issues and matchmaking problems. Forget about Kimbo. Just drop all of the worries for a few minutes and hear me out.

This move by EliteXC and their parent company, Pro Elite, to move MMA to the mainstream can’t make things any worse for the people who have already written off the sport. Even if we manage to witness four amazing fights with technical submissions, mutual respect, and amazing well rounded fights, the anti-MMA crowd isn’t going to care. We need to worry about backing EliteXC and help them lobby themselves and CBS into making the right decisions. I don’t want to see rappers and cheerleaders on TV so I’m going to let it be known to EliteXC and CBS. I also don’t want Bill Goldberg within 500 miles of the event. Even though SpikeTV wrote off the efforts of Fightlinker to set up a three hour UFC Fight Night 13 broadcast, the MMA community came together and helped make a change for the good. Spike TV, although not quite as large as CBS, still listened to what we, the fans, wanted.

Not only can we do something good for the sport, we need to understand that EliteXC’s move to the mainstream is going to force other organizations to re-think their current strategies. The UFC needs to get a television deal, at least in the mind of Dana White. Getting a sponsorship deal with another alcohol brand isn’t going to force viewers to turn off their free MMA to pay $45 ($55 for us oh so fortunate HD viewers).

This leads me to my next point. Will free EliteXC try to go head to head with UFC PPV? I certainly doubt that. This sort of “friendly competition”, if you will, can help the sport move into homes where PPV isn’t an affordable option. These are the homes are younger wrestling fans who are becoming bored with fake fighting and are looking for a real hobby to pursue throughout the rest of their 18-35 year old lives.

Kimbo Slice had a past which led him through boat yards, parking lots, and other questionable venues, but once people see that a real fighter, not some street thug, is dominating on television, they may take the time to understand the sport a little bit more. I don’t care if you think Kimbo is dumb or if you think he is the next big thing, there’s a bigger picture to look at. EliteXC is piggybacking on the success of their latest show to sign this agreement and their attempt to bring MMA to everyone was the next big step for MMA. Let’s hope they do the right thing by providing our intelligent input. After all, our failure to help will ultimately be their failure - and there’s always the change of watching sport get sent back 10 years.

I feel bad for what seems like a constant barrage of criticism against the guy, but Dana White is asking for it. In an ESPN.com article regarding Tank Abbott’s recent loss to EliteXC’s up and coming slugger, Kimbo Slice, White talks a little about the recent EliteXC production and one of his fighters from the renaissance days of the UFC; Tank Abbott.

UFC president Dana White watched the Slice-Abbott fight Saturday after taking in the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight.

He prefers that Abbott call it a day.

“I think the whole thing was a farce,” White said of the EliteXC promotion. “I love Tank. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s always been good to me. But I don’t want to see that again.”

White would like Abbott to concentrate on the book and his next logical out-of-the-cage career move.

Currently, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn are the four entrants in the UFC’s Hall of Fame. Mark Coleman will be inducted at UFC 82 on March 1 in Ohio.

White said he has a plan for when Abbott announces he is done gloving up that will honor the colorful brawler, whose record is an underwhelming 9-14 but who undeniably helped grow the sport out of its infancy and into young adulthood.

“Tank Abbott,” White said, “absolutely will be in our Hall of Fame.”

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I’m a sucker for a circus act in the fight game. I love the ridiculousness of cartoon like characters, fighting thugs and monsters of all shapes and sizes, brought from depths of strange parts of the world to beat the hell out of each other for our enjoyment. What can I say? I love a freak show. When I heard Kimbo Slice was set to fight Tank Abbot In Miami, a short ride from my home, I bought tickets immediately and danced with glee knowing I would see at least 1 minute of pure chaos and destruction. Turns out I wasn’t the only one.

After some very entertaining preliminary fights of prospects giving everything they had, the arena started to fill up and fast. I noticed many “Team Kimbo” shirts and lots of gold grills. After inspecting the t-shirt stand I bought myself a classic Kimbo shirt complete with a shiny gold grill to fit in. What amazed me beyond the Kimbo fashion was the crowd that was milling about for the fights. These were not your average mma fans. These were Kimbo fans. There is a difference. Many of these people had never seen a true MMA fight before or really seemed to care about it. The minute any fight was without action or went to the ground for longer than thirty seconds they booed. They were bloodthirsty, they wanted action and they wanted it now.

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After watching EliteXC live on Showtime tonight, I came away with the impression that EliteXC does indeed have a chance in this UFC world of MMA. To solidify my case, I ask you this: when is the last time you watched three knockouts in a row for free? Sorry, boxing doesn’t count - not in this case at least. One of the KO’s came in the form of a knee to the head. Not until the heavyweight bout between Ricco Rodriguez and Antonio Silva did we see if the judges had any idea of how to score a bout. There were a few things that we could have done without considering this wasn’t the MTV Video Music Awards, but we’ll get to that later.

The televised production overall for a free production was seamless. The fights went on without the long UFC-like delay with the overdone trash talk between fighters and it was less than two hours from start to finish. The commentating, even with Bill Goldberg, was much better than I had expected, and there was even a short interesting clip of Goldberg attempting to train with Miami-native Slice. The judging was fair, the referees stopped the fights properly and there was much respect between everyone post-fight.

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Tonight is the battle of the street fighters. This fight has the making of a very exciting standup matchup (my guess for about a minute) . Take a look at the attached picture. This is a picture I found on www.mmajunkie.com. It seems like a picture that would be posted in a magazine asking for captions. I would love to post this on a betting website. I can only imagine the influx of gamblers that would bet on Kimbo - people that aren’t fans of MMA. This is hilarious. In my opinion this picture tells the entire story behind tonight’s fight.

Kimbo looks like a big muscle bound ogre that you would avoid on a dark night as you leave the bar. He is definitely a man among men, but in my opinion he will never be considered among the elite of Mixed Martial Arts. The sport has evolved and the best are no longer one sided fighters. They are good athletes that can compete in all areas of the game. They can stand and bang, or take you down and submit you. A testament of this is Josh Koscheck. He is the most decorated wrestler in the UFC, and his dominant wrestling skills aren’t enough to beat the likes of GSP (that actually out wrestled Koscheck in their fight.) Like I said in a previous article, this fight is more of a side show at the circus.

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Kimbo Slice is living proof that you can make a living via the internet. This one time backyard brawler made a name for himself on YouTube. I just did a search for “Kimbo”, it resulted in what it says is “about 3,860 videos”. I am confident that he doesn’t have that many fight videos, but the popularity alone for one man on that site is insane. If this can transfer into MMA popularity, it could mean big numbers for EliteXC. EliteXC’s new baby will have his next test this weekend against UFC legend Tank Abbott. In the professional world of Mixed Martial Arts this matchup seems more of a sideshow at the circus. Imagine this headline; Former Champ vs. Backyard Champ. The actual name of the event is “Street Certified”. If nothing else this promises to be a fight of two big men with real punching power.

Tank Abbott is a monster as he is the original street fighter. Tank’s MMA skills were developed from bar fights in Huntington Beach California. He is known for his punching power, and raw fighting talent. Throughout his fighting career is 9-13. He has fought in the UFC, Pride, and was once a professional wrestler. On the night when he made his debut as an MMA artist he knocked out a 400 pounder in 18 seconds! Unfortunately Tank’s career hasn’t gone the best. He is coming off of his third string of at least 3 losses in a row. Some of the notable fighters that Tank has fought are Frank Mir and Pedro Rizzo. Tank wasn’t scared to fight them, and he is not scared to fight Kimbo. If there is one downfall that Kimbo can exploit against Abbott, it would have to be his cardio. Tank has had problems with his cardio and it could become an issue if this fight of haymakers lasts into the later rounds. In many interviews Tank has said that he isn’t taking Kimbo lightly. He is down from 296 to 261 and according to Tank, he is ready for Kimbo! In my opinionI don’t feel that Tank has much to gain from this fight. If he loses he either rides off in the sunset to the closest bar, or is the guy that beat Kimbo. Either way, he is not on his way to the best heavy weight in the world.

Kevin Ferguson AKA Kimbo Slice is a result of camcorders, digital cameras, and the internet. His popularity exploded as his videos emerged online, as well as his pornography job. He is the huge guy with the beard. Like Tank, he is a street fighter. Kimbo could be in the same class as Tank minus one key man named Bas. Bas Rutten is one of the best MMA fighters of all time with a record of 28-4-1 and all wins since 1995. Bas sees something in Kimbo and he has taken the young fighter under his wing. Tank didn’t have such an influential fighter to mentor him and this could be a key factor in the professional development of Kimbo Slice. If Kimbo stays committed to MMA he will be able to achieve victory, but just like Tank, he wont be in anyone’s top 10 anytime soon; If ever.

Saturday night at the U, fans will get something they love at that school; a good fight. This fight could and will probably be won by one massive punch. Kimbo and Tank will both look like homerun hitters swinging for the fences early. If they both can weather the storm, we will see if either have any technique. Although this fight is not in the UFC Octagon it is drawing a good amount of popularity. I know I am planning on watching it. Neither of these two fighters will be fighting Fedor or Randy any time soon, but this should be an entertaining fight to watch.