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Author
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Topic: Kimbo bashed in review....
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Mr.Lucky
CAFords OG
Member # 1772
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posted
 
 
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dw-kimbo100508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
SUNRISE, Fla. – The legend of Kimbo Slice was built by beating bums in boat yards and back alleys not far from here. It came crashing down Saturday courtesy of a quick punch from a pink-haired journeyman giving up two inches in height, four in reach and 30 pounds in muscle and might.
One simple shot sent Slice to the canvas and from there some guy named Seth Petruzelli needed just 12 punches and 14 seconds to put an end (we hope) to one of the great sporting charades of all time.
It was just a matter of time before Kimbo got exposed. He was little more than a character out of central casting, a bunch of addictive YouTube videos and a lot of insane hype by CBS, which made him a headliner before he made himself a fighter.
He was the Kimbo the Cash Machine, everyone lining up to exploit the lie that this was the baddest man on earth as long as he could walk through hand-picked tomato cans.
Only this time his match with 44-year-old Ken Shamrock, who hadn’t won a fight in over four years, fell apart when Shamrock cut his eye in a light training session Saturday and was deemed unfit to fight by state officials.
In the scramble to find a suitable replacement that Slice couldn’t possibly lose to, EliteXC considered Shamrock’s brother, Frank, who was there to be CBS’s color commentator, hadn’t fought lately due to a broken arm and would have given up around 45 pounds. Despite all this, Frank likely would have submitted Kimbo in the first round.
When that matchup couldn’t happen (EliteXC said state officials wouldn’t clear him, Frank said they did but CBS blocked it), EliteXC promoters turned to Petruzelli. The Fort Myers, Fla., native had been dumped by the big-league UFC, was just 2-2 since 2004, had recently taken a year off to start a business, weighed just 205 (to Kimbo’s 235) and was so lightly regarded he was competing in the non-televised undercard.
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Despite the oft-repeated propaganda that Slice was a man of “courage” for taking a fight with this smaller guy who was likely to stand and trade punches anyway, EliteXC paid Kimbo a cash bonus just to get him to step into the cage.
“We made it up to him,” said Jeremy Lappen, EliteXC’s head of fight operations. He wouldn’t disclose the amount.
For the myth of Slice, the matchup may not be a 44-year-old on a losing streak or someone from the broadcast booth, but really, what was the worst thing that could happen?
“It didn’t feel too flush,” Petruzelli said of the first punch that apparently didn’t even need to land squarely to fell Kimbo.
Make no mistake – or listen to the EliteXC spin – this was a disaster for Slice and the company. “This is MMA, all the best have lost,” said Lappen. True, but Kimbo wasn’t defeated by a crafty Brazilian jiu-jitsu master. He wasn’t caught in a submission by an experienced wrestler. He didn’t lose a decision after a three-round brawl.
Those would be understandable considering his novice status.
Kimbo was KTFO by a guy he absolutely towered over yet was willing to bang with him anyway. Not that Kimbo did any banging. Slice charged him (“He was like a truck,” Petruzelli said) but he never actually landed a punch.
In the end, Kimbo’s hand speed, defense and chin proved incapable against even an average mixed martial artist. Which was pretty much what every hardcore fan had predicted.
Not that CBS didn’t keep up with the Slice willing to fight, “anyone, anywhere, at anytime.” This was a 100 percent true statement if “anyone, anywhere, at anytime” means “no one any good, anywhere, ever.”
Slice seemed stunned and a bit saddened at the turn of events. After it was over, he initially began wrestling the referee. Whether that was a protest for the decision or because he was dazed isn’t certain. Then he walked around the cage complaining to fans about the stoppage.
Later he walked out on his CBS interview (“Kimbo?” asked a stunned Gus Johnson), although not before inviting America to an after party at a local nightclub. Then he showed up 45 minutes late for the main press conference, where he gave a quick statement and bailed.
“I got my first black eye,” he laughed. He later turned to Petruzelli and joked, “You knocked me out in front of my family; that’s (expletive) up.”
Through it all Slice remained the only likable character of this foolish farce. He wasn’t the one claiming he was the best in the world. He was just a working-class dude who figured out how to beat the system and cash in on his 15 minutes of fleeting fame.
He’s got kids to feed and bills to pay and right to the end, he was milking bonuses out of the promotion, a one-time homeless man holding the Tiffany Network’s prime-time programming hostage. Only in America.
He was the grand actor in the middle of a three-ring circus, a tall tale that would eventually come tumbling down under the bright glare of reality.
Where Slice goes from here is anyone’s guess. He can’t rebuild his reputation without stepping up in competition from the guy who just beat him in seconds. He can’t headline a card and have anyone believe he’s legit. He can’t claim he, “just got caught” when it wasn’t some wild, roundhouse right or sneaky arm-bar that did him in.
The truth was always coming for Kimbo. Saturday it arrived sooner rather than later, the money train grinding to a halt courtesy of a smaller, less heralded fighter that no one can claim is some elite champion.
No, this was it. It’ll never be the same, not for the fighter and not, perhaps, for his entire promotion that just lost its signature star on top of the $58 million it’s burned the past two years.
Afterward, EliteXC execs tried to paint a bright future but admitted they needed a drink. Lower-level employees used gallows humor about finding new jobs.
Kimbo just said he was going home to see his kids.
In 14 seconds flat, the whole mirage was gone.
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Posts: 4197 | From: Manteca | Registered: Sep 2002
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50DADDY
CAFords OG
Member # 3076
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posted
Very dissapointing,but kinda what i expected to see.
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Posts: 4827 | From: Suckramento | Registered: Jul 2003
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N8
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Member # 6048
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posted
Sad thing is. Without Kimbo, this sport (to me) drops off the face of the planet. Also the bashing of Kimbo speaks more to the circus-like aura that is Elite Fighting. I mean all people are capable of losing. I can name quite a few Hall of Fame boxers that just got caught with a hot one and fell. But only to climb later, and be higher. It is sad that they are coming down on Kimbo so hard. But even sadder, is that it ruins the credibility of Elite FC to me. I dont think he should be cast from the sport. Hell I think he can still be a force in it. But call it what it is. He is human. Since when is that bad?
Posts: 11638 | Registered: Sep 2005
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t top freak
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Member # 6269
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posted
im not a kimbo fan...but this review sounds like a bitter girlfriend that just got dumped.
like kimbo is the only fighter in the history of professional fight sports thats ever been knocked out when he should have won ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
pull your panties out of your vagina, throw them in the laundry and shut up
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Posts: 1023 | From: sacramento | Registered: Dec 2005
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5.t0es
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Member # 5864
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
Sad thing is. Without Kimbo, this sport (to me) drops off the face of the planet. Also the bashing of Kimbo speaks more to the circus-like aura that is Elite Fighting. I mean all people are capable of losing. I can name quite a few Hall of Fame boxers that just got caught with a hot one and fell. But only to climb later, and be higher. It is sad that they are coming down on Kimbo so hard. But even sadder, is that it ruins the credibility of Elite FC to me. I dont think he should be cast from the sport. Hell I think he can still be a force in it. But call it what it is. He is human. Since when is that bad?
im a kimbo fan.......he isnt as great as everyone thinks..he isnt being bashed and the mma world will be just fine elite xc may not be tho lol
Posts: 2990 | From: eb | Registered: Jul 2005
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warhorse58gt
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Member # 7702
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posted
i'm so so kimbo fan. but he lost so what. everyone does ask the iceman. he has some skills but he has had only 4 pro fights. give the guy some slack. and this just sets up kimbo vs. ken again. ![[patriot]](graemlins/patriot.gif)
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WOLFPACK RACING
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Posts: 4200 | From: 209 | Registered: Jun 2007
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89point.
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Member # 6078
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posted
sorry n8 you are way wrong on this one.. to the casual fan who just started watching mma cause they heard of kimbo slice or who came over thanks to the the tuf show or tap out maybe they will drop off but with or without kimbo mma is going no where but up
Posts: 2727 | From: martinez | Registered: Oct 2005
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Venomized93
Founding Member
Member # 55
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posted
I don't know, but GINA CARANO is fucking HOT and SEXY
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Posts: 2077 | From: San Francisco, California | Registered: Oct 2000
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uncle bill
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Member # 3953
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posted
n8, your right about one thing, kimbo was good for the ratings he made them money and thats what its all about. i never was a kimbo fan he was all hype. beat up a bunch of bums on youtube and became a pro just like that. set him up with a bunch of loosers(tank abbott) and the rest of the setup fights. was probably set to beat shamrock too. then comes seth and somebody forgot to tell seth he was supposed to loose. i disagree with your comparison to tyson. mike worked his way up the real way and he was a champion he was for real
Posts: 415 | From: antioch | Registered: Dec 2003
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N8
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Member # 6048
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posted
Yea it was bad to compare iron mike to him. But it was just the aura or invicibility I was comparing. And I think I am getting MMA and Elite FC mixed up. Is MMA everything combined and Elite is but one piece? Anyway, it brought me over and I never heard of it before. And I doubt I watch it if he leaves. The rest of the guys are just so lackluster to me.
Posts: 11638 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Wildfire532FB
CAFords OG
Member # 1482
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
Sad thing is. Without Kimbo, this sport (to me) drops off the face of the planet. Also the bashing of Kimbo speaks more to the circus-like aura that is Elite Fighting. I mean all people are capable of losing. I can name quite a few Hall of Fame boxers that just got caught with a hot one and fell. But only to climb later, and be higher. It is sad that they are coming down on Kimbo so hard. But even sadder, is that it ruins the credibility of Elite FC to me. I dont think he should be cast from the sport. Hell I think he can still be a force in it. But call it what it is. He is human. Since when is that bad?
Kimbo didn't even make it into the UFC, how could you say the sport is going to drop of the face of the planet? I've been watching the UFC for a while and i never expect Kimbo to get to their level anytime soon. He was just a street fighter that was good at street fighting.
[ October 06, 2008, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: 532Fastback ]
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Posts: 17578 | From: 530 | Registered: Jun 2002
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t top freak
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Member # 6269
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
Yea it was bad to compare iron mike to him. But it was just the aura or invicibility I was comparing. And I think I am getting MMA and Elite FC mixed up. Is MMA everything combined and Elite is but one piece? Anyway, it brought me over and I never heard of it before. And I doubt I watch it if he leaves. The rest of the guys are just so lackluster to me.
elite xc is just a league, mma is the sport.
compare it like the aba to the nba. aba being elite xc and nba being ufc.
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Posts: 1023 | From: sacramento | Registered: Dec 2005
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N8
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Member # 6048
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by 532Fastback:
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
Sad thing is. Without Kimbo, this sport (to me) drops off the face of the planet. Also the bashing of Kimbo speaks more to the circus-like aura that is Elite Fighting. I mean all people are capable of losing. I can name quite a few Hall of Fame boxers that just got caught with a hot one and fell. But only to climb later, and be higher. It is sad that they are coming down on Kimbo so hard. But even sadder, is that it ruins the credibility of Elite FC to me. I dont think he should be cast from the sport. Hell I think he can still be a force in it. But call it what it is. He is human. Since when is that bad?
Kimbo didn't even make it into the UFC, how could you say the sport is going to drop of the face of the planet? I've been watching the UFC for a while and i never expect Kimbo to get to their level anytime soon. He was just a street fighter that was good at street fighting.
The keyword is "to me". I am saying personally he was the draw for me. I never did and wont watch another one. I know some of you are heavy MMA fans. SO I know he is maybe a bum to you guys. But if a sport can cast a guy away after one loss and he is a seriously green competitor. Then it wont keep my attention anyway. Just makes it seem more circus like. Its just my opinion thats all. I just think the guy is not getting a fair shake.
Posts: 11638 | Registered: Sep 2005
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68dustin
CAFords OG
Member # 5388
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Venomized93:
I don't know, but GINA CARANO is fucking HOT and SEXY
veeery nice veeery nice....
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Posts: 3986 | From: neverland | Registered: Feb 2005
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850 Turb0
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Member # 6478
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posted
The no-name that beat him (Seth Petruzelli or something) is openly gay as well. That's got to hurt.
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It's just cheese.
Posts: 88 | From: Alameda | Registered: Feb 2006
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svfreerider87
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Member # 5748
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by 850 Turb0:
The no-name that beat him (Seth Petruzelli or something) is openly gay as well. That's got to hurt.
wow, that would explain his pink mouthpiece. that does have to hurt.
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Posts: 1685 | From: Sunnyvale | Registered: Jun 2005
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East Bay 50
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Member # 8081
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by 850 Turb0:
The no-name that beat him (Seth Petruzelli or something) is openly gay as well. That's got to hurt.
You have got to be joking!
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Posts: 2699 | Registered: Dec 2007
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Mr.Lucky
CAFords OG
Member # 1772
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by SmokinLX:
quote:
Originally posted by xvt's 85 5.0:
![[Eek!]](eek.gif) It's true. http://deadspin.com/5059233/meet-the-man-who-felled-kimbo
Kimbo may commit suicide after seeing this .
lmfao ![[worship]](graemlins/worship.gif)
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Posts: 4197 | From: Manteca | Registered: Sep 2002
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93LX342
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Member # 1793
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
quote:
Originally posted by 532Fastback:
quote:
Originally posted by N8:
Sad thing is. Without Kimbo, this sport (to me) drops off the face of the planet. Also the bashing of Kimbo speaks more to the circus-like aura that is Elite Fighting. I mean all people are capable of losing. I can name quite a few Hall of Fame boxers that just got caught with a hot one and fell. But only to climb later, and be higher. It is sad that they are coming down on Kimbo so hard. But even sadder, is that it ruins the credibility of Elite FC to me. I dont think he should be cast from the sport. Hell I think he can still be a force in it. But call it what it is. He is human. Since when is that bad?
Kimbo didn't even make it into the UFC, how could you say the sport is going to drop of the face of the planet? I've been watching the UFC for a while and i never expect Kimbo to get to their level anytime soon. He was just a street fighter that was good at street fighting.
The keyword is "to me". I am saying personally he was the draw for me. I never did and wont watch another one. I know some of you are heavy MMA fans. SO I know he is maybe a bum to you guys. But if a sport can cast a guy away after one loss and he is a seriously green competitor. Then it wont keep my attention anyway. Just makes it seem more circus like. Its just my opinion thats all. I just think the guy is not getting a fair shake.
it isnt that he lost one fight. its the fact that he fought nobodys then lost to a guy they wouldnt even put on the main card.elite xc is full of fighters other then maybe frank that would get owned by 2nd rate ufc fighters. its like the minor leagues of mma.
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Posts: 1036 | From: san jose | Registered: Sep 2002
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