I should probably add “to me” at the end of the title. There is no doubt many are disappointed with Kimbo as following this week’s TUF episode I saw a whole new round of Kimbo hate start to circulate. I am far from a Kimbo Slice nuthugger, but I am left a little confused at this point by some of the Kimbo Slice hate going around. There is no doubt Kimbo’s performance wasn’t amazing, but was there any real reason to expect it to be?
Make no mistake about it, I am very disappointed. I’m disappointed with some promoters, I’m disappointed with some sites and I’m really disappointed with some “fans”. Overall though, I really don’t see a reason to be disappointed by Kimbo.
Instead of just blindly bashing on Kimbo I’d like to take an honest look at his career thus far and see why Kimbo Slice is overrated.
Kimbo Slice’s MMA Career
Let’s start by taking a look at Kimbo Slice’s actual MMA record and see how his career has played out thus far.
Kimbo Slice Vs Bo Cantrell
Kimbo’s first MMA fight was on 2007-11-10 against Bo Cantrell. A string of four losses put Bo at 10-10 with just over a 1500 rating. Although not overly impressive this was Kimbo’s first fight and in theory wasn’t a horrible opponent choice.
Sadly, the fight was really bad. Bo clearly had no interest in fighting and many think he literally threw the fight.
Kimbo Slice Vs David “Tank” Abbott
About three months after his debut Kimbo got back into competition by taking on Tank Abbott. I will admit I’m going to use my fingers to make sure I get this right, but heading into the fight “Tank” had…
- Lost 3 in a row
- Lost 7 of his last 8
- Lost 9 of his last 12
- Lost 10 of his last 14
…OK you get the picture. The fight wasn’t exactly built to be Fedor Vs Odin. However, Tank had lost so much lately that he was actually the underdog against a 1-0 fighter. Not exactly competitive matchmaking at its finest. Still, lots had requested the fight, so good for them.
Kimbo Slice Vs James Thompson
Another three(ish) months pass and Kimbo is again back to work. This time he is set to face James Thompson. Here we go again, Thompson had…
- Lost 2 in a row
- Lost 3 of his last 4
- Lost 6 of his last 8
Prior to that James had actually put together a six fight win streak against fighters most had never heard of before (or since).
Much like the Redrum fight to start Kimbo’s career this one had some controversy surrounding it. There was a modest (insane?) portion of the fight that basically came down to Thompson on top of Kimbo slapping him with unanswered “shots”. Eventually the round ended and Kimbo managed to get a stoppage victory after that.
Kimbo Slice Vs Ken Shamrock
Kimbo’s last professional fight was set to take place against Ken Shamrock about four months after his fight with Thompson. Here come the fingers again, Shamrock had…
- Lost 5 in a row
- Lost 7 of his last 8
- Lost 8 of his last 10
That put Ken’s rating at the time around 1577. This again meant Kimbo Slice was actually going to be the favorite, despite having a “soft” 3-0 record. However, before the fight started Ken got Akuma’d and a new challenger appeared…
Kimbo Slice Vs Seth “Akuma” Petruzelli
Talk about a crazy step up in competition. Seth Petruzelli wasn’t exactly a “top 10″ guy, but he had:
- Won his last fight!
- Won 2 of his last 3
- Won 9 of his last 11
In fact, heading into the fight Seth had a rating of 1677…that’s a full 100 points higher than Ken’s. This was also high enough to make him the favorite over Kimbo.
As far as the fight goes…well the “Instant Hell Murder” looked a bit different in real life than I’d recalled from the game, but it was just about as effective. Seth won and “shocked the world”. In so much as you can be shocked when the favorite actually wins a fight. /boggle
Kimbo Slice Vs Roy Nelson
Following the loss Kimbo went quiet for a bit (fans kept talking though), and eventually he emerged on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. In his first fight early into the season he got matched up again Roy “Big Country” Nelson. As a quick tangent am I the only one that has to catch themselves accidentally inserting “belly” for “country” sometimes?
Anyway, after losing to a 1600(ish) rated fighter over a year ago that he outweighed it seems intuitive that Kimbo would now be paired against an 1800(ish) rated fighter that has been in and out of the top 20 for awhile and outweighed Kimbo by 30+ pounds (15kg). In fact, three of Nelson’s four losses are against guys that have been top 10 (maybe top 15 if you really want to avoid an argument) in recent years.
The fight basically alternated between two phases. Phase 1, weak stand up. Phase 2, Kimbo on his back getting slapped in the head. There were some transitions in between. Some might add a third phase between those two and call it “struggle for a take down” phase, but regardless, that was pretty much the entire fight.
Why Kimbo Slice Is Overrated
Looking at the above I hope it’s clear why I’m confused. It seems lots are disappointed in Kimbo at this point, but I honestly don’t see a reason why. Instead my disappointment lies elsewhere. Let’s look at all parties involved.
Kimbo Slice
The man himself got into the ring against who he was matched up against and fought at an acceptable frequency. He beat the people he was realistically expected to beat and lost to some people he was expected to lose against. That seems to be the bulk of what is asked of a fighter, so I really fail to find much fault with it.
The promoters
The promoters (and/or matchmakers) really did a bad job in my opinion. Kimbo’s opponents were consistently sub par right up until they were over his head. It’s one thing to start a fighter off slow, but people were placing far too much emphasis on who Kimbo was actually beating and what it really meant.
Looking at the opponents he was matched up against it’s clear people were more interested in building “Kimbo” as a name, than as a real mixed martial artist. This leads to…
The MMA Fans
No, not all fans. Just the fans that buy into what they are told and seem completely unwilling to think for themselves. The fans that thought Kimbo would beat Fedor and the fans that are disappointed a 3-1 1600 rated fighter lost to a 13-4 1800 rated fighter.
This is really where Kimbo Slice becomes overrated. It’s not because of what he’s done, it’s not because of what others have tried, it’s because of what the fans keep claiming and expecting.
Looking at the above it’s clear that Kimbo Slice is an inexperienced fighter with a very suspect 3-1 record. Looking at his fight tape it is clear he has gaping holes in his MMA game. Yet despite all of that some people still insist on trying to make him into more than he is.
Kimbo Slice is obviously not the only fighter this happens to either. Fedor is 30-1 and hasn’t lost in almost 9 years, but some fans actually overrate him too. I know some will say that Fedor is the best, but being the best doesn’t mean you can’t be overrated as well. If the “best” pitcher in baseball throws 105mph and some idiot “fan” is claiming he throws 120mph and strikes out everyone on 3 pitches…guess what!?
Kimbo Slice parting thoughts
Kimbo Slice could have faced some better opponents along the way, and if he had he may have lost more. Really though nothing that has happened thus far has been a disappointment unless your expectations were too high. I have seen almost nothing from Kimbo that leads me to believe he is currently underachieving. Rather, I see heaps of proof that many have their expectations set far too high. Just like a parent that can’t accept their child isn’t meant for law school some fans are forcing expectations on Kimbo and living on false hope.
I’m not saying Kimbo can’t improve, and to be honest I actually see some potential for him. However, the way it is and the way it’s been is that Kimbo Slice is way more popular than good. If you like him and his story or his style or whatever, then go out there and cheer for him and support him. I have no problem at all with that. What I do have a problem with are fans that try to inflate what he’s done and boast about what he will do only to turn around and scold him for not living up to their expectations.
Tags: kimbo slice, tuf, ufc
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