Roy Neslon Wins Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Finale

You would think I’d see that headline more, but it appears other topics are ruling the discuss-o-sphere. Perhaps part of the reason it’s not getting as much attention is because it’s not “breaking news”? Roy actually went onto the ultimate fighter with over an 1800 rating. That’s higher than many from “the comeback” season of the ultimate fighter.

Overall Roy stood out in the initial group a lot like Mac did. These were both veteran fighters with solid fights on their records. Doesn’t it seem kind of silly that a fighter that had top position on Arlovski would have to beat Kimbo Slice as part of his requirement to get into the UFC?

I’m happy for Roy, but at the same time the situation bothers me a bit. If Roy looked different, I think he’d be more liked. It seems many get distracted by his tummy and fail to recognize how good he is. Perhaps this is offset by his opponents making the same mistake. *shrugs*

Even more troubling to me though is how a legitimate fighter like Nelson has to jump through hoops to get into the UFC, but someone like Kimbo is handed the keys to the kingdom. There is a line between sport and spectacle, a line between MMA and MME, a line of respect for other fighters and of legitimacy to the craft, and I can’t grasp anyone not finding this situation on the other side of that line.

Kimbo Slice

Some will read this and think I’m being hard on Kimbo, but understand that it wasn’t long ago I was explaining that Kimbo Slice is not a disappointment. Clearly I’m not just a blind Kimbo hater and I try very hard to give him as much credit as he deserves…just not *TOO* much.

That last part is really where the issue lies. Understand that Kimbo Slice walked into the octagon against a not top anything light heavyweight and went to decision. Not even a good decision. No disrespect to Houston, but he got floored by a non-top 20 light heavyweight in a matter of seconds.

Look, this is that line between sport and spectacle I keep seeing people step over like it’s not even there. If Kimbo is a “legitimate” heavyweight for the UFC, then put him in there with someone. Give him Justin Mccully, give him Eddie Sanchez, give him someone. Don’t bring back a 9-4 guy with a suspect chin and make the fight catchweight and then act like it meant something.

This whole situation just reeks of money over sport. How is it EliteXC was considered a “weaker” promotion and had Kimbo and that was a problem, but a “better” promotion can have him now and it’s OK.

I’m sure some of you are going to edu-ma-cate me about how Kimbo has improved, but that is mostly BS. Kimbo was completely shut down by a guy circling!!! Seriously, Jimmie Johnson has the turning thing down, maybe that should be Kimbo’s next fight and we’ll see if he’s learned how to handle such high level technique.

On top of that you saw numerous openings for Kimbo that he either didn’t notice or was too slow to capitalize on. I’m not talking too slow like hand speed, I’m talking mentally. At times it’s good you see him “thinking” and at others it’s just painful to watch. I’m not talking working out of a tough situation, I’m talking positions most cover in their first couple months of training.

Yet again, I’m sure some will tell me that he’s “learning” and that he’s at ATT now and all this stuff. Look, Kimbo Slice didn’t roll off Youtube a month ago. This wasn’t Kimbo being plucked from the interwebs and thrown in the ring with Big Nog. This was a guy who’s first professional fight was over 2 years ago at this point. On top of that there was the time he spent training with Bas!

Checklist of why I’m so upset:

- Did Kimbo Win the show? Nope
- Did Kimbo Win a fight on the show? Nope
- Did Kimbo take every oppurtunity on the show to earn a spot in the UFC? *NOPE*

That last one is the one that gets me most. “He’s trying, He wants it” Bullshit! Bull-fucking-shit!!! There was a point on the show where Kimbo could have stepped up and instead he acted like an entitled douchebag. “I don’t want another loss”…”I’m not 100%” Too fucking bad. Seriously, too fucking bad. We have fighters with staph and knee injuries and broken hands, and you won’t get a fucking cortisone shot!?

Maybe this sounds rough, but the situation just felt like he was saying, “I know I’m going to get to fight again anyway, so why bother looking bad again”. Sure, why would you want to test yourself again, why would you want to “earn” something when so much is handed to you. Believe it or not, I don’t think Kimbo is a hard guy to like (or at least cheer for). The way this played out though really annoyed me and is just a huge blemish on the sport.

Honest question: how much harder could Kimbo have fucked up on the show. He didn’t win, he didn’t win a single fight, he basically refused to fight…honestly what would have kept him out of the UFC?!

Once he gets to the UFC he’s then given a catchweight fight against a guy that’s lost 3 out of his last 4 and is only back in the UFC for this fight. Could we please be a little less obvious about how hard we are trying to make Kimbo look good? I’m not saying throw him in there with Nog, I dont’ even want him fighting Carwin, but why not at least give him a HW that was already on the roster? Wouldn’t that have made it look a bit more respectable? Made it look just a bit more legitimate?

If “Kimbo Slice” is going to be a legitimate MMA fighter and worthy of being on “the best roster in MMA” then he needs to step *WAY* up. Truth be told with the last few years he’s had and the basics he still doesn’t grasp, I’m honestly not sure it’ll happen. If people want to keep him as a PPV cashcow (as a form of stupid-tax on some “MMA Fans”), then fine…but could we at least be honest about it.

Jones Vs Hamill – DQ?

This section is more of a question than an answer. I’m going over the fight in my head, I’m looking at the rules and I’m just not sure how it sits with me.

Instant Replay in MMA

I like that instant replay was used. This is exactly the type of situation that it can be useful.

Clarified Call

Another positive was that the call was explained. It appears Jones originally was going to be awarded a TKO, but that was later changed. I thought seeing Keith Kizer explain both the rule and it’s application was a good thing. Having a calm and profession explanation given when a fight ends in a violent and bloody way helps keep people from mindlessly calling the sport cockfighting.

The question

Was a DQ really the best possible call here? Here are the things I can’t quite line up in my head. Please help me out…

Jones was winning

Not a little bit, not a Houston Vs Kimbo two strikes thrown instead of one, but a “OMFG this better be a 10-8 round and I might see a 10-7″. I think it’s important to note the situation at the time of the infraction. This wasn’t Jones late in the third round of a fight he was losing kicking Hamill in the nuts intentionally.

Wasn’t intentional

I think this is another factor for me. Jones wasn’t warned throughout the fight (DONT GRAB THE CAGE!!!), he wasn’t kneeing Hamill in the nuts all night or hammer fisting the back of his head with abandon.

The fight could have been stopped

This might be one of the biggest holdups for me. Jones was winning as I said, but in this regard I’m talking about the reffing. Hamill admitted he couldn’t really defend himself, Jones was looking at the ref and showed interest in simply having the fight stopped.

The reason this is so important is because the “illegal strike” is far from the only reason the fight was stopped. The rule talks about “contributing” to the damage and the stoppage and to that degree it’s likely true. However, the illegal strikes weren’t necessary for the fight to have been stopped. Hamill had sustained a ton of damage and I don’t think a poke to the eye in the middle of a flurry against the cage on a fighter out on their feet should be a “DQ” either.

Lots of this will come down to judgment and personal taste, but Jones didn’t appear to be looking for an easy ref stoppage. This wasn’t Roy slapping a guy in the head, it was Franklin pummeling MacDonald. Jones showed a willingness to simply have the fight stopped and the ref wouldn’t do it.

I’m usually all in favor of giving every fighter as much of a chance as possible, but this wasn’t two or three shots, this wasn’t a flash knockdown. Hamill was incapable of getting Jones off him. Without the illegal shots the fight was either going to be stopped eventually, or Hamill was going to get pummeled for another minute(ish).

What about a No Contest?

All of the above come together and make me wonder if a “DQ” is really the right call. Think about what a DQ does and a DQ says. It basically says that Hamill won, it says that Jones lost and it pseudo implies that Hamill could have won if not for the “illegal” activity by Jones.

Did anyone see any honest indication that Hamill would win? Honestly, remove the elbow strikes and have Jones hug him for the rest of the round and it’s still 10-8. Add in the shoulder problem and it is possible Hamill doesn’t even answer the bell for the second round (*IF* they survive the rest of the first round). Hamill has a ton of heart and many would have tapped, but is that really enough for a “win”?

Did Jones use the strikes to gain any real advantage? I really don’t think so. He was dominating the fight (it could have been stopped) and he was just keeping busy. I don’t deny the strikes did damage, but they were far…*FAR* from the only damage.

In a case like this I honestly wonder if a “No contest” would be a better call. What a No contest does is remove the fight. That means Hamill doesn’t take a loss, it means Jones doesn’t get a win. Doesn’t that seem like a more reasonable interpretation of what happened? That way Hamill doesn’t eat a loss that was “partly” due to illegal activity and Jones still “loses” a win.

Maybe this is just how I’m looking at the terms and what they reflect, but “DQ” just doesn’t sit quite right.

- If Hamill was winning
- If the fight had been close
- If Jones had been warned
- If the fight couldn’t have been stopped previously

If any of those things I don’t think I’d have minded so much. I get the rule, I like that replay was used and everything sounds right. Everything except Hamill being the “winner” and Jones being the “loser”.

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.