MMA Legend Kimbo Slice Passes Away at Age 42

[Sunny]

 

Professional mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice has passed away at the age of 42. He was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons near his home in South Florida, according to police.

Sgt. Carla Kmiotek of the Coral Springs Police Department confirmed to that Slice, birth name Kevin Ferguson, had been hospitalized locally and that, due to his public status, officers had been dispatched to his residence to prevent a potential gathering outside.

Kmiotek could not offer further details on Slice's condition. She did say there was no police or medical call to his residence prior to him being hospitalized and that there is no current police investigation regarding the matter.

Bellator officials said the promotion is still in the process of gathering information and could not comment at this time.

Slice is a former backyard brawler and Internet sensation. He is currently signed to Bellator MMA and is scheduled to headline Bellator 158 on July 16 in London against James Thompson.

He last fought at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19 in Houston. Slice (5-2) defeated Dhafir Harris, aka Dada5000, in a three-round decision. The result was later changed to a no-contest by the Texas commission, after Slice tested positive for anabolic steroids and an elevated testosterone ratio.

Source: ESPN

[HiPcavallo]

Slice is a former backyard brawler and Internet sensation. He is currently signed to Bellator MMA and is scheduled to headline Bellator 158 on July 16 in London against James Thompson.

Fucking hell, you'd think they would've called off the fight. Talk about an unfair advantage.

[Ohm]

Jesus Christ, this is a fucking horrible year of deaths so far

[Sunny]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1768197/?report=classic

[fufu ÷]

I think calling him a legend is a bit of a stretch. He did nothing positive for MMA whatsoever. Regardless, it's sad that he passed so young.

[Fozy]

That's actually not true. He brought a lot of viewers in for Elite and somewhat UFC. People wanted to see if this dude could go in mma, and surprisingly he did better than I expected. He's not a legend as an MMA fighter, but he is still an attraction nonetheless.

[fufu ÷]

YouTube legend is more apt than MMA legend, which is what I was referring to. He brought more bad press to MMA than good, especially after that whole EliteXC mess. I don't think he was ever considered above the level of other oddities like Hong Man Choi and Zuluzinho in MMA terms, or ever would have been.

[Sunny]

In that sense, he's no Mark Coleman or Dan Severn, but more a pioneer in bringing MMA mainstream recognition. He brought more eyes to the product and even if he might have gotten flack for it, some people got fascinated through his appeal. I may be a bit subjective because I'm from the area. In fact, Carol City is a twenty minute drive from where I live, but over here, he was almost revered. Though, I know that might be attributed to the general area's intelligence more than anything else, the point is, he is a notable name and what some perceive as almost synonymous to the sport as. Some consider Kimbo to be their introduction to the sport in general.

Kimbo main-evented the first-ever MMA event that was broadcasted on network television. Just by that feat alone, and to the heights that MMA has reached today should be considered groundbreaking. It may be mythos seeing as how people talk, narrate, and perhaps even exaggerate, but people still talk about that ear trauma James Thompson suffered which made the "legend" of Kimbo Slice even more poignant and reflective of his moniker. Nevertheless, it's impossible to ignore the man's contribution to the sport, though some may consider it to be a negative, (his last fights certainly aren't conducive to that and counterintuitive to the point that I'm trying to make). He's in the same list as Andrei Arlovski, Gina Carano, Robbie Lawler, Randy Couture, and so forth.

Though, there are much more notable names out there, these were the standard bearers of a new generation, if you will, that took it to the next level. It's like the Chris Benoit argument. He's mostly remembered for his tragedy, but it's unmistakable to censor him as far as modern, pure, thoroughbred, athletes and consummate professionals of the mat are concerned. Sure, there were the Danny Hodges, Dan Gables, and Ken Pateras, but collectively, Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Dave Taylor, defined a generation with Brian Danielson after them. So, yeah, sure Kimbo was a stereotypical representation of what a MMA fighter shouldn't be, but he broke the barriers for being one of the first street fighters to actually transition to the professional realm of MMA (and actually hold his own) to the dismay and disbelief of his critics.

[fufu ÷]

Don't be silly. He will never be close to that list of fighters you named. You're exaggerating it because he's dead. He wasn't a draw, even at the start, and he's one of the reasons EliteXC died it's embarrassing death. He wasn't a good MMA fighter. Comparing him to Chris Benoit, a man lauded as one of the finest of his craft is absurd. Kimbo was not known as a good MMA fighter in life, and therefore shouldn't in death be lauded as a legend of MMA. It's sad that he's dead, but he'll never be a legend of the sport. YouTube legend? Sure. Street fighting legend? Sure. Mixed Martial Artist? No way.

[Sunny]

Right, but no one's denying the fact that Kimbo was not this "master technician." He was never a "good" MMA fighter. There's no denying that he wasn't. But, what is good essentially? Because, here's a guy that grew up in the streets with no extensive background and poverty at his brinks. He wasn't meant to be a draw because he wasn't regarded as a guy that was going to last, but he surprisingly held his own against professional fighters. If we are talking solely on attendance numbers at the gate, then that's true to some extent, but his main event fight on CBS drew close to 6.51 million viewers, the most watched MMA show in television history and held that record until UFC's debut on Fox a few years down the road. Kimbo was a household name and it's impossible to ignore him when discussing MMA because he is an integral part of the sport's history in terms of it gaining popularity and mainstream exposure.

He was a polarizing figure because he transcended two different mediums and proved that he could go at it with people with years of expert skill and training. The Benoit comparison was in no way shape or form to discredit Benoit, but I guess it did the trick anyway if it evoked some type of reaction. Kimbo's the same in the sense that he was a controversial entity to the sport that he was representing. Everyone will have different perspectives on how their legacies would be remembered. I think this has more to do with the interpretation of the connotation of the word "legend." You're right that it's become loosely inferred, but over here it's not meant to disrespect the sport at all though my bias may be selective due to the region I'm associated with. I'll use Ultimate Warrior as an example because I can remember you having a strong opinion of the man. Despite his shortcomings in character and what little he contributed to the ring, there is no denying his mass appeal to the market and what it he did that changed perceptions on how people viewed the product.

He was an integral component of professional wrestling's history and therefore, a legend. He was no Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, or Ric Flair by any means, but he could be classified as a trend-setter despite the bias people may feel toward him years later. There's a stigma attached to how you might view Kimbo because he's a stereotypical portrayal of what an MMA fighter shouldn't be, but I believe that only contributed to his appeal as a fighter. He was never inteded to be a long-term investment and that's indicative by the handful of fights he had in his tenure at UFC. But, he is a legend of the sport in regards to how he revolutionized it as far as people perceiving it and getting more eyes glued to the television screen. There's no way of overlooking that. 

I was watching ESPN's interview with Ariel Helwani last night and both he and the person conducting the interview agreed that they wouldn't be talking about MMA on a major primetime network television outlet if it wasn't for guys like Kimbo that gave it precedence initially. As far as Elite XC's cancellation goes, it's unfair to pin it entirely on Kimbo seeing as how the company was in financial straits long before his upset first round knockout occurred and before they went prime time. Kimbo just expedited the inevitable.  

[HiPcavallo]

Kimbo was a draw, he just largely appealed to the wrong audience. While he may have been more likely to turn away the hardcore MMA fans he was able to bring in the casual fans in droves. His last two fights gave Bellator their biggest ratings ever, and that was despite being awful fights, and after he had long passed the peak of his popularity and become largely irrelevant in the sport. Aside from that one point I fully agree with fufu on this one. Kimbo was just an amateur fighter with heavy fists that got lucky enough to try his hand at the sport because he built a name for himself fighting nobodies on the internet. He was never really able to hack it on a professional level, and clearly never was willing to fully commit to the sport. The guy was pretty much the embodiment of everything that is wrong with MMA.

Edited June 8, 2016 by HiPcavallo

[DrJoeyMagnum]

Kimbo Slice was a freak show attraction, there's a argument for Brock Lesnar being a MMA legend but not Kimbo Slice  

[fufu ÷]

I believe no matter who had headlined EliteXC's first show, it would have done the same or similar numbers. They were riding on the crest of the UFC becoming mainstream entertainment at the time, and so eyes were on the product regardless of who was on the card. The only difference is that without Kimbo their whole fight fixing scandal probably wouldn't have come to light and ruined the company and driven away it's investors. It may have survived, and perhaps gone on to greater expand the sport on television. 

Household name is also a huge push. Unless you know MMA or combat sports in general, you probably wouldn't know who Kimbo Slice was until this had happened and wider media had covered his death, even after UFC had tried to polish the turd again and failed. Again your points are based on exageration.

 

The reason Kimbo is not a legend of MMA is different logic to why people argue that Benoit is a legend of wrestling.

Benoit was one of the greatest in ring performers of all time, up there with Flair, Hart, Michaels etc., if not the greatest. Benoit is famous and would warrant inclusion in spite of his heinous acts on wrestling grounds alone because he was great at it.

Kimbo was almost a joke in terms of his fighting career in MMA and was not even comparable with the other big name heavyweights of the sport in terms of ability. Kimbo brought bad press to MMA, and had no ability behind him to cover that up.

I think comparing the two is a bit of a poor comparison.

[Big Pete®]

He was the black tank abbott, zero skill, throws and hopes one lands, gassed by the 2nd minute... absolute puddin.