Kimbo Slice the Headliner

This stuff annoys the piss out of me.

Since this fight took place, every news site, every fighting forum, every article I've read, it's been nothing but cutting up Kimbo Slice because of his poor showing.



"The fight was fixed"

"Kimbo's a joke"

"Kimbo's a flash in the pan"

"Kimbo's overpaid"

I want to know how many people making these statements have ever been in the ring! Have they ever traded punches for pay? Have they ever even been hit with a punch? I doubt that the majority of these writers have even strapped on gloves before. They download a few videos on the internet, buy a few pay-per-views and watch a season of the Ultimate Fighter and all of a sudden they're a fight critic.

I'll give my opinion on a few of these statements I have seen.

"The fight was fixed"

I highly doubt it. I don't think Kimbo was faking his post-fight daze. If you watch that video again, as Petruzelli is running around the cage in amazement, Kimbo starts hooking up on the referee. The dude was out of it. Whatever shot he took initially was followed by a series of short strikes that took him out of reality.

"Kimbo's a joke, a flash in the pan"

Maybe but only if the promoters just decide to drop him. Fighting and succeeding at this level is dependent on many factors. No one but Kimbo and his squad knows how Kimbo was feeling that night. Was he 100%? Was he worn out? Was he sick? Did he have a headache? Was he nervous? There are so many factors that could have contributed to Kimbo being off his game. To say he's a joke after one poor fight isn't even fair. In baseball, you're expected to fail 7 out of ten times. Batters go without a hit for several games. Pitchers go winless for entire months, but we don't give up on them. These critics are ready to cart Kimbo off into the desert and dump him there. And what sucks is, the promoters will probably figuratively do just that. The sport of MMA seems to be one of the most cut throat there is. Promoters love the fighters while they're on top, but they suffer a hard loss, and the promoters are out looking for a new piece of meat to throw in there. Again, the people behind the scenes, running these menageries probably never stepped into a ring in their life. And people say Vince McMahon is a cut throat prick.

"Kimbo's overpaid"

Kimbo got paid big time, (reportedly $500,000) and good for him. He brought in the ratings. He headlined the card. He gets the big paycheck. That's the way it should be. MMA is entertainment now. It's about creating pay-per-view buys, internet traffic, television ratings, and merchandise sales. It is not about paying the best athletes the biggest purses - it's about dropping the pile of dough on the guy who puts the asses every 18 inches. That was Kimbo Slice last Saturday.

And ya know what? If the Office decides to kick Kimbo to the curb, they'll find another headliner to push. And if that headliner stumbles one day, you can bet the critics will turn on him too.