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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Online reaction to Kimbo/Nelson fight: Look at the Twitter traffic!

By Zach Arnold | September 30, 2009

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It’s such a bizarre reaction online to see many MMA fans somehow trying to justify what they just watched by: a) praising UFC for conning them over and doing a good job of it, b) Kimbo has somehow ‘improved’, and c) look how much traffic these guys are getting on Twitter!

After one fan ripped into Nelson’s showing tonight, Josh Gross says that Nelson is Top 25 material when “he’s in shape.” Top 25? Nelson was a Top 10 Heavyweight in the last couple of years. Now he’s on TUF and is “Top 25 potential”? What?

However, according to agent Matt Walker’s favorite mouthpiece, tonight’s Kimbo/Nelson fight was fun. Why, Kimbo Slice looked like a real fighter for the first time who could win a fight in the UFC or perhaps K-1. You can’t make this up.

Michael David Smith at AOL Fanhouse:

But even though Nelson beat Kimbo decisively, I came away from their fight more convinced than I was before that Kimbo is worthy of fighting in the UFC. I also came away more convinced than I was before that Nelson is the favorite to win this season’s Ultimate Fighter tournament.

The Los Angeles Times:

Slice’s impressive Wednesday night loss on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” to Roy “Big Country” Nelson might not have been his final fighting appearance on the show.

An industry source who declined to be identified because of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s sacred protection of the show’s previously filmed results said Kimbo’s strong performance on Wednesday’s “TUF” broadcast left him strongly positioned him to be a replacement for another fighter who couldn’t proceed in the tournament.

Bloody Elbow:

From the beginning, Kimbo looked bad. He was extremely slow, moved gingerly, and left his chin wide open. He put his whole body into every jab, and frankly fought scared. Once he went down, he showed virtually no improvement from the last time we saw him on his back against James Thompson.

Wade Keller:

Credit Dana White for not going overboard in talking up what a great fight that was. In fact, he probably earned some points with viewers for mocking Nelson’s celebration and punching style.

Kimbo was protected, and you can tell they want to milk more ratings out of his name and ideally a PPV or Spike TV live card fight in the future. Kimbo came across as a compelling enough person that you’d want to root for that there will be interest in seeing him develop as a fighter.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 35 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

35 Responses to “Online reaction to Kimbo/Nelson fight: Look at the Twitter traffic!”

  1. Fluyid says:

    That Michael David Smith jackoff says that the fight tonight showed him that Kimbo deserves to be a fighter in the UFC.

    What?

    I haven’t seen that poor of a performance off the back in a UFC event since Sean Gannon was bludgeoned by Brandon Hinkle.

  2. Chuck says:

    Wow. It’s official. Twitter will be the downfall of mankind. And Zach, I think that one comment of Ariel’s was him saying how fun it was to read the comments of non-fans. But that show of Bill “Superfoot” Wallace and Jim Brown on Ariel’s posts was a blast from the past.

  3. smoogy says:

    The Dan Wetzel piece up on Yahoo Sports takes the cake. Like Kevin Iole, he really knows how to step up and channel his Inner Dana when the circumstances require it. Though Zach has highlighted some strong contenders here.

    What is it about writing about touchy UFC topics, like the massive hype job and subsequent failure of Kimbo Slice, that causes these people to lose their minds?

    Apparently this is all just a testament to the amazing UFC Hype Machine (TM). Nevermind that Kimbo has drawn massive audiences everywhere he has gone in his televised MMA career.

  4. Ivan Trembow says:

    I wrote about this subject on my blog at the following URL: http://www.ivansblog.com/2009/09/kimbo-slice-dominated-by-roy-nelson-ufc.html

    “Kimbo Slice Dominated by Roy Nelson, UFC Very Impressed with Kimbo Slice”

  5. Zack says:

    What exactly did Kimbo do that was impressive? The leg kick? And this is coming from a Kimbo fan…I think he’s fun to watch regardless of where he fights.

  6. Actually neither guy looked impressive. And if you take age into consideration I don’t want to see Kimbo fight any good professional fighter. Give him some Opening Fights for the Main Card and that’s it.

    To say he could fight in K-1 is even more hilarious. He looked so slow that every mediocre K-1-fighter would rip him apart. Also his legs are thin which is typical for boxers but always has been the Achilles’ heel for them when it comes to low kicks.

  7. 45 Huddle says:

    Welcome to the Heavyweight Division. It’s overall not very good!! This season of TUF is more proof. A lot of hype and no substance.

  8. dangerousdan says:

    To say Kimbo was impressive would be saying that the Adam West is a better Batman than Christian Bale. Kimbo made himself into a large dark oil spill on the ground that froze overnight. He did nothing to stimmy Nelson’s positioning, in an effort from keeping rd. 2 looking identical to the conclusion of rd. 1.
    I know what your saying, ‘come on Dan we know Kimbo has no ground game. . ‘
    Ok that is as obvious as the breast size on Mariah Carey rigt now. So let’s talk what Kimbo is known for, striking hard and fast. As a streetfighter yea, he has his merits. Here although his punches were not crisp and his body movement lacks the motion to give him ultimate efficiency for his effort. Those punches looked grade school! They lacked power and follow through. His head was a giant balloon asking for a pounding, but his evasion skills were decent at best.
    So let’s talk heart, did Kimbo show heart? Not in my view he went in already beaten.
    And Dana’s post fights comments were on the money for someone trying to preserve a cash cow.
    Zach should we start a Kimbo is the next Hulk Hogan topic? The traits are very similar.

  9. Mark says:

    There would be nothing wrong with admitting the truth in this situation. Just say “the public wants to see Kimbo Slice, so we’ll give them him.” Put him on the undercard against n00bs until he loses 3 straight and everybody is happy.

    Pretending like he did anything besides get dominated and outclassed by a real 3 dimensional fighter is nauseating. I’m waiting to see how the Danaites explain away the disgusting “Roy did just enough to win” comment. Dana might as well run to cageside next time like Jared “Rapper Junior” Shaw with blatant favoritism like that. You idiots need to drop the John McCarthy whining after excusing this.

  10. 45 Huddle says:

    I do find it funny that the same guys who were calling Andrei Arlovski the #2 Heavyweight in the world, are now diminishing Roy Nelson’s skills. Last time I checked, it was the Rothwell & Nelson wins that put him from the bottom of the Top 10 to #2 in the world. And Arlovski did geta favorable standup against Nelson that helped him greatly. Why the change Josh Gross? Does it help with your hate fest of everything Zuffa (minus Quinton)?

    This season is just another example of everything that is bad with Heavyweight combat sports. Boxing’s Heavyweight Division is HORRIBLE. The best two guys are brothers and will never fight each other.

    This season of TUF is really the first true time they have done Heavyweights. TUF 2 had a bunch of blown up Light Heavyweights like Rashad Evans & Keith Jardine. This season has a lot of guys who could not make the 205 cut, and it shows.

    The UFC’s Heavyweight Division is without a doubt the best in the sport (despite not having Fedor). No other organization comes close. And yet Lesnar is their champion with 5 fights. Cain is one win away from a title shot with about the same number of fights. Carwin had 1 decent win and is getting a title shot. I’m not saying the UFC is favoring these guys. They aren’t. There just isn’t many good guys in the division. Outside the UFC is even worse.

    Hey, I never had Nelson or Rothwell in my Top 10. But the people who did need to stop pushing Nelson down the ratings just because he is on TUF (or in the UFC) now.

  11. Fluyid says:

    “To say Kimbo was impressive would be saying that the Adam West is a better Batman than Christian Bale”

    Not for nothing, my friend, but Adam West fucking channelled the true Batman, just as Cesar Romero embodied The Joker.

    I understand the point you were making, but you didn’t have to bring the Caped Crusader into this. He’d drop Kimbo like a ton of bricks.

  12. The Gaijin says:

    Best part of the whole thing:

    Dana White channelling his inner Jared Shaw @ the end of the 1st round (with Kimbo trapped in the crucifix) screaming at Herb Dean:

    “Only 10 seconds left! Only 10 seconds left.”

    What a total joke this turned out to be…no worries mutants – Kimbo will be back.

  13. Fluyid says:

    “Kimbo’s the only one that I know that had an entourage there; he actually had his family there, his management, while the rest of us kind of had to suffer. The UFC made, we’ll say, different concessions for Kimbo. I think he had a media room.”

    – Roy Nelson, in a USA Today interview

    http://content.usatoday.com/communities/mma/post/2009/09/roy-nelson-tuf-episode-3/1?csp=34

  14. Mark says:

    If Slice did anything you know Dana would have had his “RING THE DAMN BELL!” moment.

    I’m still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing. Dana went into signing Kimbo wanting him humiliated on international television so he could kick the Elite XC horse one last time. And by all reasoning Kimbo should be a dead brand that nobody should want anything to do with. He got embarrassed in his first real competitive fight, got run down as a talentless, lazy, douchebag by Bas Rutten, one of the nicest guys in MMA, and then all the early word leaking out of the TUF set was that Kimbo was acting like a total diva with a Mayweather-like entourage.

    And when this was filmed last spring, nobody knew what kind of reaction Kimbo would get from MMA fans. He had been trashed so much it seemed like there was no way to salvage him, and all reasoning would point to portraying Kimbo as a heel….but Roy Nelson is the heel and Kimbo is the beloved babyface. And it worked not only on viewers but on the press. Of course the usual suspects like Iole and Meltzer applauded it, but even Josh Gross who gets pointed to as anti-UFC by the Danaites loved it. It speaks to how strong the UFC propaganda machine is. A few Dana quotes about how misunderstood Kimbo was, that he’s really a cool guy when you get to know him, and 2 years of trashing him is undone as if by magic.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    Everything you consume is done so with a filter in order to guide your thoughts in a certain direction. Even an interview with a celebrity can be altered just by going to commercial break and having a voice over that highlights what will be on the next segment. It’s a way to frame your mind. What the UFC is doing Is no different. They are not allowing the fights to speak for themselves. And when they story they are trying to tell is completely different then the visuals on the screen, that isn’t fair to the viewers. At some point, they need to come back to reality and present it fair and balanced. And no, not fair and balanced FOX style….

    It’s true what they say about the reality shows…. That they are sometimes mire scripted then regular TV. The only saving grace is that no matter how much the UFC pushes something, it’s the inring fighting that makes the true difference. And they can’t legally script that.

  16. […] Zach Arnold: It’s such a bizarre reaction online to see many MMA fans somehow trying to justify what they just watched by: a) praising UFC for conning them over and doing a good job of it, b) Kimbo has somehow ‘improved’, and c) look how much traffic these guys are getting on Twitter! No Comments […]

  17. Zack says:

    I gotta rewatch for the 10 seconds thing, but that would be hilarious if Dana was having a Skala moment.

  18. ultmma says:

    K-1? that may take the cake

    The formula is simple good guy does not equal good fighter

    marketable fighter does equal high praise from UFC brass and various media outlets for anything better than being knocked out in 14 seconds

    Kimbo’s striking looked slow and his ground game is still nonexistent

    Also that was a C-level Roy Nelson we saw last night. Nelson has shown over his career that he is a better fighter than what he had vs. Kimbo

  19. Mark says:

    The only saving grace is that no matter how much the UFC pushes something, it’s the inring fighting that makes the true difference. And they can’t legally script that.

    But perception is still very important. When you’ve hear Dana’s verbal diarrhea for years, you know the guy is nothing but a carny so you should take everything he says with a canister of salt. But to those who aren’t following things closely, he’s UFC’s top authority figure and him shitting on his fighters carries weight. Imagine if Roger Goodell went on a post-game show and downplayed a team’s victory. Like if the Ravens beat the Patriots this Sunday and he says “The Ravens did just enough to win” dismissively because he wants the Patriots, who make him more money, to save face. That would carry weight with people.

  20. Michaelthebox says:

    “Nelson was a Top 10 Heavyweight in the last couple of years.”

    Not so much.

  21. 45 Huddle says:

    Only a handful of hardcore fans don’t like Dana White. The vast majority love his honesty and the way he talks.

    Dana White talked up Mirko Filipovic sooooo much before he came into the UFC. See how much that helped him? He couldn’t even get him into a title fight. And that is my point. No matter how much they talk somebody up, getting beat down is the great equalizer in the entire equation.

  22. The Gaijin says:

    Yes – the great equalizer is that a fighter must serially underperform before the smokescreen is lifted. There’s a real comforting thought my friend. 🙂

  23. Fluyid says:

    You guys would shit if you knew how much Cro Cop just got for the Dos Santos fight. I was the guy who handed him his paycheck, but the Texas commission doesn’t release payday information.

  24. Joseph says:

    Iole Said It Best (Yes, you read that correctly)

    “But lo and behold, after Slice accepted an offer to appear on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC is exhibiting much the same behavior that Elite XC and promoter Gary Shaw were so roundly criticized for.

    After generating record ratings for the Season 10 opener, the Slice marketing push from the UFC has kicked into overdrive. White has already said Slice will fight again in the UFC, regardless of the outcome of the show.

    That may indicate that Slice fares better than expected in the show, but it runs counter to the way White has handled other TUF fighters. He has given contracts to fighters who didn’t win on TUF, but it came after the season, not just two weeks in.

    Slice will face former International Fight League champion Roy Nelson on Wednesday in a show the UFC and Spike TV are pushing so hard that they held a conference call with Slice on Monday. They’re touting it as the biggest fight in TUF history, which is saying a mouthful since White himself credits the TUF 1 finale between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin with saving the company.

    Unless Slice somehow defeats Nelson – and I can’t see how he can – it’s extremely hypocritical of White to give Slice a second shot in the UFC based simply on his popularity.

    If Slice wins and defeats Nelson, who is my pick to win the season and earn the UFC contract, then giving him a contract to fight in the UFC is fine.

    Other than that, though, giving him a contract is buying into the marketing hype that White so venomously ripped Elite XC for.

    If Slice loses and proves not to be a capable mixed martial artist, putting him in the UFC regardless would bring to mind the infamous quote made many years ago by boxing promoter Bob Arum: “Yesterday, I was lying. Today, I’m telling the truth.” Finally, please feel free to follow me on Twitter. Now, let’s delve into the MMA mailbag.”

  25. Mark says:

    This just in: Kimbo Slice gets the Special Olympics unified rules victory for showing up to compete. Yay!

  26. ADAM says:

    I watch a lot of fights from all different companies. That was the worst fight I have ever seen. If it were on pay-per-view I’d never watch the UFC again. I think both these guys are bums. Like Rampage said nobody in there could get up with that fat bastard on them. I’ve yet to hear anyone comment on Herb Dean. For God’s sake, stand them up. I’m 260 and not a fighter at all, but I’m pretty sure I could lay my fat belly on a guy and TICKLE his head for 2 rounds.

  27. Fluyid says:

    I’m fairly sure you’re joking, ADAM. You’ve certainly captured the essence of the typical MMA idiot quite well.

  28. Mark says:

    People are acting like Nelson is Yokozuna. He’s probably not any heavier than Lesnar is (although obviously for different reasons) should Mir have been granted a stand up because Brock was heavier than he was?

    And it doesn’t matter about the quality of punches. If you’re doing nothing to defend yourself, whether they be from Fedor-bombs or Okami’s door-knocking level impact punches, the fight will be stopped. There is nothing in the rules about “judge the impact of the punches”, just if the fighter isn’t defending himself, end it. Lots of people were mad that Dan Mirgaliotta let Kimbo eat dozens of punches when he was trapped by Thompson, but decided to let it go because he didn’t think they were serious shots, too.

  29. Chuck says:

    ADAM;

    Clearly you have never seen any of the YAMMA fights.

  30. Tom says:

    @Mark

    The rules don’t state that, BUT IIRC, they do state that it’s up to the ref’s discretion whether or not to stop the fight.

    I’d hope the thought of “are these ‘strikes’ even doing any damage?” would factor in to a ref’s decision.

    Disclaimer: I think Kimbo should not be signed to fight any more since his fights are always going to go the same way, however I can’t find a reason to stop a fight when no-one had been hurt in anyway, other than maybe saving them from humiliation.

  31. Joseph says:

    Can anyone confirm this, Ivan:

    Dana White channelling his inner Jared Shaw @ the end of the 1st round (with Kimbo trapped in the crucifix) screaming at Herb Dean:

    “Only 10 seconds left! Only 10 seconds left.”

  32. David M says:

    Adam, go watch a Best of Pedro Rizzo tape to see worse fights.

    Kimbo’s striking looked like garbage in the first round and his ground game is legitimately nonexistent. I also have no idea what he was thinking throwing that Frank Miresque knee in the 2nd round; if he had just keep circling away and had gotten out of the clinch, who knows, he may have rocked Roy. That being said, Nelson has a great chin and AA landed lots of big shots before finally dropping the fat guy.

  33. Black Dog says:

    Basic point of it all is: White knows people want to see Kimbo, win or lose. So he’ll say anything to keep fans and non-fans alike interested.

    To him, it doesn’t matter whether Kimbo improves or not; he’ll use the guy as long as he can get ratings (and perhaps PPV buys in future) off him, then dump in the trash.

    It’ll have nothing to do with Kimbo’s Elite XC connections; for White, it’s all about the business.

  34. Steve4192 says:

    Am I the only one who thought Rampage was the guy screaming ’10 seconds’? It sounded like a typical corner instruction to me.

  35. David M says:

    I think the UFC is going to find a way to do a spin off series of just Kimbo. Maybe they will do a short series of him training at ATT to get ready/his life outside the cage. Maybe next year instead of TUF 11, Kimbo will teach a bunch of aspiring MMA’ists how to be streetfighters.

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