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Will Kimbo Slice replace Marcus Jones on The Ultimate Fighter?
By Zach Arnold | September 30, 2009
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports:
What’s most amazing isn’t that Kimbo will return. It’s that the show – either through the magic of reality television or by brilliantly showing what was legitimately real – has turned Kimbo into a likeable, humble and easy-to-root-for guy.
Dana White had changed the expectations game.
Suddenly Kimbo was being hailed for putting up a decent fight against Nelson, a former International Fight League heavyweight champion with far more experience.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 88 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Kimbo gets more chances than Steve Howe
Gee guys, I’m sure glad Dana White has run out all those charlatans like the T-Shirt Guy and Gary Shaw who dared to promote EDOR and the Fraudlent Kimbo. Now we have the best promoter in the world promoting the Fraudulent Kimbo! The sport is in good hands.
There is a major difference between promoting him as the main event on CBS…. And giving him a second chance on a reality show. surely Alan you can see that. Many fighters have gotten a second chance on the show. Obviously Kimbo would get some better treatment due to his star and fame, but it’s not like they haven’t done this before.
Heck, they have given completely incapable fighters a second chance just for showing heart in their previous fight.
A second chance on a reality show which was heavily promoted as the most important fight in the history of Ultimate Fighter! IF YOU CAN ONLY WATCH ONE…oh, wait.
Not a freakshow. LOLOL.
This major push is a little more than “a second chance,” imo. The show is completely centered around him and the UFC is putting its money and promotional machinery fully behind him.
It’s smart business, but it certainly seems to go against any idea that advancement in the UFC is based upon merit.
So you have a problem with the way the fight was marketed. There is a lot of grey area there. The UFC could promote theshow based on what they already know happened. But that is just as bad as promoting a fighter that they know will come a second time. There isn’t a right answer. The fact that it has already been taped takes makes it very different. Realistically, they should promote each show as if they don’t know what will happen next. And that is basically what they did. At the time Nelson vs Kimbo was announced, they did not know Kimbo would be back again.
Lastly, this idea that the UFC isn’t based on merit…. Once again, this is TUF. Once a fighter gets into the UFC, they have a long long long track record of proving that it takes quality wins to move up the ranks. For every Leanar or Okami example, there are 50 examples of how it takes quality wins to advance. That doesn’t mean guys don’t get main card treatment based on their ability to draw, but they still have to win to get closer to a title shot.
If Kimbo goes into the UFC, loses 3 straight and then gets a title shot, then you might have a point.
If Kimbo goes into the UFC, loses 3 straight and then gets a title shot, then you might have a point.
He has to lose three straight and get a title shot to be compared to main eventing or semi main eventing EXC shows? LOL! Kimbo could be fighting a homeless man on the finale with the poster for the event being nothing but his face, and it will be “different”.
Dude is obviously not fighting his way onto the UFC because he can’t fight and he’s already there.
Guys, I don’t know if you realize this but: you don’t have to agree with every decision somebody makes to like them. It’s okay to say “I don’t like Dana’s actions in this situation”. You can still love UFC, hate everybody else and all. There is no explaining this away as “well, it’s just TUF”. He showed worse behavior than anything the hated John McCarthy could hope to do and deserves nothing but condemnation for it. Even if you want to have his foul-mouthed babies you love him so much, nobody is perfect. Admit it and move on.
I posted my displeasure in the previous post. And I never said losing 3 straight was like main eventing on EliteXC. The 3 in a row was in reference to comment that the UFC was not based on merit. Which it is.
Is Kimbo still affiliated with that porn site?
MILF Hunter will be the 2010 CONDOM DEPOT.
The comments section from this link suggest Kimbo’s involvement with gay porn. My word.
http://www.cagepotato.com/kimbo-slice-pornagain
Is Kimbo still affiliated with that porn site?
The Reality Kings mouthpiece was in full effect.
The 3 in a row was in reference to comment that the UFC was not based on merit.
Then why is Kimbo Slice going to be fighting for them when he so plainly sucks?
Oh, he makes money I forgot. YOUTUBE FIGHTING LEGEND~
I find it hard to believe Bas disassociated from Kimbo because he did a porn cameo. Bas is from freakin’ HOLLAND!
I hope the rumor about Kimbo doing Mr. T in the A-Team porn parody is true. Here Dana would kick out the real new Mr. T for doing it and lovingly embrace the porn parody Mr. T. Delicious irony.
Did Kimbo look worse against Nelson than UFC vets Brad Imes or Fabiano Scherner?
Well, let’s see what KimboCentral (aka YouTube) has to say about their hero:
Wow – 45’s head is exploding here, knowing this whole Kimbo situation has turned into a total FARCE.
I fully admit, I was excited for Kimbo on TUF. They totally sold me on the fact that he was really improving and really for real know that he was an “ultimate fighter”. They sold snake oil and now they’re trying to sell more to us (hyping Kimbo as an injury replacement). Pathetic.
Too bad Dana got caught “Skala-ing” when he was shrieking “10 seconds left! Only 10 seconds left!” when Nelson was “Mega-punking” Kimbo. And so nice of them to THROW ROY UNDER THE BUS – “he only did enough to win” – because the curtain got pulled back on the TUF 10: Kimbo Slice show.
He’ll definitely get a showcase fight for the finale show, probably showcase fights his whole stay really. I can’t wait to see who they dig up to make sure Kimbo wins. Bo Cantrell? DMX? Will they find some “UFC Legend” like Kevin Rosier or Scott Morris? Will they buy out Herschel Walker’s contract? A rematch with Big Mack from his YouTube fight? Maybe they’ll create a new YouTube title for him and have him fight ex-cons all the time?
Head explode? Um, no. I have said multiple times in the past that the entire purpose of TUF is to create 3 to 5 solid fighters per season to compete in the UFC. I typically haven’t even watched each prior season. A lot of times i will either skip an episode, or just fast forward to the end and watch the fight. And even then if it looked boring I would fast forward until the winner was determined.
I just find it funny how bent out of shape some people are getting, when what is happening this season isn’t much different then prior ones.
Dude – give it up. You’re attempting to spin the thing so many different ways you’re getting tied up in knots.
This season is not just like every other season. It’s built off the hype and back of one man (one they initially shat all over for being a bum, fake, scam, etc. and then brought in and said all this puffery and hyped to death all this shit about him (know full well most of it, other than “he’s a nice humble guy, who is willing to learn (though seems incapable)”)) and then he’s brought in and totally destroyed by the deserved #1 fighter and they spin it as some type of positive for him, bury the winner and then start hyping his rumoured re-entry.
This show is about one fighter, the one that they’ve hitched their ratings bonanza to – the very one they derided everyone else for doing the same thing. He’s the star of the show and it’s an absolute joke.
Dana White, October 2008: “[Kimbo] can be on The Ultimate Fighter. What’s he done other than get 10 million hits on YouTube? What’s he done to deserve to be in the UFC? Nothing. I don’t consider him a real athlete. He won’t win The Ultimate Fighter. The offer’s out there if he wants to take it, (but) he won’t win it.”
No sense in letting facts get in the way of 45’s amorphous arguments about what exactly he’s supporting or arguing for.
The fact is that he said he would have to go through TUF to get into the UFC. And that is exactly what he is forcing him to do. Not sure what the point of all that is.
As 45 is reminding us, he really meant that Kimbo would have to show up on TUF and be utterly dominated before really deserving a 6 figure contract in the UFC. Obviously.
Yeah, because only the winners of TUF get into the UFC….. You make no sense at all.
Marcus Davis. The guy was brutally beaten down in his first fight, in the 1st round by Joe Stevenson. And yet he still made it into the UFC.
I’m not comparing Kimbo to Davis. But the point is that guys who have been absolutely embarrassed on the show have been invited back.
You guys act like this stuff hasn’t been going on for the past 9 seasons or 4 1/2 years. This is the same stuff that has always been going on with the show. The only difference is the Kimbo was a star before he came on.
I don’t get how you can simply write off TUF as unimportant when it single handedly made the UFC what it is today. How it has gotten better ratings this year than any other UFC program ever. That’s pretty damn important IMO.
Also, none of the Danaites seem to be addressing the fact that he A) Gave a hint, hint nudge, nudge to Dean not to stop the fight with the “Only 10 seconds!” comment (which would get a new “that’s fucking illegal!” vlog if Scott Coker did it I’m sure.) and B) wrote off a fighter’s win as not good enough but would be in complete ecstasy if Kimbo won the fight the same way. If Rogers beats Fedor in November and Coker dismissively does the “Rogers did just enough to win. My daughter hits harder” routine, there would be unseen fury on the FightOpinion.com comments section about how that monster must be stopped from tainting the sport.
And I don’t care if we’re talking about White or Coker or Atencio or Sakakibara or Larkin or Shaw or any MMA boss past, present or future. Hinting to the referee he shouldn’t stop the fight, no matter how important or unimportant the fight is, it is a huge deal because it is attempted fight tampering.
“I don’t get how you can simply write off TUF as unimportant when it single handedly made the UFC what it is today. How it has gotten better ratings this year than any other UFC program ever. That’s pretty damn important IMO.”
It’s unimportant in the sense that most of the fighters will never make it into the UFC. And most of the stuff that happens on each season is pure garbage. This season is no different then the ones I watched. Fist fights in the house, pissing in beds and food, upper deckers, crappy fights, unworthy fighters being brought back. Shall I go on? And yet somehow the antics on the show this year are getting people pissed off more then usual.
Why is that? Because it is a ratings success, and the UFC haters are just looking to bash.
I am not defending the show. I have never really praised it beyond it’s ability to create a few good up & coming fighters. But you people getting your panties in a bunch are comical.
Also, you need to get your facts straight. Dana White said “That’s illegal” in reference to EliteXC asking the fighters to stand. That is not what happened on the show at all. To make the comparison is really stretching here.
You guys take your reality TV shows way too seriously. Like I have said…. At the end of the day, the fighters have to prove it anyways. So no matter what, the fights are won inside the octagon.
You’re kidding me. He also clearly said Kimbo was pre-signed to a 6 figure deal prior to stepping into the TUF house. And that contract is far more than the $24,000 maximum fight deals the usual casts get. He is only doing this because his comments (that I previously posted) became infamous. If he didn’t say that at the UFC 90 post-fight presser and have it so widely reported Kimbo would be put on PPV immediately.
None of them, not even Chris Leben who was their first big ratings draw to lose, had “Next on the Ultimate Fighter….will he be back?!” All of those guys who got UFC deals anyway were put on the bottom of line ups for Spike shows. If Kimbo isn’t hotshotted into fighting Nelson on the finals with creative match making he will be the semi-main event against some can.
You mention Marcus Davis. What was so great about his career compared to Kimbo’s future treatment? He’s on UK shows that nobody watches and probably doesn’t make in a year when Kimbo will for one fight. He hasn’t gotten anywhere close to Kimbo’s future breaks.
Marcus Davis. The guy was brutally beaten down in his first fight, in the 1st round by Joe Stevenson. And yet he still made it into the UFC.
Marcus Davis was cut by the UFC and had to fight his way back in. He also wasn’t the focal point of the season promotionally. When he returned, it wasn’t to a big money contract.
Kimbo obviously isn’t like any other fighter in TUF history.
“Marcus Davis. The guy was brutally beaten down in his first fight, in the 1st round by Joe Stevenson. And yet he still made it into the UFC.
I’m not comparing Kimbo to Davis. But the point is that guys who have been absolutely embarrassed on the show have been invited back.
You guys act like this stuff hasn’t been going on for the past 9 seasons or 4 1/2 years. This is the same stuff that has always been going on with the show.”
Yes because the entire season of TUF was built around Marcus Davis or some other guy that got plugged in as an injury substitute. The majority of every episode built up one guy – the focal point of the show – and then he fights and gets smoked (by the guy deserving the most attention, but hey) but the winner gets steamrolled and dumped on and its back to….will guy who got smoked find a way back on the show?!?! TUNE IN!!!
“So no matter what, the fights are won inside the octagon.”
But hey – *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* – just play along with the whole “Kimbo is for real angle” (aka TUF Season 10: Kimbo Slice, er…the Heavyweights) so that we can piggyback huge ratings and future events off the back of a fighter THAT DOES NOT BELONG IN THE UFC AND DOESN’T DESERVE TO BE THERE because he’s a horrible mixed martial artist, er, ultimate fighter. But again – he’ll get every chance to win that fight in the octagon won’t he??
Wow. You don’t think the boss of a fight company suggesting to a referee not to stop a fight is just as reprehensible as the paying for stand up incident? They’re exactly the same thing: an attempt to help out the same exact fighter because he’s popular but it ended up not mattering the same exact way.
You’re showing your gimmick-poster colors today.
Mark, you remind me of one of those Star Wars fanboys who gets all mad at George Lucas for changing his mind slightly on one scene in the special editions. You really are splitting hairs right now. Dana White may not have done everything exactly like he said down to the smallest detail. But the jist of it is still very much there. And that is the important part. He said he needed to go on TUF first, and that is what he did. Trying to find the tiny inconsistencies just makes you look like you are trying to hate. Everybody contradicts themselves. I definitely do. Even the best politicians who watch every word they say do from time to time. But as long as the main premise is still there, that is what is important. And that is what Dana White did.
And it’s funny that you mention Chris Leben. He lost to Josh Koscheck. He was so good for the camera’s that they brought him back, and except for a cut would have been in the finals again. See, TUF has done this stuff before. This stuff with Kimbo isn’t new. This is the same TUF antics they have been pulling for the past 9 seasons. Why are your panties in a bunch so much now?
As for Davis…. The point is that he is an example of a guy who got wrecked on the show who got a second chance. Based on his performance against Stevenson, he shouldn’t have even gotten to fight in the UFC. But he did. So once again, this is another example of TUF’s past antics. This is all just a repeat of previous seasons, just insert new faces into the equations….
No Mark…. Once is actually ILLEGAL (which is what Shaw did). What Dana White did was stupid, but not illegal. That’s the point. If you wanted to make a claim that Dana White did something stupid during that fight, I would completely agree with you. HE WAS BEING DUMB. But it was not illegal. At least get your facts straight man.
And it’s funny that you mention Chris Leben. He lost to Josh Koscheck. He was so good for the camera’s that they brought him back, and except for a cut would have been in the finals again. See, TUF has done this stuff before. This stuff with Kimbo isn’t new. This is the same TUF antics they have been pulling for the past 9 seasons. Why are your panties in a bunch so much now?
Leben was an elite prospect with a win over Mike Swick. Kimbo is not an elite prospect and has wins over no notable foes.
As for Davis…. The point is that he is an example of a guy who got wrecked on the show who got a second chance.
But he got cut? He had to fight his way back to the UFC the hard way! He is a terrible example.
Marcus Davis got cut (literally & figuratively) on the TUF 2 finale. So he was invited back right away. If he beat Guillard on the finale, he would have been in the UFC full time. So he got his 2nd chance on the first opportunity.
And Leben is now being called an elite prospect from the first season? Alan & Mark are on another planet today. Thanks for the laughs guys!!
A somewhat off-topic question: How can Kimbo be so totally inept off his back when he’s been training to be an MMA fighter for over two years now?
I know that being under the likes of Roy Nelson is no walk in the park, but couldn’t Kimbo have mustered up more than one improvised climb-the-cage escape attempt?
I would disagree with the term “elite” in describing Leben as a prospect, but there’s no question that he was a legit prospect. He was a legit prospect and he also was endorsed by the likes of Couture and, probably, Lindland and others. (Maybe “elite” would be the correct word, but not imo)
No one would have endorsed Kimbo as a fighter.
Leben was one of the strongest prospects in the sport. Why is that being questioned? Most of the guys on the first two seasons were well known and travelled guys. Leben was among the best. Furthermore, he wasn’t being promoted as the face of the show. Nor was Davis. Both men fought off TV on the finale, where Kimbo won’t be.
This is the most ridiculous stuff.
GUYS RELAX,
Kimbo is coming back soon to fight in TUF, then he will fight in the TUF Finale, then he will fight in the UFC (most likely UFC 107).
Relax guys, the only requirement Kimbo had once he joined TUF was to be breathing by the end of the show.
Hey, one of you guys with ready access to the Unified Rules, can you look up to see if that beard is truly legal?
He ought to have to shave it off.
About the beard…..many state athletic commissions ban fighters with ridiculously thick beards like Kimbo’s. I remember reading a story about a Muslim amateur boxer in Canada who had a beard, refused to shave it, and compromised by wearing a surgical mask every time he fought. It’s a safety hazard (brush burns) especially in MMA were there is grappling.
^ Damned right.
I wonder if Kizer can be pressured into doing the right thing and making Kimbo get rid of that fucking bird’s nest.
Yes, I am a Star Wars fanboy for expecting a guy to stick to his word, Mr. Tells-It-Like-It-Is of all people, when it comes to someone being bad for the sport until they’re making you money. Great argument. Did you get that from the Lincoln-Douglas debate? I love how you ignore the whole pre-signed deal thing every post and only the lawyer-move of “well, he was there!”
I think Dana got this from an Honest Abe speech too: “Kimbo Slice sucks. This fucking guy can’t fight, and he got knocked out by a guy who didn’t win on The Ultimate Fighter or any fights in the UFC.” – Dana White October 2008 Which translates to “Kimbo Slice sucks. This fucking guy doesn’t make me money. If he’s going to lose, let me make money off of it.”
It doesn’t matter if money changes hands or not, you could have your promoter’s license revoked for fight tampering. Dana obviously won’t because he makes everybody far too much money, but attempting to change an outcome, be it from telling a ref not to stop the fight, or paying someone to take a dive, or telling judges to score one way no matter what happens, knowingly allowing them to cheat, or any other example of a person in authority trying to help one fighter win, even if they end up losing anyway, is a violation that people not as powerful as Dana White would be called on by the Athletic Commission. This may have been an exhibition, but it was still sanctioned. And if Petruzelli didn’t drunkenly blurt out “I got paid to stand” on that radio show, Jared Shaw’s “stand them up!” incident would be Elite’s biggest (known) sin.
One more thing: this wasn’t live, why didn’t UFC edit that out? They could have dubbed out the audio easily.
PS, I knowingly mentioned Leben because he was brought back. My point was they brought him back but did not have the weekly cliff hangers; they just brought him back and he did not continue to live in the house like Kimbo is. This season is bound to have every episode with cliff hangers of “NEXT WEEK ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER….KIMBO HANGS OUT!” “NEXT WEEK ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER….EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE OF KIMBO SLICE SITTING IN THE BACKGROUND AS GUYS TRAIN!” “NEXT WEEK ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER….A GUY STUBBED HIS TOE SO DANA SUGGESTS KIMBO TAKE HIS SPOT. THE GUY SAID HE’S JUST FINE, BUT WE WANT DR. GOODMAN TO TAKE A LOOK ANYWAY!”
“Brush burns”? wtf?
I wonder whether Kimbo is being paid just to be on the show. i.e. is he being paid for his “exhibition” fights?
You can burn up a three fight deal pretty fast with two losses on a reality show and one fight on the Finale.
lol seriously, when Leben was announced for TUF there was so much buzz about that. Leben was one of the names going into the show. Everybody knew who Chris Leben was, knew his iron chin and thought he was a big time prospect.
Jeremy;
If you have any facial hair, shave it off. Find someone with a ton of facial hair. Rub your face against his, and see what happens.
The entire cast, outside of the ones just signed to play reality show gimmicks like Thacker playing the weenie or Hoger playing the douchebag, were highly respected fighters immediately ready for the UFC. Most of them were truly the best unsigned fighters in the sport unlike today’s casts who would have eventually made it into the UFC with or without the show launching them. Today on the other hand.