It’s official.
Kimbo Slice will meet 6′5″ 265-pound British fighter James “The Colossus” Thompson in the main event on May 31 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on the the mixed martial arts network debut on CBS. NBCSports.com recently confirmed the long-rumored heavyweight showdown.
While it doesn’t seem Thompson deserves to be fighting in any main event — let alone the MMA network television debut main event — this is a fight that makes some sense for EliteXC. Obviously, EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw and his promotion are trying to milk Kimbo’s star power for all its worth by feeding him guys that will play right into his strength … his knockout power.
Thompson fits right into that mold as he’s known for having a suspect chin. He’s been knocked out or stopped due to strikes seven times in his career, most recently in the first round to Brett Rogers at the February 16 EliteXC show in Miami.
It’s not Kimbo vs. James Thompson that’s being sold in this main event. It’s Kimbo’s raw punching power vs. Thompson’s weak chin.
And I’m buying.
Sure, EliteXC could have given Kimbo some stiffer competition in this fight. Ken Shamrock, Antonio Silva, Ricco Rodriguez, heck even Brett Rogers would have been a better fight. But at this point in Kimbo’s career, it’s more important to continue to build the lore that surrounds him, especially for the new fans who EliteXC is hoping CBS brings in, than to test his actual overall MMA abilities.
Put simply, he’ll be tested with some tough fights eventually in his career — there’s no reason to rush that. This is, after all, only his third professional fight.
I know that way of thinking is a bit hard to swallow for some MMA fans, but EliteXC is a company that is trying to compete with a monster (UFC) and they only way it can do that is to build some stars.
And right now its biggest star is Kimbo Slice.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a guaranteed win for Slice. He still has to go in there and take care of business, and the Colossus could provide some problems for him.
First of all, he has a significant size advantage over Kimbo. I remember being at the weigh-ins for the February show in Miami and seeing them in person. Kimbo seems like a small heavyweight while Thompson is huge.
Also, Thompson trains with Randy Couture — the master of game planning for fights. Don’t think for one second that Randy will have his guy go out there and play right into Kimbo’s hands. He’ll have a gameplan,. One that will probably include a lot of wrestling and clinching.
There’s two ways I can see this fight playing out. The first is the most obvious: Kimbo knocks out Thompson early and in highlight reel fashion. Or second: Thompson could come out and look for takedowns and use his size to wear down Kimbo from the top position on the ground.
We saw in his fight with Brett Rogers that Thompson went for takedowns early. He wasn’t too successful, but that might have had something to do with Rogers’ size (he’s huge). Thompson shouldn’t have as tough a time taking Slice down, but who knows, we haven’t really seen Kimbo’s takedown defense.
Will Kimbo get another highlight KO to put on his resume or will his size finally be tested? I guess we’ll have to wait for May 31 to find out.
73 Comments »
more chicken feed for kimbo?
this guy has lasted 2 mim 34 sec over a stretch of two fights which ended in ko losses according to the record i saw. so i would say chicken feed indeed. i don’t suspect it will take anybody that good to beat kimbo, but i don’t suspect this is going to be the guy to do it. we’ll know soon enough.
What a crock of shit. Leave it to corporate television to bastardize everything they touch. Two of the stopages tonight were to protect “featured” fighters. the Carano stoppage was premature, even though I feel Gina was about to stop her opponent anyway. The Kimbo Slice fight showed him for what he is, a over inflated marketing gimmic. James THompson was robbed, Kimbo showed his one dimensioness and would have likely been stopped in the third. Elite XC has forgotten what draws true fight fans to MMA from boxing to begin with, the obvious interferance of big business in the outcome of events. I will stick with UFC or WEC going forward, fucking bullshit waste of time if you ask me. Kiss my ass EXC.
What a crap product. These fights are fixed. I will not waste my time on this travesty. EliteXC is a joke, and CBS should be appalled at this farce.
What a joke. The fix was in. I am done with this org.
Seriously, Elite XC drove away any fans they had with that joke of a show on Saturday night. They whored out every possible sponsorship opportunity and made the fighters out to be “prime time worthy” WTF. I would pay $50 just to avoid all the damn commercials and shitty intros. F this league, let die!
Tonight’s Kimbo fight was an absolute joke. We all know Kimbo lost the fight in round 2 after receiving strike after strike to the head while his arms were completely immobilized. Kimbo wasn’t defending himself and should have lost the fight due to stoppage. I say the referee didn’t do his job and once again embarrassed the MMA world.
yea kimbo may lost the 2rounds but he did what had to be done in the 3 round
That is right no one can beat Kimbo Slice since showtime/CBS wont let them. i just watched the match between Kimbo and James Thompson. they stopped the fight because Kimbo was losing and if he lost then they would lose to much money. w0w I never would have thought that MMA would turn out to be about money after all. MMA WAS the only combat sport that was about the sport and not about promotions and money. I can see now that Showtime/CBS just made a whore of MMA. How ashamed they should be at themselves. How disappointed all the true MMA fans must be at this turn of events. I will have to stick with PRIDE and UFC because they have not become PIMPS for MMA!
For some reason I disagree with the Ken Shamrock statement. I don’t see him giving anybody problems any longer.
Agree with jess. What little is left of Shamrock’s career would come to an end if Kimbo hit him.
better thompson than butterbean or sapp. training w/ randy could make all the difference. maybee?
ELITE XC , LISTEN UP , TAKE NOTES . MMA FANS DONT WANT HYPE. WE DONT WANT LONG INTRODUCTIONS WITH DANCING GIRLS,FIREWORKS AND COSTUMES .WE WANT TWO WARRIORS TO ENTER A RING WITH HONOR AND LEAVE WITH IT , YOU CHEAPEN THE SPORT AND THE SWEAT AND BLOOD AND TEARS OF THE MMA WORLD. IM DONE WITH YOU , YOU DONT GET.
Thompson trained with Randy before his last fight and look what happened.. 50$ says this doesn’t last more than a minute.
hey man just because that little goof trained with randy dose not make him a shity trainer so leave randy’s reputation out of it,i agree with you that he will not last 1 minute with kimbo.
Don’t knock Randy,he is one of the best fighters in the world.
As much as I’m gonna get flamed, and I’m not a Kimbo fan, but…I can actually respect what elite is doing. As long as Kimbo is drawing and selling out arenas, they can bring him up as slow as they want. He’ll be the first to admit he’s not a superstar mma practitioner, and that I also respect. With the show Frank Shamrock and Cung Le just put on, elite will be able to market some good shows in the near future.
not to mention Nick Diaz, Phil Baroni, ninja Rua and Robby Lawler (while not superstars, with the exception of Diaz), they all put on a great show.
With out a doubt, Thompson will be the most dangerous opponent Kimbo has ever faced….will Kimbo win? Probably, but I dont have a problem with Kimbo if he keeps facing tougher guys then he did in his previous fight. Thompson is for sure a big improvement over the other guys he has faced so its ok, as long as he progresses and his opponents get better, then thats all I can ask from Kimbo.
I would say Thompson is the 1st true mixed martial artist that Kimbo has faced, so its definetly worth a view.
At least we get to see him face a guy that will pose at threat! If the odds are right, I would lay a few bucks on thompson, that is, only if he is a huge underdog.
that’s what I’m saying, some ppl just don’t get it, it’s his third fight and ppl want him to go against the elite already. Thompson is a great 3rd opponent for Kimbo, we can start disliking him when he goes above 5 or 6 professional fights and still fighting cans (if he’s still on a winning streak).
I love thompsons “gong and dash” style even though it never seems to work for him. I bet he tries to stand with kimbo, atleast tell he gets his bell rung…
Yeah, Thompson’s usual strategy is to stand and exchange until he gets dropped.
If Thompson goes for the takedown then we actually may see what Mr Slice is made of. If he tries to stand with the dude even though he has limited experience I will say right now put a fork in him cause he will be done. I say that Kimbo takes this one Thompson has a weak chin and even though he is training with Randy a good chin really isn’t something you can train. Guess like everyone I will have to wait till the fight happens.
So long as Thompson follows Randy’s game plan, he should last for a bit. Ultimately, I can’t see Thompson winning unless he sort of takes Kimbo down and sits on him.
This is a farce and so is Kimbo, he’s not a main event he’s a quartertime show. Having him on CBS is BAD for the sport. Let him make his way like everyone else, ON THE UNDER CARD.
I’ll say it. Kimbo will lose this fight by tko.
I can’t believe we’ve got to go through this shit. If these things continue to happen then MMA is done for.
how can you make such a bizzare comment. EliteXC is trying to build and Kimbo is their main guy.. and as far as i know EliteXC is one of MMA’s millions of brands and so how could this possible kill MMA?
I don’t understand why Gary Shaw doesn’t atleast try to hide the fact that he’s holding Kimbo’s hand in every fight.
Why try and hide it? he puts asses n the seats, and admits himself that he’s really new to this. While I’m not a Kimbo fan, I respect that he readily admits he’s a novice, but has openly said he’d fight anyone…that said, him calling out guys like Sean Gannon make him lose his appeal, call out someone who at least WAS rellavant
He will continue to call out Sean Gannon until he fights him again because he wants revenge… why is that so hard to see?
It’s not hard to see…but the fight will never happen. and it shouldn’t, he needs to move up, what would beating Gannon (who is a nobody) prove?? I think we all know at this stage of the game it wouldn’t be a fight, enough said
i’d be buying, too, if not for two reasons, 1) this fight will be televized for free!!! yay!!* and 2) i think kimbo’s going to win by KO in a flash. what does thompson do? run full speed at his opponents, in spite of the weakest jaw in mma. what does kimbo do? punch people in the face with a great deal of force. this is a formula for a ridiculously quick fight. thompson’s been looking like he’s slacking on his training recently, too. or maybe he’s just roid free now that he’s on testing grounds? who knows.
*this nulifies my right to comlain, but i’ll do it anyway.
I think you made a mistake Mania. I thought WildMan was booked to fight Kimbo. After all he demands respect!
Ha ha, i’m glad someone remembers Wildman! Wish he’d show up again.
It really pisses me off how they keep protecting this guy, but whatever he will eventually be exposed.
This will be Kimbos fastest KO in EliteXC so far.
I don’t care if Thompson trains with Couture, training with Couture doesn’t make your chin from glass to wood.
My thought of the fight.
1. Crazy staredown.
2. Fight begins.
3. Thompson rushing into business.
4. Kimbo connects.
5. Heavy punch vs. A famous paperthin glasjaw = KO.
6. Happy fans chairing.
7. Kimbo gets more money.
Heavy hands vs. one of the thinnest paperjaws in MMA.
The good thing, Kimbo will be rich as hell before fighting real fighters.
I really hope that when people thing of mma they dont think of kimbo slice.
I hope so to Alex.
Kimbo has good power in the hands and he is very accurate with them.
His footwork and stance is solid.
I don’t know the rest of it, but I assume that he’s crap if somebody getting him on his back.
Also fighting fighters with bad chin and zero garding doesn’t make you the next Fedor.
Mania, how long has Thompson been training with Randy?
Thompson vs. Kimbo fight - 1. Thompson rushes Kimbo ; 2. Thompson gets tagged in the face immediately; 3. Thompson hits the mat face first; 4. Everyone watching who has never seen MMA or knows anything about it thinks Kimbo is the best fighter in the World; 5. Kimbo’s idiotic / thug entourage creates havoc while advertising their porn sites; 6. CBS cuts to commercial so they don’t have the FCC on their ass for advertising porn. End.
I love the UFC- don’t get me wrong. But it’s good to have a little competition. I hope EliteXC can grow. In the Baltimore-Washington area where I live, a couple years ago in addition to all the UFC offerings on cable, you could see PrideFC, Bodog, IFL, WEC, King of the Cage (on PPV), and EliteXC. That was the great “boom” period. One night UFC Unleashed was on one channel and Pride on the other at the same time (pre-buyout of course). I flipped back and forth. Truly a time of MMA mania.
kimbo who?????? this dude has fought nobodies fight a real fighter. then i’ll give you credit. your all hype. once he gets his ass beat by a real fighter he’ll be forgotten. your first fight was a joke the dude was tapping before he hit the mat. and tank well do disrespect to tank but come on he’s like the grand father of the sport. match him with a liddel or silva some one that will hit this punk back. its a waist of time even watching your fights cuase your a JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m sure Liddell and Silva were perfect fighters (style and technique) in their 3rd professional fights. Kimbo is a “beginner”. The MMA/Elite XC is taking advantage of is story. Team Kimbo, Sublime Directory, and SouthBeat Records believed in their product since day one and worked hard to market it and ALL of it’s entities. Unless you’re really that naive, you understand this, and all other sports, is a business. I look forward to seeing how far Kimbo can go in his career, but I’m not selfish enough to ask him to do it faster than anyone else just because he’s well-known. As long as his competition continues to get better we’ll all get to see just how good he is. Until then, enjoy watching Kimbo beat the SHIT outta a few scrubs.
Did you let Kimbo hit you LaRoc? Kimbo”s career… (ha ha ha hehee) you’re seeing it right now! He’s not going anywhere else accept back to taking bets in peoples backyards and parking lots. This is all this ONE-TRICK pony has. Heavy hands are only good IF they land and thats only gonna last 1 maybe two rounds but a five minute fight in the “REAL” rind he has no chance!He has no skill just punches, no endurance just feeding off the hype(which will fade). If you watch the fight again you’ll see that Kimbo taps when he got in the stand up guilletine…
This is just such a joke I feel sorry for the peolpe who watch this and this was their first experience of mma… actually I feel sorry for everyone that watch this. Hey is the XFL still around maybe Kimbo should go there!
Couture may not be able to fix the guy’s chin but he can get him not run out there, use some wrestling, and enhance every part of his game. Do you guys not remember Couture vs Silva? Couture used excellent head movement to not get hit! I would put my money on Mr. Slice as well but if you guys and Kimbo think that Thompson will come in with no game plan then you are retarded. I honestly doubt he will come out running full speed in this fight and trade shots. The thing you guys need to remember that if Thompson wins the fight he will get a ton of fame, he is the underdog and could be the first person to beat Kimbo.
Don’t get me wrong, i’m excited to see this gangster cinderella story emerge into something truly spectacular. Elite xc is doing the obvious thing by building up his opponents progressively, testing him step by step, stretching out his fame, and giving him time to improve. All this talk about training with couture, how about kimbo training with bas rutten, that guys an animal, and definitely relevant. However i just want to remind everyone that there’s also the robbie lawler fight. I love to hate that kid, but i’d watch him fight any day.
I think we should all stay unbias to the sports contenders especially new ones like (Kimbo) if not the sport would become uninteresting. Let’s try and stay away from making comments like “I hope you guys don’t think of Kimbo when you think of MMA” so you don’t sound like %*&holes. That goes for the ingenious guy who wrote it previously. Anyways Kimbo is new and doing pretty damn good compared to usual newcomers. I haven’t seen the guy backing down to any bigmouth fighters like TITO or anyone else for the matter. Let’s watch how it unfolds. Let the management do its thing and let us let the fighters do their thing. As for this next fight. It is going to be a joke. Please watch the Thompson v. Butterbean fight and notice how many swings Thompson takes. Notice his drop to the ground even though not a real knockout he was ducking for cover from a big slob. Kimbo is not a slob and he will finish it quick. I’m not a die hard fan of Kimbo, I just want to see good fights. We’ll have a good fight soon enough I know it.
Nobody thinks the 265lb experienced (now under COUTURE) in MMA fighter (thompson) can knock out kimbo? I’m a die hard kimbo fan, hes entertaining and is a skilled fighter, he dedicates his time 100% with training and knows his own weakness’s and works on them daily. Thompson may not be a smart fighter, but his sheer size added with couture telling him how retarded of a fighter he is will change his gameplan completely. Also if you watch kimbos street fights, hes been knocked down quite a few times by absolute random light weights (in comparison to thompson) of coarse guys, most people lose to kimbo out of sheer fear of him, if couture gets the marble in thompsons head to roll into the right hole, he will knock kimbo out. But in all reality a fighter like thompson can never be predicted, its like fighting kimbo vs a brown bear. In fact, wouldn’t you guys all agree you’d definitely pay to see kimbo fight a brown bear rather than thompson?
Nobody thinks the 265lb experienced (now under COUTURE) in MMA (thompson) can knock out kimbo? I’m a die hard kimbo fan, hes entertaining and is a skilled fighter, he dedicates his time 100% with training and knows his own weakness’s and works on them daily. Thompson may not be a smart fighter, but his sheer size added with couture telling him how retarded of a fighter he is will change his gameplan completely. Also if you watch kimbos street fights, hes been knocked down quite a few times by absolute random light weights (in comparison to thompson) of coarse guys, most people lose to kimbo out of sheer fear of him, if couture gets the marble in thompsons head to roll into the right hole, he will knock kimbo out. But in all reality a fighter like thompson can never be predicted, its like fighting kimbo vs a brown bear. In fact, wouldn’t you guys all agree you’d definitely pay to see kimbo fight a brown bear rather than thompson?
First of all, I am not a chicken feed for anybody.
Kimbo slice will be made to submit to my jiu jitsu skills.
You won the fight. What a joke!
These idiots are trying to reinvent pro(?) wrestling. They (CBS,Elite(?)xc) need to get out before they ruin the sport.
if you were James Thompson, giving away your strategy would not be smart.
hint for james:
kimbo hasn’t delt with clinch and or knees to the face
What a way to legitimize MMA on network TV. Cheesy dancers that look like the couldn’t get hired in a strip bar and a bunch of hip hoppers muggin for the camera on the first fight out of the shoot. I wouldn’t be suprised if a large number turned the channel before th first fight. I think so far it looks pretty bad from a production standpoint. I hope the fights are better than that first joke of a fight. A couple of fat no skill punchers. It’s looking pretty cheesy so far.
Man fu ck you crying jack as s. You dont like hip hoppers turn the freaking channnel loser. Whet you rather have some flameout pus singing what they think is rock and roll. some long haired coked up string bean singing about how hard there life is.I’m tired in internet cryboys like you polluting forums. You don’t like it Don’t watch its entertainment…not mandatory. Idiot.
So far, I’m not impressed with the production or the fights. This is not a very good way to introduce MMA to the masses. Chessy dancers, hip hoppers muggin for the camera and the first two fights looking like nothing but a couple of street fights. I wouldn’t be suprised if a lot of people have already turned the channel. MMA needs good production and good fighters to make it on network TV. Elite XC is offering neither.
The ladies (fighters, not dancers) may have saved this show. Best fight so far. Gina and Kaitlin gave us a great fight. The most technical, the fight showing the most heart and the most variety of techniques. Hope it keeps getting better.
I agree with Sperry. Not a good production. They definately need new announcers. Maybe I’m use to Rogan providing the color. They were hometowning Kimbo all night.
Thompson gave him all he could handle and he was terrible. Did he never learn ground and pound? Any half decent fighter would have put Kimbo away there. They better move Kimbo up slow. By the way, I like Kimbo, But this aint street fighting. He is definately not ready for the big leagues (Yet) The problem is he is too old to be a beginner.
What a joke. Thompson clearly won the fight in the 2nd round. He had Kimbo pinned and was pounding him with no response from Kimbo. Elite XC is no better than pro wrestling.
What a joke! Thompson won the fight in the 2nd round. He had Kimbo pinned and was pounding him with no reponse. Elite XC is no better than pro wrestling. Lots of glitz and no real substance. I feel sorry for Thompson.
Elite XC needs to get better medical and referees. Some of the stops were premature in my opinion. You can tell this production is a bunch of Kimbo nuthuggers. The referee (maglawhatshisname) prematurely stops fights and then lets Kimbo ride out the bell in the end of the second round? Thompson was looking dazed at the end but he had that same look in round 2 and recovered from it. This was protection from Elite XC for Kimbo their poster boy. So disappointing.
I agree with most of the others, what a joke. They decided not to stop the fight when Kimbo was on his back taking elbows to the face. The punches that stopped the fight in the last round were no different than the ones in the previous round, except that if Kimbo went down again he would lose the fight.
Elite XC can keep Kimbo as their main star. They are about the same quality.
What a joke this was like watching WWE not MMA. The girls were the best fighters I saw, at least they showed skill and heart and apparently were not forced to have a fixed match.
Kimbo looked like he was floundering, yet the fight was stopped to give him the advantage and then was stopped when it looked like he had nothing left.
What a disgrace I will be changing channels next time I see Elite XC
What a joke wonder if the Sponsors knew what they were buying.
IF EliteXC was looking for name brand recognition, they have it from me, next time I see the name I will change the channel
Tonight’s Kimbo fight was an absolute joke. We all know Kimbo lost the fight in round 2 after receiving strike after strike to the head while his arms were completely immobilized. Kimbo plain and simply wasn’t defending himself and should have lost the fight due to stoppage. I say the referee didn’t do his job!
I watch elite on showtime at times and I just cannot believe MMA was represented on national tv by this organization. I do not understand why this Kimbo character gets so much attention. These two heavy weights looked like they were in slow motion after a minute into the first round. Kimbo should have clearly been stopped in round two, and from that point on elite xc lost a lot of credibility. The women by far saved what could be saved of the show. I love MMA but elite xc needs to stick to showtime.
The Kimbo match was a joke. They didn’t want to see their poster boy lose to a European unknown. You know the ref was afraid to stop it. I can’t believe I wasted my time watching that farce.
The CBS show was a joke to all mma fans, fighters, and anybody involved in the sport. The stoppages was premature, and the fighters did not get a chance to show there true talents. The promoters were trying so hard to show the public and congress that mma is safe that they stop every fight before it had chance to finish. I used to think highly of elite XC after the Shamrock and Cung Le fight, but last night’s presentation showed how shallow elite XC can stoop to gain approval of the public. Lawler and Smith, you fought your asses off for nothing!
These fights were fixed, I mean fixed! How many people wasted their gas money last night on that crap? Elite XC is a joke! Stick with Pride, UFC, and WEC. Who needs the music and fireworks anyway, CBS SUX!
XC oughta stand for “extreme circus”. They looked like intros for WWE. NO fully focused fighter would come out with “Hollywood” sunglasses, call girls, hip-hop rappers, big smiles & hi-fives. Thats a mockery of what this sport is all about. Granted Im not speaking about the fighters innocent of these actions, but those that do this are in it strictly for promotional purposes to make up for their inability to show TRUE MMA fighting ability & versatility. The entertainment is the fighting, not the soap opera leading up to it. Kimbo, among several others, doesnt have the skills to be good televised entertainment. Referees, you are referees right? Does Don King have a hand in this league? With this kind of promotion, Elite will rapidly diminish. Get it together boys.
CBS blew it! They picked a fighter they were sure Kimbo could beat & had to rely on the ref prematurely bringing the fighters back to their feet & stopping the fight to get their ‘win’. I think they would have been better off letting him lose the fight & go back to training than making him look like a fraud. Good luck generating any interest in the next fight (except for those wanting to see Kimbo get his butt kicked).
bullshit kimbo beat his ass in 3 he got it done