Props: Gary Shaw
“I have the media report about Tyson. I have had no discussions with Mike or anybody surrounding Mike. I know Mike. Yes, I would make that fight in a heartbeat…. For those that say things about Kimbo to me are haters because they should be cheer-leading him to lead the way and open more doors. I don’t think MMA has had as much excitement the last few years as Kimbo is now bringing to the table…. Let me remind everyone on this call that nobody cared who Mike Tyson fought. If you asked someone what they were doing Saturday night, they would say they were going to see Tyson. They didn’t say Tyson against anybody. If he beat up on somebody that wasn’t as good as him, people would say he’s the baddest man on the planet. Some of the questions on this call are about an aging Tyson who got knocked out in his last fight. But it’s still the aura of Tyson. That’s what Kimbo Slice brings. I’m proud to promote him and proud to know him. I’m proud to call him a friend. Everybody should be cheer-leading Kimbo because he is a reason, not the only reason, but a reason that CBS really looked up. The logo of CBS, that eye, they put that eye right on Kimbo Slice.”
Elite XC Live Events President Gary Shaw refutes recent claims in a conference call yesterday that a fight between Kimbo Slice and 41-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is in the works. Slice has always talked about wanting to fight “Iron Mike;” however, he is way passed his prime and incredibly out of shape. Regardless, the return of Tyson would more than likely generate a ton of public interest (as always), especially if he’s matched up against a personality such as Slice. It’s for that reason that Shaw would book the fight in a “heartbeat.” It would be a complete sideshow … but a money-making sideshow at that. Slice has to first take care of James Thompson at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on May 31 during the network television debut of live mixed martial arts action on CBS.
102 Comments »
This fight will never happen…Its all talk! Tyson was supposed to fight Bob Sapp, but that never happened…
Its a nice story, but it wont amount to anything…
Damn it I keep forgetting to say 1st….I guess I am not the kool kid toady~!
I used to really respect your opinion john, but now that you forgot to say you’re “1st!” I have lost all respect. lol
it is clearly mmamania tradition to write 1st.
Hey John, did you see this story 36 hours ago when I first reported it?
Right, when you “reported,” er, copy and pasted a false rumor that Gary Shaw just shot down yesterday. I guess in hindsight we should have just ran with it and created a furor over the prospect that the fight was signed, sealed and delivered even though it wasn’t and probably never will be.
hey now, had a link too. not like I would ever just post with no source. of course he’s gonna shoot it down, Kimbo is fighting in a week. but you’re right. This would be a great display of Kimbos stand-up, or he would finally be able to show off his ground skills.
By the way mania, I was half joking, I’m just glad to see you guys are always finding the stories…and reading our posts!!
by the way guys, I’m being sarcastic about Kimbo and Tyson being a great place to showcase his skills. Would Dana cross promote just one time PLEASE and just let nog shut this prick up!!
Some people say other orgs. like EliteXC treat there fighters better than the UFC. Remember that before EliteXC was promoting Antonio Silva as one of the best HW’s out there. Now all there attencion is on Kimbo and wheres Big Foot now. Antonio Silva has a much better all around game, but he’s in the backround now. EliteXC isn’t even giving Antonio a chance to be on CBS to get some exposure for himself.
Kevin, why are you such a Kimbo trainer? You talk more smack than he does! Plus, he doesn’t mention names unless he gets called out first. You’re telling me that if somebody called you out, you’re not gonna wanna fight? I think you train, so you’d probably jump at the opportunity to fight lol. Kimbo has the same passion for the sport as BJ Penn does. Maybe it’s because you guys share the same first name lol.
your mumbled response makes no sense, but as far as calling people out, you’re wrong. Kimbo keeps calling out Gannon, why? Gannon would get owned. so he beat Kimbo (kimbo shot for a takedown first in that fight by the way), and has stated he wants tyson, again, why? Call out someone who will propel you into stardom. He talks (replys) to chuck, but realistically, any ufc HW (Even lesner) like nog, herring, beat him any day of the week.
This is a freak show!
Yep. Even if this fight does happen, will anyone care? I don’t think I’d even watch it.
Chef,
I’m with you on this. I know I wouldn’t watch this crap. I can’t even call it a fight. And for Shaw to say “I don’t think MMA has had as much excitement the last few years as Kimbo is now bringing to the table…” Then, Shaw clearly didn’t pay attention or doesn’t know crap about MMA.
And my comment wasn’t bashing Kimbo in any way. It would simply be a spectacle. Would that move Kimbo up in the rankings? No. So why take it? I think this kind of crap is bad for the sport. It’s MMA, a PROFESSIONAL sport, not a circus side-show.
Agree 100%.
i don’t see why dana gets so much hate when we’ve got Gary Shaw making a mokery of this sport!
I don’t like all of his business moves either, braveheart. But people forget Dana’s running a business, not a popularity contest. There’s that saying in the restaurant business that the customer is always right. Actually, the customer is almost always wrong. You just don’t let them know it. lol
I would watch it the say way i watch car accidents. I agree though not much value.
Kimbo is nothing special….don’t know what all the fuss is about?
I don’t want to see this fight. Gary shaw is a f**king morron, why can’t he just have Kimbo fight a real HW mma fighter. It’s a joke, and I think Gary Shaw is fixing his fights with Kimbo.
Because he has too much money invested in Kimbo to feed him to someone. I think that Shaw was right when he compared the way Kimbo was handled vs. Lesnar. I think that they should have eased Lesnar in a little bit more instead of giving him such a tough match up in his first UFC fight. How much money did they spend hyping him and he ended up losing less than 2 minutes in? I think that Shaw is being smart…He’s making maximum money on his investment. Isn’t Kimbo the face of Elite XC?
I’m sorry, but I just can’t agree with anything Gary Shaw does. I just hate the guy, a few years back he would rip apart mma, saying it wasn’t a sport and now all of a sudden he is the biggest fan. The guy is a hypocrite and is horrible for the sport. He is treating it more like the WWE and not a legitimate sport. And if Kimbo is as good as Gary is making him out to be, he wouldn’t be “feeding” him to anybody, it would just be a good fight. I have a lot more respect for Lesnar after the Mir fight than I would have if he destroyed some C level fighter that was new to the UFC.
Many people comment on Lesnar being throwing to the wolves, but this is exactly what Lesnar asked for according to his pre-fight interviews. I have much more respect for Lesnar as an MMA fighter because of his fight with Mir. Sure he was outclassed in ever area except strenght, but he wanted the challenge of a legit HW.
The one thing that can be said for Lesnar is that he knows where he stands in relation to the HW division in his promotion. Kimbo can’t make the same statement.
I agree Haze. If we are all in agreement that the sport has come a huge way in the last 10 years towards legitimacy and becoming a proper recognised sport, then we should all despise even the prosect of this fight. A mentally challenged, washed up, out of shape old boxing legend getting in an MMA ring should not be the image or ethos that we want the world to see.
Haze I think you said it perfect. I have more respect for Lesnar getting in there with a former champ and submission specialist in Mir, than I do for Kimbo who isn’t fighting anyone who could atleast test him. Buentello has called Kimbo out for a long time, but yet Kimbo calls out Gannon? Don’t get me wrong the average guy off the street couldn’t get in there and KO Tank like that, so Kimbo’s got skills. But he’s in his mid 30’s so he dosen’t have alot of time left so why not get in there and test himself.
Watch the fight, then go to the post-fight party at Gangrape Lounge.
BTW, it’s pronounced gahn-grah-PAY lounge.
Spectacle = $$$$ Folks that have no clue MMA even exists would pay to see the fight. Myself….I am not all that enthused but that’s just me.
As for Kimbo….If you “haters” had never heard of Kimbo or seen a Youtube vid of him fighting you would not be screaming for him to fight a top 10 HW. He is being brought along like most any other prospect…A few easy fights to get his feet wet and then move up the ladder.
The only difference is that he was famous (or infamous if you prefer) before he ever came to MMA. I do not know why so many folks hate Kimbo for doing his best and making a living.
A lot of haters on here are screaming for Kimbo to fight a Top 10 in his 3rd pro fight??? That just brilliant folks….NOT.
Dogging Kimbo is pathetically immature and serves no purpose beyond displaying the ignorance of the poster. You don’t have to like him but you don’t have to dog him for earning a living either.
If any of you had a choice between fighting for 3K or 200K which would you pick? DUH!
Very intelligent post…. Dont worry peopel, Kimbo WILL NEVER fight Tyson…its all talk!
yes it is all talk ! but could you imagine how many of tysons fans would come out of the closet to watch this fight! kimbo is picking up alot of fans because of youtube and now everybody thinks that he is so great but he does have a big fan base! does it make sence for these two to fight… no absolutely not because kimbo would plow throught him just like he would any other past prime fighter! however from a making money stand point i am sure it would sell ! i am not a kimbo fan but if i was trying to make mooney in the fight business like elite xc is doing i would probably make this fight happen!
kimbo cant beat iron mike tyson but this new mike tyson who is out of shaped he could….
I disagree, making stupid points with sophisticated diction(”Dogging Kimbo is pathetically immature and serves no purpose beyond displaying the ignorance of the poster.” … Come on this is a blog site, pathetically immature… sounds like you’re trying to make your 12 year old brother feel inferior) is still a stupid post. I don’t hate on Kimbo, I dislike the idea the “non-hardcore” community is getting that he is the world’s best fighter(people on youtube are mainly dumb pre-teens but the idea is floating around), and would Like to see him fight better competition. Most fighters have little to no control over who they fight, and I do not blame him for his sub-par opponents. Gary Shaw has seen him get his feet wet, now lets see him go to the deeper waters see if he can swim with the sharks.
“Colossus” Thompson might not be a shark but he’s no guppy. 6′5″ former pride fighter would be stepping it up from washed up Tank IMO. what were you expecting in his 3rd pro fight? Fedor?
ufcmn89, I am not going to “dum down” a post just to suit you. Your grasp (or lack thereof) of the english language does not change my point at all. Nor am I accusing you specifically of being a “hater”. Sorry you took it personally.
Now…all that silliness aside I agree with you in that I would also like to see Kimbo fight some stiffer competition. However, one must ask…Is he ready? I really don’t think so and obviously his trainers and promoters agree with that assessment.
I think folks that really follow the sport would probably agree with me that he is being brought along in a manner typical for new prospects.
Yes….Gary Shaw is absolutely doing Kimbo a disservice in promoting him as “THE GREATEST” while simultaneously matching him with sub par competition. I believe that is the root issue for many folks who just can’t see past the “bling” to the bottom line.
I agree that Kimbo is not ready for top 10 competition, but there is a wide gulf between the top 10 and the dregs he’s been fighting. There are plenty of HWs in the their 20s instead of their 40s with well-rounded skills that would be appropriate for someone who’s been training with Bas Rutten every day for over a year.
Of course you would fight for the bigger purse but by doing that you are also selling out. Yes Kimbo looked impressive on youtube but you have to remember that he is fighting people that have little to no disciplined fighting skills, even basic boxing is lacking.
Kimbo needs to fight better fighters than he has had put in front of him so far. Its not his fault who he fights as he is not picking them personally, Gary Shaw is, but if he wants recognition as a MMA fighter and not a brawler he needs to show technique and fight guys who are not going to run straight at him and try and bang for 30 seconds like Tank Abbott.
So…UKmmaBOY….fighting for the best payout for which you can negotiate is now “selling out”? Okey dokey…got it. LOL!!!
Like in Music or any other entertainment industry you can work your way uo through the ranks and then earn the big money or sell your soul for hard currency and get there immediatley.
Who is a more respectible artist? Someone who breaks the charts through playing bars and small town show or someone who wins Idol or Making the Band? Who is a more respectible MMA fighter? Kimbo who is given star status or Dan Hardy who UFC signed this week who has worked himself up through small organisations to get noticed and signed?
Kimbo has sold his soul & integrity to Gary Shaw for cash. I hope he enjoys its and spends it wisely.
I agree COMPLETELY with you borocker. All the Kimbo haters who call themselves “hardcore” MMA fans are full of crap if they think that Kimbo is being spoon fed fights. He JUST STARTED FIGHTING MMA. Look at everyone else who has ever fought MMA besides guys like Brock Lesnar everyone has to climb the ladder.
Granted he has fought brawlers like himself hes got a ground game se saw him take it to the mat in his first fight. Look at Tank Abbott… huge brawler know for KO power and Kimbo wiped his ass with him in 48 seconds (Abbott lost his last 8 of 9 fights) but still he used to be a big name. If Kimbo didnt have you tube fights no one would be this against him. hes an up and coming fighter doing it the way he should be. All this UFC bias is Bullshit there are better fighters in the world then in the UFC. They cant get every single one.
Give Kimbo a chance I would LOVE to see the UFC get competition. Its good for business and I have been watching the UFC for almost a decade now. Kimbo will be something in the future. guaranteed.
Im not a Kimbo hater, his YouTube fights were very entertaining, the fans complaint is that the 2 fights in his MMA career are against guys at the end of their career. We all know Kimbos KO power but his style is 10 yrs old. Him “fighting” Tank was like Titos 3 wins over Ken Shamrock, a given win before the fight started.
KO King and Borocker I don’t mean this to be rude but you both sound like relatively new fans. I know you said you’ve been watching the UFC for over a decade now so maybe you haven’t caught on but all of your arguements don’t make sense. For example everyone is just hating on Kimbo because he’s famous for his youtube fights… well no doubt, he wouldn’t be getting this publicity if he hadn’t done those fights. If he didn’t have the youtube fights nobody would care who he was and he would probably get respect alot faster than the route he’s taken to get it. Also the people Kimbo has fought are slow one dimensional fighters, I’ve seen Kimbo’s youtube fights and he can take a punch to give a punch. The guys he’s fighting don’t really have that drive anymore, they’d like to think they can fight but honestly that was a disgustingly out of shape Tank Abbott. I could probably have knocked him out myself and I’m a LW. Some people want Kimbo to fight a top 10 guy, but most of us just want him to have a legitimate fight. Fight a guy who doesn’t always play to your advantage and who is also an up and coming prospect. Honestly it is bullshit when you can plainly see that Gary Shaw only cares about one of the fighters and the other one doesn’t have much of a career left anyway. He should be trying to build his company by having guys who are on the same level facing each other. If Kimbo lost a legitmate fight but put up a good effort there is no love lost there. I would be like awesome he’s a tough guy and so what if he has a loss, he can learn from it and since he’s up and coming its not expected of him to win every fight. But Gary Shaw is not good for the sport and if Kimbo keeps doing what Gary Shaw says and doesn’t speak for himself he isn’t good for the sport either.
Well put smokes!!
Smokes I don’t see where we are disagreeing at all. You made the exact same points as I did. No harm/no foul. As for my “fan time”…well I started with UFC 1 and have been a die hard fan ever since but I just started really following the other organizations and promotions a couple years ago. So you are both right and wrong on that point. 50/50 is not bad. I cannot speak for KO KING of course.
But in reality…does it really matter how long I (or anyone else) has been following the sport? We are in a forum of public opinion and experience is pretty much irrelevant unless one is promoting his or her self as an expert. Each poster should be judged by what they write…not how long they have been a fan.
It’s any readers right to disagree with anything I write and I welcome that criticism. And as long as said criticism is put forth in a constructive manner the resulting debate should be both educational and entertaining for all involved.
I agree he probably wouldn’t have as many people that didn’t like him if he didn’t have the YouTube videos. Can you say that he would be as popular without them? He wouldn’t even be fighting MMA without those videos. This is why people don’t like him. He is making star money and has only fought 3 times.
I understand why he is getting star money but I believe this is why the hardcore fans don’t like him. They have watched the greats fight for 10 - 15 years and just now are making good money. Randy, Chuck, Matt, Tito, Tim, AA, etc…
Anytime you have a guy just jumping into the mix that is not established and is making as much money as those guys I just mentioned that is going to create haters. There is nothing you can do about that.
I agree with that MMAFan1981….it is purely a result of the “business” of MMA evolving almost as fast as the “sport” of MMA. And your also right in that their is little to be done about it.
KO KING, right on target bud. His notoriety alone is working against him. And as I posted before Gary Shaw is not helping matters for Kimbo by hyping him to the moon every chance he gets. But business is business.
I am not asking him to fight a top 10. He doesn’t deserve that shot yet but someone other than a striker. The guy he is fighting next will come flying across the ring and it will be a brawl until someone gets knocked out. I wouldn’t say give him a top ten opponent but someone with some credentials.
A few good options would be guys like - Jeff Monson, Assuerio Silva, Mark Hunt, and even Pedro Rizzo. Someone in that category. Guys who have fought the best and are well rounded fighters.
I understand your position, but Randy Couture fought Vito Belfort in his 3rd professional fight and at the time Vitor was one of the scariest guys anyone could face. Brock Lesnar fought Mir in his second professional fight, and had a chance of winning. So, while I’m not saying feed your biggest cash cow to the slaughter house, at least put him to the test with B level fighters, because fighting C and D level fighters does nothing to enhance or advance him.
Couture also wasn’t expected to win that fight.
No one is dogging Kimbo because of what he did before EliteXC… it’s the fact that he is headlining fights while fighting guys that high schoolers could beat up. It also pisses people off that this guy is becoming the face of MMA to new fans ie: ESPN: 60 doing a segment on him. If he wasn’t headlining events, he wouldn’t get so much hate.
This article, along with all the posts on here, demostrate that the problem isn’t Kimbo. It is Gary Shaw.
Jeff just summed up everything I said in one sentence, well put.
I agree completely. Why are people so against Kimbo? I agree he’s getting more attention that he’s earned (at least as far as MMA goes), but he’s very easy to promote.
He seems like a really cool guy in his interviews. I met him in Vegas at the Rehab party and he was super cool to us.
It’s just a fight people. We watch it for 5 to 15 minutes and it’s over. I’m not sure why everyone’s so pissed off about his situation.
You will not find a bigger Tyson fan than I…with that said, Tyson wants no part of Kimbo.
Tyson is out of shape, mentally drained, and has no experence in the cage. His only shot would be a stand up rules only fight and even then, who knows what would happen. Mike just doesnt have it anymore.
But back in the day… man that dude was a bad ass!
*SIGH*
Soon James Thompson.
Maybe Tyson.
Please feed Kimbo someone with atleast some chin.
What excitement has Kimbo brought to the table? All of his fights have been against washed up ex-boxers or MMA fighters. There is no excitement when you fight no one Shaw! And if Shaw really does beleive that then he’s about as ignorant as anyone who beleives that Kimbo is good and exciting for MMA. I have to say Im even a little dissappointed that Bas has took this guy under his wing.
lols! kimbo is looking again to fight a washed up fighter.
& come on tyson is only a boxer, he would get destroy against any mma fighter with a descent skill.
Let’s see. Washed up retired boxer Ray Mercer? Check. Washed up retired bar brawler Tank Abbott? Check. Not good enough to even be considered washed up, taps before a punch lands Bo Cantrell? Check. Washed up retired boxer Mike Tyson? Possibly. Are there still any Kimbo huggers who want to argue that Shaw isn’t pimping Kimbo as a carnival sideshow but calling his fights main events?
Lets see.
Noe Hernandez- who is this guy?
Jose Landi-Jons - a great contender?
Kenneth Williams- do you know who he is?
Paul Jones- the drummer from Led Zepplin?
These were 4 of Chucks 1st 5 fights. The other being Jeremy Horn who choked him unconscious rather easily. This is the record of chuck Liddell who some say is the greatest champion the UFC has ever had. A great list of fighters don’t you think? You wanna talk about pimping out main events? How about Dana throwing Coleman to Lesnar to help protect his investment. Coleman is now 44 years old and is 4-4 since 2000. Do some research before making assumptions.
All the people on the Liddell list can be considered professional fighters in their primes. None of them, at least to my knowledge, was a 48-year-old former boxer, a 40-something brawler who wasn’t any good when he was in his prime, or a guy who took a dive from a punch to the shoulder and tapped before he even hit the mat. As for Lesnar, the guy requested a former UFC HW champion in his first fight and damn near had him beat. After Lesnar dispatches Coleman I assure you he will face whatever solid competition the UFC can throw at him. If/when Kimbo ever faces and beats a legitimate fighter I will acknowledge him as such. Until then he’s a carnival act on par with that 7-foot Korean guy that Fedor fought on New Year’s.
true. can’t argue with that.
Noe Hernandez beat three men one being Travis Fulton before losing to Horn followed by another loss to Chuck, note that Noe won mainly by submission. Jose Landi-Jons (Chucks second fight) had a six fight win streak before going against Chuck, note he finished everyone of those fights by submission or TKO. Jeremy Horn was Chucks third fight need I say more? Chuck didn’t fight a bunch of washed up stand up fighters, they were legitimate fights. You can look up your information before you post it, just because you don’t know a guys name doesn’t mean you can’t look up his history. As for the Coleman fight with Lesnar? First off Coleman is a straight wrestler which puts Lesnar in a very weird position fighting a guy who can submit him quickly. Remember how Lesnar lost his last fight? Number two point on this is that Coleman last fought Fedor, before that he broke Mauricio Rua’s arm, he beat Milco Voorn before that and the two fights before that fight he lost to Filipovic and Emelianeko. Coleman is no slouch and is a high teir fighter, he may be getting older but he still poses a pretty strong threat to Lesnar. I understand you like Kimbo but that doesn’t mean the fights he has are legitimate. If any of the fighters compare to Chucks or Lesnars first fighters please let me know, otherwise take the time to get the facts straight.
What a load of garbage.
I don’t recall Liddell being touted as the next great thing in the light heavyweight division even [i]before[/i] he set foot in the cage, or being billed as a main event despite fighting a non-title fight against a nobody.
As for those guys he fought? When he fought them, in his first fights, their records were 3-2-0, 12-2-0, 0-0-0 and 10-0-1. Two other newbies, and two guys with solid winning records. (and Horn of course, who was something like 23-4-4 at the time)
Now let’s compare it to Kimbo’s opposition…
Bo Cantrell: 10-10-0
Tank Abbott: 9-13-0
Yeah, those two sets of stats [i]really[/i] look alike.
i love how people try to persuade others that a guy who has a losing record Noe Hernandez (4-5), kenneth williams (0-2) is any good. lol. yea, top of the heap. prime of their career. at least boe & tank was known to people.
And sorry, Coleman is going to get smashed! He couldn’t take Fedor down to save his own life. I thought Fedor was going to get a TKO in that 1! Do you realize how massive Brock is?! lol cmon now.
Getting back to the point, nobody’s saying Kimbo is the best HW out there. He’s starting off his mma career with low level fighters just like iceman did. He’s high-profile fights because of his 1 of a kind street fighting reputation. Name any other fighter that came up that way. He’s a beast! The James Thomson fight is a step up. At the end of the day, I’d rather see Kimbo vs. Thomson than Rashad vs Irvin. Dollars make sense. Thats why he’s the main event. If you think Kimbo is a joke, don’t watch. Everyone else will.
Thats a totally weak arguement. I just gave you all the info you needed posted like three up. I love people who completey play off facts. FACT: Bo lost his last four fights before Kevin, thre by KO or TKO. FACT: out of his last 8 fights before Kevin Tank lost 7, he lost most of those by KO or TKO also. If these guys are so experienced why are they losing to relatively no name fighters? The guys Chuck first faced were up and comers with few fights under their belt but wins coming into the fight. Chuck was challenged Kimbo was not.
Losing to one of the top P4P fighters in the world is no reason why you would lose to a relative newby. Coleman has a coins flip of winning, either his skill takes out Lesnar or Lesnar over powers him.
I already posted all of the reasons your arguements don’t make sense two or three post above this so feel free to read that if you’d like. But please if your going to post something that you know someone has already proven to be a dumb idea don’t get mad when people hit you with valid information. Also Rashad is undefeated while Irvin just tied for the fastest KO in the UFC. They are much more deserving of a headliner and more competent fans would choose to watch this fight over Kimbo’s, wait before you get pissed because I’ll give you my reasoning for this. Its because they know what the outcome of Kimbo’s fight is, its supposed to be Kimbo KO’ing Thompson in the first round. Now for Rashad and Irvin that fight could go three rounds or it could go 7 seconds, its more exciting and compelling. Don’t mean to be an ass… actually in this case I do.
Thats a totally weak arguement. I just gave you all the info you needed posted like three up. I love people who completey play off facts. FACT: Bo lost his last four fights before Kevin, thre by KO or TKO. FACT: out of his last 8 fights before Kevin Tank lost 7, he lost most of those by KO or TKO also. If these guys are so experienced why are they losing to relatively no name fighters? The guys Chuck first faced were up and comers with few fights under their belt but wins coming into the fight. Chuck was challenged Kimbo was not.
Losing to one of the top P4P fighters in the world is no reason why you would lose to a relative newby. Coleman has a coins flip of winning, either his skill takes out Lesnar or Lesnar over powers him.
I already posted all of the reasons your arguements don’t make sense two or three post above this so feel free to read that if you’d like. But please if your going to post something that you know someone has already proven to be a dumb idea don’t get mad when people hit you with valid information. Also Rashad is undefeated while Irvin just tied for the fastest KO in the UFC. They are much more deserving of a headliner and more competent fans would choose to watch this fight over Kimbo’s, wait before you get pissed because I’ll give you my reasoning for this. Its because they know what the outcome of Kimbo’s fight is, its supposed to be Kimbo KO’ing Thompson in the first round. Now for Rashad and Irvin that fight could go three rounds or it could go 7 seconds, its more exciting and compelling.
So if these guys are so good and were in their prime where are they now? What have they done inside the sport of MMA to help draw attention to it? If they were fighters that were in their prime and at the top of their game why have they never been seen anymore. C’mon man your obvious UFC bias is on full display. The Sport is MMA not UFC. Kimbo is one dimensional but so is Chuck, Tito, Coleman, Lesnar, Hughes etc. They all have their strong parts of their game and so does Kimbo. Chuck took Wandy down twice for about a minute in their fight. When have you ever seen Chuck take another guy down in his last 10 fights? A takedown, not jumping on a guy because he knocked him down? Every fighter plays to their strengths but for some reason only the UFC guys get props for it.
First off the guys Chuck faced were just beggining their careers but they had a good thing going before they faced Chuck. Check their records and maybe you’ll see that. Next is that all the guys you named were not afraid to fight anyone, they took on guys who were well rounded and won, they also lost some as well because thats the way the game works. Stop just talking shit because your biased toward Kimbo, look up the facts and make a reasonable arguemen.
First off the guys Chuck faced were just beggining their careers but they had a good thing going before they faced Chuck.
So Chuck is so good that he ruined their careers? What are you saying dude?
From what i’ve seen when guys are interviewed after their fights by Rogan they always say “I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me.” Isn’t that what Kimbo is doing.
You can respond with a simple yes or no.
FACT: Chuck’s 4th fight was with a guy that didn’t fight anybody yet. That guy went on to NOT even win 1 fight in his 2 fight career.
FACT: Kimbo’s 3rd fight is with a 6′5″ 265 7 fight pride veteran.
Chuck is one of my favorite fighters. But for some reason i jut can’t figure out, people just love to knock Kimbo more than usual. lol.
Yep you got the first thing right, they had few fights and Chuck basicly ended their careers. They had a few wins and were looking good but he showed up and beat them down and sometimes that happens. He made them look like less of a prospect and in turn raised his status by legitimately fighting up the latter. I’m still not saying he had to fight top 10 guys to be legitimate and that seems to be what your hinting at. Kimbo may be saying he wants to fight the best but he is by no means making it happen. They seem like empty request to me because IMO he should tell Shaw that he isn’t running this show right and that he needs good competition. Already in this thread Chucks fighting history has been compared with Kimbo’s even though Kimbo only had two fights but still its the route you personally choose to make so don’t get mad when the numbers don’t add up to your favor. Also I don’t have any problems with Kimbo and I think he could be decent in MMA (because I haven’t seen any ground talent I’m not 100% sure). So where Lesner asked for the best and got it, Kimbo asks for the best and gets hand fed. That isn’t right and Kimbo needs to do something about it, Kimbo holds the cards he’s the fighter he can choose his pace. When someone calls out for the best in the UFC they get a good challenge, Kimbo gets a can.
In regards to your statement Kama Kaze. This Kenneth (Chucks 4th fight) was supposed to test Chucks ground game, the funny thing is that this is Chucks only submission win. Also think of him as a warm up fight after losing to Horn, you understand that Chuck lost his third fight to Horn so he had an easier test in a 4th fight. You fail to mention that Chucks next fight is against a guy who currently is 11-1 and was actually 10-0 when he faced Chuck. Also Thompson or “Colossus” has lost 6 of his last 8 fights. 5 of those 6 losses came by KO or TKO something sound familiar here? Right all three guys Kimbo has faced have losing streaks and they were losing those fights primarily by getting Knocked out by guys with no knock out power or TKO’d. And I’ll also state this again Kama, that I don’t have beef with Kimbo. I have beef with who he fights and the way he is being promoted and I’d like Kimbo to get a little pissed about it as well. I’d like Kimbo to go “Hey Shaw! Give me a real fight the fans dont’ look at me like I’m a fighter, let me prove them wrong.” Then Shaw will reluctantly throw somebody with a winning record at Kimbo. Now wether Kimbo wins or loses I don’t know because I haven’t seen him properly challeged yet but I’ll respect Kimbo more thats for sure.
good points. i don’t want to get in a habit of bashing chuck. chuck is a bad mofo. no quesion about it. but i think that you’re still not getting that kimbo is facing the level of competition of which he’s at now and finishing them in seconds. Thats what I’m excited about. James Thomson has height, weight, reach, and experience on Kimbo. 6 losses were all to guys with winning records -not scrubs. 12 of his 14 wins were TKO/KOs in the 1st! The way Kimbo is being promoted as is “an up and coming mma star who faught bare knuckle street fights” - exactly what he is, no more no less. I find it odd too, but its not his fault ESPN wants to promote that? lol. I’m also like you highly anticipating fights with contenders (including chuck), but until then I’ll settle for watching him “outstrike” guys on his way up. Kimbo’s a beast! good discussion Smokes. not much else to say.
I’ve said it before - I don’t hate Ferguson, I just hate his dipshit fanboys.
You *have to* be a retard to actually buy into the bullshit that EliteXC is pushing. Ferguson might have some videos on YouTube, some gold teeth, and a different chest hair style every time he’s on TV, but he DOESN’T HAVE ANY REAL FIGHTS under his belt. Period.
I feel ya Kama on this, I didn’t take the time to really take an indepth look at Thompson so I down play him maybe more than he should be and he also has a winning record so I owe him the benifit of the doubt. Thats exactly my point though, Kimbo is blasting through these guys in the first round. To me that indicates he’s ready for some tougher competition; you don’t have to feed him to the dogs though but by giving him a good fighter where he does stand a chance to lose people will have much more respect for him. This is a free fight card so I will be watching it, no reason to not get my money’s worth right? But yeah I’ve pretty much exhausted my points on this, good luck to Kimbo beating Thompson and moving on to some better competition though, and screw Gary Shaw!
The funny thing i find is that if it was Dana and the UFC that signed Kimbo, no one would question it. Dana has Chuck calling out Kimbo as a nobody etc. but when Kimbo says something back everyone on this site is up in arms about it. “He has no right to say that to a legend like Chuck.” Chuck has a lot to say knowing damn well that the fight would never happen because of the UFC exclusivity clauses in contracts. Tough talk. By my estimation i would say that if chuck is so confident that he can take Kimbo, sign a 1 fight deal with Elite when your UFC one expires, go there and whoop Kimbo and prove that Elite are a b-class org. I hate people that talk smack knowing they will never have to back it up.
First off I admit that Dana and Chuck handled the situation wrong, the should not have even brought attention to Kimbo. Second thing is that it swings both ways and Kimbo knows there is no chance he’ll have to fight Chuck anyway which I believe is a big reason Kimbo called Chuck out as well. Next things next though, Chuck is still trying to fight the hardest fights he can find while Kimbo sits back and lets Shaw hand pick his fights for him in which Kimbo is garunteed to lose. Want to know something? This is worse for Kimbo, not only is he not maturing as fast as other fighters who actually go out there and put their name on the line ie. Leben, Forrest, Hammil. (These guys were no names before TUF and look at them now) but he is also put in a bad situation. If he loses to one of the hand picked cans he’s supposed to beat he’ll be completely worthless to Shaw. This all just goes to show how bad Shaw is at this business, he’s in it for quick cash and not the long term deal. As for Kimbo, he can just as well shut the hell up until he starts calling for better fighters in his own company Elite XC. I like the name Elite its an ironic twist to how the fights are, it should be something like Fixed XC.
Rashad is the toughest fight out there for Chuck? Why not Thiago Silva, Jardine again, Machida, Forrest?
No Rashad isn’t the toughest fight for Liddel