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Kimbo Slice goes prime time Saturday, the latest step in a brutal fighting career that has polarized the mixed martial arts world.
The former street brawler from Miami, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, headlines "EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights" in its debut on CBS (9 p.m. ET). His opponent is James (The Colossus) Thompson, a 29-year-old British fighter whose recent record does not live up to his impressive six-foot-five, 265-pound physique.
At 6-2 and 240 pounds, the 33-year-old Slice is a fearsome figure in his own right. Bald on top, with his hair tied back in a tiny pigtail, and sporting a full beard, the musclebound, tattooed fighter exudes menace. Add a bizarre backstory and you have a Mike Tyson-like phenomenon despite having just two MMA fights under his belt.
The Slice saga comes at a time when the growing popularity of mixed martial arts has drawn more and more players to the TV table. And the prime-time CBS deal, which calls for four live cards a year, represents MMA's biggest televised showcase to date.
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EliteXC events have previously aired on cable's Showtime in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada. NBC is airing programming from a third organization, Strikeforce, in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The International Fight League has struck its own deal with Fox Sports Net.
The UFC, which is home to most of the sport's marquee names, rules the MMA pay-per-view world and has a deal with cable channel Spike. It has been negotiating its own entree into TV, with HBO mentioned as a potential home, but has reportedly been hampered by UFC president's Dana White's refusal to hand over event production to the network.
Perhaps not surprisingly, White is dubious about the CBS venture, questioning Slice's ability and the fact he is headlining a card.
"It's not like putting MMA's best foot forward," White told reporters after UFC 84 last Saturday in Las Vegas. "I've said it before about Kimbo Slice, I give him the props, he's training in mixed martial arts. But this guy was fighting in backyards a while ago. And that's part of the appeal, but that's what we've stayed away from."
Slice's fame comes from bare-knuckle street fights, available on YouTube or other video forums. And they are not pretty.
In one, at a boatyard, Slice steps out of an SUV, takes off a massive piece of bling and prepares to insert a mouthguard before facing an opponent named Dreads.
"Are you ready to thump," someone asks off camera? "All day," Slice answers.
After toppling Dreads backwards with a vicious uppercut, Slice watches as someone rushes to the fallen fighter. "Leave him alone," Slice growls. "Don't touch him. Let him get up."
"I don't think he wants any more of that," someone answers as the camera closes in on Dreads' bloody face.
"I'm done," the dazed loser says.
Other fights show Slice hitting — and hurting — opponents in alleys and backyards while pumped-up observers look on.
One infamous 2004 video has Slice on the losing end of a 10-minute indoor brawl with Boston police officer Sean Gannon. The two slug it out while frenzied spectators scream on, often jostling among themselves while protesting the fight tactics. The six-foot-three, 265-pound Gannon, a former Golden Gloves champion boxer, floors Slice at least three times.
The fight ends with Slice slumped on the ground, while a crowd around him counts him out. Gannon's face is lumpy and bloody.
It is a scary show. Throw in some weapons and it could be straight out of the "Mad Max" film franchise.
Gannon went on to fight — and lose — in the UFC. EliteXC and Slice say they want to stage a rematch.
Slice says he used to be high when he fought in backyards. But that was then. Today, Slice trains with former star fighter Bas Rutten and needed just 62 seconds to dispatch his first two EliteXC opponents. He says he is focused and dedicated. Prior to his MMA debut, he said hadn't had sex for four months and a cocktail in five or six.
His coming out party on an EliteXC card in November was over in the blink of an eye. Bo Cantrell took a punch to the head and wanted no part of Slice, tapping out in just 19 seconds. It was Cantrell's fifth straight loss, dropping his record to 10-11.
Former UFC star Tank Abbott was up next. More than a decade past his prime, he lasted 43 seconds before being knocked out in February. The 43-year-old Abbott (9-14) suffered his fourth straight defeat and eighth in nine fights.
Slice is a force of nature inside the cage. He advances on his opponents and then clubs them either to the ground or into submission. He shows decent head movement and clearly has heavy hands. And in an exhibition MMA bout with former boxer Ray Mercer last June, he took the 46-year-old Mercer down and submitted him via guillotine choke.
