The Kimbo Slice Carnival Lives
Many questions were in the air in Las Vegas on Saturday, as Kimbo Slice took to the octagon for his first official UFC fight. While much of the focus was on Slice, the spotlight should have been placed on Dana White.
Once upon a time, Dana White told MMA fans that Kimbo Slice was a joke to the sport and would never see the inside of the octagon unless he won The Ultimate Fighter. Well, Kimbo didn’t win TUF and was invited into the octagon anyways. So what’s the deal?
The deal is that the UFC is more about sports entertainment than it is about sport these days. Built on the foundation of following WWE shows on Spike, UFC sold itself out long ago by appealing to folks that think Vince McMahon’s product is actually real. The recipe: build story lines, deliver the drama and then send some sensational athletes out there to display their acrobatic skill.
During the TUF 10 Finale last night, UFC came closer to becoming sports entertainment than any time in its history. Kimbo Slice was matched up with an undersized light heavyweight named Houston Alexander, a huge flop in the UFC that got brought back for a staged feeding. The story line we were sold was that Alexander was a skilled fighter that was desperately trying to get back into the UFC and that Slice was his way back in.
In my years of watching MMA, this fight now rates #1 on the worst fights I’ve ever seen. It made me come away with a feeling like it was staged. This is not just because of the EliteXC debacle with Slice, its what was displayed in the cage. Alexander refused to initiate action, circling and running throughout. He never attempted an aggressive move for 15 minutes. This was not a guy desperate for his path back in.
Here is my analysis of what went down:
First, Alexander was taken down into a ground-and-pound position with Slice in side control. As most wrestlers know, you never lay on your hips on the side without your leg hooks in, otherwise the other guy will step over or roll you. But here was Slice, lying on the side of his hip with Alexander making no attempt to breakout despite his center of gravity being higher. Needless to say, a bantamweight could have turned the tide on Slice given his awful positioning. These are basic you learn during pee wee wrestling.
Second, Alexander was continually attacking with lower leg kicks. Part of the “story” was that Slice was experiencing serious arthritis in the knee. At one point in the fight, Slice was chopped down to the mat by a leg kick from Alexander. Rather than pouncing on the fallen opponent, Alexander hesitated, backed off and then made a half attempt to make it look like he thought about attacking. It was pathetic.
Finally, in the closing seconds, Alexander clearly rocked Slice with a shot to the head as the fighters brawled. Slice went stumbling backwards, clearly affected by the shot with less than 10 seconds left. Given the closeness of the fight, Alexander needed the round to win. Again, instead of pouncing like a fighter “desperate” for a victory, Alexander hesitated and never tried to go for the kill.
Needless to say, this was one of the most despicable displays of fighting I’ve witnessed in the cage. More shocking is the commentary on MMA blogs and forums off people discussing the fight that have limited to no knowledge on fighting skills.
The final word. Kimbo Slice’s skills have not improved at all. Houston Alexander never attempted to fight him and we’ll all be left puzzled to the answers behind his decision not to aggressively attack.
The UFC will likely continue to promote this carnival sideshow that is Kimbo Slice. Basically, Kimbo equals dollar signs. While he seems to be a nice guy, he’s just not a skilled fighter and he hurts the credibility of the sport. He’s become the Mike Tyson sideshow of MMA.
The UFC went back on its word that Slice would never enter the ring and not one media outlet and saying boo. Where was the media hammering Dana White for not keeping his word? Why was he not taken to task as a sellout?
Congratulations Dana White, the crown has been passed from Vince McMahon as the greatest promoter of sports entertainment.
Thankfully for sports purists, Strikeforce is making in roads in great strides and Bellator will be back in April with live weekly telecasts.
Tags: bellator, dana white, houston alexander, kimbo slice, mma, strikeforce, ufc
Yes, I think we can all agree that was an awful fight. I have no idea what Alexander was doing. I also think you made some good points about some suspicious things that happened in the fight. The main point you seem to be so passionate about, however, is completely wrong.
This ultimate fighter ad is as close to a direct quote as I could get:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3byFUV77CQg
Go to about 25 seconds in. He says if kimbo goes “through” the ultimate fighter. I suppose you could take that to mean “if he wins the show”, but it’s still not what he said.
“The UFC went back on its word that Slice would never enter the ring and not one media outlet [is] saying boo”–It’s because they didn’t. Also, FTFY.
You have a career as a White House press secretary with that justification, or at least have a spot on Dana White’s PR team.
What Dana White was trying to suggest to people was that Kimbo had to win a contract. Lets not mix words, we all know what he meant. The video you display was read from a script developed by his PR team.
Kimbo Slice was the only fighter to fight last night that did NOT win a bout during his time in the TUF house. Every other guy made it to the quarterfinals. How is that justified other than selling out?
The only thing Kimbo went “through” was a long contractual process to license himself for UFC’s profit. If going “though” means you still can’t apply basic wrestling skills such as proper hip positioning that is on display in the 8 year-old peewee ranks, then the only thing Kimbo went “through” was selling himself out as carnival sideshow, which he has already done before with EliteXC.