Kimbo Slice

Kimbo Slice

Kimbo Slice is a 32 year-old Miami, Florida based underground boxer and street fighter. He has appeared in three full length bare-knuckle fights available through the internet and P2P file-sharing networks.

Personal Information

Kimbo's real name is Kevin Ferguson. He is the cousin of US Olympic Judoka Rhadi Ferguson. He is approximately 6'5" tall, and weighs 245 lbs. Kimbo is always shown with a full beard and a clean-shaven head. So far, he has always worn white pants or shorts when he fights. Kimbo is a college graduate who works as a bodyguard for In the VIP and MILF Hunter productions.

Fights

Kimbo v. Byrd

Kimbo was first seen in a one-sided backyard fight between him and Leonard Byrd. The fight consisted of Kimbo and Leonard Byrd (also a large bearded black man) fighting in a backyard in Perrine, Florida.

Kimbo dominated the fight, repeatedly striking Byrd in the right eye, which is reduced to a bloody mess by the end of the fight. The fight ends when Byrd refuses to continue after numerous knockdowns. Byrd is humiliated during the fight when his opponent allows him to land several blows, which seemingly have no impact. Byrd stops numerous times to catch his breath, while Kimbo tries to hurry him up by yelling "Fuck that nigga, lets run this shit!" During the fight, there are frequent shouts of "Come on, Ferg!", "Do it, Ferg!", and "Finish that shit! Stop playing nigga!".

After the fight ends, Kimbo gives a brief statement about his financial motivations for fighting, saying, "That's how a nigga eat!" and his promoters and managers (including Marcos Rivera) make statements as to his prowess, and their savvy for being associated with him. The video ends with Kimbo hugging Leonard Byrd, at which point a close-up of Byrd's severely damaged right eye is shown.

Kimbo v. Sean 'the Cannon' Gannon

In September 2003 Kimbo was challenged to a fight by Sean Gannon, a Boston police officer who trains in MMA. The fight was held in an enclosed padded room, and both fighters had a full entourage in attendance. The rules agreed upon by both fighter are somewhat controversial. The exact rules are unknown, but it appears that kicking was not allowed, and neither were ground submissions. Gannon's supporters allege that since the rules stated "no strikes with the foot or shin, and no ground submissions", it was within the rules for Gannon to use his knees against Kimbo and to attempt standing submissions.

Kimbo and Gannon exchanged punches for a while, then after sustaining a punch combination, Kimbo grabbed Gannon's midsection, at which point Gannon caught Kimbo in a guillotine choke. Kimbo's entourage began to protest loudly that Gannon was violating the rules of the fight. They then attempted to release Kimbo from Gannon's choke. Gannon's entourage then began to protest the interference, and blocked the camera. Fans of Gannon allege that had Kimbo's supporters not interfered, the fight could have ended at this point with Kimbo being choked out. As a result of the interference, Gannon eventually released Kimbo and Kimbo threw Gannon to the ground and began to pummel him (See 'Ground and Pound' MMA technique). Gannon escaped, and was able to stand back up. Soon after, Gannon caught Kimbo in another choke, and Kimbo's entourage protested again. Later, after more stand-up fighting, Gannon held Kimbo's head down and delivered a few knees to Kimbo's face. This resulted in more protesting by Kimbo's supporters. Both fighters appear exhausted by this point, and Gannon managed to knock Kimbo down three times, each time with a barrage of punches. Gannon's supporters counted off the number of seconds that Kimbo stayed on the ground each time. The fight was to end on a 30 count. In any case, Kimbo was eventually unable to continue, and Gannon was declared the winner. Still, some in Kimbo's camp feel the victory was won under dubious circumstances while most MMA fans feel Kimbo introduced the initial grappling and his entourage stopped multiple stoppages in Gannon's favor.

A video of the fight was made available on the Internet. Due to the popularity of the video, the UFC signed Gannon. He made his debut at UFC 55 on October 7, 2005, where Branden Lee Hinkle defeated him by technical knockout due to strikes. Despite rumors, participating in the underground fight with Kimbo did not cost Gannon his job at the Boston police department, where he continues to work full-time.

Kimbo vs Rasta

Kimbo appears for his third recorded fight in a Hummer, dressed up in full hip hop regalia. After stripping down and putting in his mouth guard, he initiates the fight with "Rasta". No details of this fighter's identity exist, the fight has come to be known as "Kimbo vs Rasta" on the internet due to Kimbo's opponent's rasta appearance.

For the first 30 seconds no strikes are made, as Rasta backs away whenever Kimbo comes near. When Rasta crosses over to Kimbo's other side, Kimbo lunges forward and delivers a powerful punch to his ribcage, before attempting a grapple that Rasta struggles out of.

Each fighter seems to do well, dodging and blocking eachother's attacks until, after a flurry of punches, Kimbo delivers a strong uppercut to Rasta's face, which ends the fight. From a close up it appears that his nose has been broken and is bleeding. If you look carefully, you will notice the large cut under Rasta's eye. Kimbo argues that the fight "can't be over - we're just warming up!" However, when asked, Rasta says "I'm done".

Kimbo's group congratulate him on his fighting ability after he helps Rasta to his feet, but he shrugs it off, commenting "Take it easy, it went lightly." His friends rebut, "Was that the warm-up fight?", to which he replies, "That's all it was, a warm-up fight. We've got two other prospects here."

Potential Controversies

Much information on the internet about Kimbo being a felon etc. has been taken from a fake interview with Kimbo Slice by A.I. Since release of the interview on the internet, this post was made on mma.tv discussion forum: "This is Mike (The one in the Hummer saying: "South Beach Records"!), Kimbo's manager, I just wanted to clear a couple things up, one he is 6ft 5in 245lbs and has not had but 1 fight for prize $$$. That garbage interview that somebody posted from his alleged cousin was fake. 2nd, we are ready for whatever fight whether its Gannon or someone else as long as its stand up only and the purse is a minimum 10k, all the stuff about the fighter needing no experience for us to fight is false, the fighter just needs his $$$ to see us. Last but not least, there was no mace or makeup involved in that fight (referring to Byrd) everyone saw, my guy just destroyed his structure. If anyone feels this is not a genuine post you can verify with Kirik."

Following the Kimbo v. Gannon fight, it was unclear if either fighter should have been disqualified for breaking the rules, and what the rules really were. Some people felt that Gannon cheated, and others felt that Kimbo's entourage interfered with the fight. Gannon posted the following message to a MMA discussion board following the fight under the moniker GannonTheCannon:

hi everybody, i'm just got back from the hospital, was reading the threads, am touched by the support i've gotten from so many people. would like to clarify a few points - i don't like being accused of being a cheater, especially by people who don't have a clue what the rules actually were. we originally wanted a no rules match, but kimbos people demanded special rules to protect their fighter. we wrote a (very) short list of rules and both parties signed off on it prior to the fight. they asked for no groundwork and this was agreed to. we never agreed to no submissions, and we can't be held responsible if his team was so ignorant of our sport that they didn't realize you could do submissions standing. same with knees. they asked for no kicks and we agreed. kicks were clearly defined as "striking with any part of the shin or foot". knee strikes were completely legal. i followed the rules to the letter, but kimbos team violated them repeatedly. the rules were signed by both parties prior to fight time. our team was completely aware of the rules, and all the chaos stemmed from a lack of real fight experience on his team. it was like when tyson had his buddies work his corner in the buster douglas fight, and they didn't even bring an endswell. kimbo is tremendous competitor and deserved better. i don't know if his medical insurance is as good as mine, and i wrote to iceberg about setting up a fund to help him if he needs it. if he isn't hurt, he still deserves some bread for being such a warrior and having a tremendous heart. anyone who was entertained by the fight should kick him a little something, he earned it. and again, thank you for your support.

Parody Video

A parody video has surfaced over the internet of Kimbo's fight with Rasta. It features the same characters, including a loud-mouthed promoter. Instead of Kimbo, the fighter calls himself "Timbo" and except for the beard looks little like the original, while Rasta is simply someone wearing a dreadlocked wig. The fight ends with rasta losing his eye and Timbo puking in disgust.

External links

• Video of Kimbo vs. Byrd
• Recording of Kimbo Slice v. Sean Gannon
• Video of Kimbo Slice Vs. Rasta
• Timbo Parody Video