UFC Pres. D. White gets rid of Kimbo Slice

[dacalion]

Wow! never would of expected this...

UFC president Dana White laid down the challenge to Internet phenom Kimbo Slice and the street fighter accepted it. Kimbo made it through his stint on Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter" and got two more fights with the promotion.

Slice went 1-1 in the UFC after the reality show, including a bad loss Saturday night at UFC 113 against Matt Mitrione. The fight was so one-sided, the UFC president decided to give Kimbo, 36, his pink slip.

"That's probably Kimbo's last fight in the UFC," White said. "Listen, Kimbo made it farther than I thought he would."

As White was exiting the press conference for a postfight television interview, he was asked one more time about Kimbo's future. A reporter pushed him on the "probably" in his original Kimbo quote. White then confirmed definitively that Slice was gone.

Unlike some cases where other high-profile fighters were sent packing, White sounded genuinely disappointed to fire him.

"I didn't know Kimbo, I just knew what I saw," White said of his previous pro MMA fights and his work on YouTube. "The first time I ever met him I said, 'This is going to be an interesting meeting with the [expletive] I've said about him over the years.'"

When Slice was the centerpiece of CBS's EliteXC promotion, his status drove White nuts. He slammed and bad-mouthed Kimbo, saying the only way he'd make it to the UFC was to take part in the UFC's prospect show on Spike. That was a bitter pill to swallow for a guy who had earned between $250,000-$500,000 in each of four EliteXC fights.

Slice and his handlers were not combative. They just wanted the fighter to get a chance at legitimacy.

"He came in. He couldn't be a nicer guy. He took things serious, trained and went after it," White said. "His first fight wasn't the YouTube fights you saw. He won that fight [against Houston Alexander on the TUF 10 finale]. He deserved another fight in the UFC and he lost. Got nothing but respect for Kimbo and I like him as a person. And I think he's carried himself really well."

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Kimbo isnt MMA material. He's more of a boxer than mma fighter, ESPECIALLY with bad legs. It was embarrassing tho, especially the last moments. dude got gassed quick too, overall I'm glad I didnt order it. Most of the fights werent too entertaining.

 

[dacalion]

LMAO, were the announcers ALL in favor of Mitrione or what? Geez, I think they would of jumped on Kimbo if he even gave a hint of coming back.

 

[Ominous]

DO you guys think he would last in the heavy weight boxing circuit?

 

[Fade]

From a marketing perspective, the UFC should keep Kimbo, he's a HUGE draw. On the other hand, maybe MMA isn't for him, or maybe it is. He was great at a street fighting and he's come a long way since then and for that I give him credit. I just think that he had better trainers and were to fight in other promotions first, then he could make his way to the UFC.

Dana made the mistake of signing him too quickly, now that he's in the UFC, he doesn't know what to do with him. So it's not just Kimbo, it's the UFC's fault as well. Plus you don't let go of someone because they lost a fight! That's just plain stupid. If I was Dana White I would keep Kimbo for as long as I could and market the hell out of him. Even if he loses every fight, he would make the UFC a bunch of money.

And don't forget though - that fight was a tough fight for Kimbo even though Mitrione is a rookie too. Everyone's forgetting that Mitrione had 30 pounds on Kimbo and 5" reach advantage too. Kimbo should have gone down to the 205 division or if you want to stay with the heavyweights, then go up to at least 240.

 

[dacalion]

Very well said...100% Cosign

 

[UNORTHODOX]

From a marketing perspective, the UFC should keep Kimbo, he's a HUGE draw. On the other hand, maybe MMA isn't for him, or maybe it is. He was great at a street fighting and he's come a long way since then and for that I give him credit. I just think that he had better trainers and were to fight in other promotions first, then he could make his way to the UFC.

Dana made the mistake of signing him too quickly, now that he's in the UFC, he doesn't know what to do with him. So it's not just Kimbo, it's the UFC's fault as well. Plus you don't let go of someone because they lost a fight! That's just plain stupid. If I was Dana White I would keep Kimbo for as long as I could and market the hell out of him. Even if he loses every fight, he would make the UFC a bunch of money.

And don't forget though - that fight was a tough fight for Kimbo even though Mitrione is a rookie too. Everyone's forgetting that Mitrione had 30 pounds on Kimbo and 5" reach advantage too. Kimbo should have gone down to the 205 division or if you want to stay with the heavyweights, then go up to at least 240.

That fight was way too one sided to be worth any money imo. I'm already mad I bought the silva/penn fight,this wouldve been a waste of money. best 50 I saved this year.

Fans want to see Kimbo, but they want to see kimbo KNOCK PEOPLE OUT! lol now that his lack of legs is apparent, and his sense of invulnerability is exposed, he's not as entertaining to watch. Thats why I say he should be in boxing more so than MMA. They're not gonna kick the bones out of you legs, slam you on your legs, or anything else.

 

[static]

buahahahahahahahahahahahahahahawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

[dacalion]

That fight was way too one sided to be worth any money imo. I'm already mad I bought the silva/penn fight,this wouldve been a waste of money. best 50 I saved this year.

Fans want to see Kimbo, but they want to see kimbo KNOCK PEOPLE OUT! lol now that his lack of legs is apparent, and his sense of invulnerability is exposed, he's not as entertaining to watch. Thats why I say he should be in boxing more so than MMA. They're not gonna kick the bones out of you legs, slam you on your legs, or anything else.

True and very well spoken also. I think Fades response was taking account that Kimbo was already in the UFC when he probally shouldn't have been. It would have been a matter of using him to make the best out of an already bad situation by keeping him and grooming him through the division rather than just kicking him to the curb.

People do want to see Kimbo knock people out and as the commentators proved...they would have loved to see Kimbo get knocked out also. I mean those cats all but ran down to the ring and told dude he needed to pull Kimbos arm towards his body....lol. I've NEVER heard commentators that animate towards one fighter, usually they TRY to stay neutral.

Loose one fight and you're out? In this case it was probably for the best...Kimbo has been exposed and every good fighter would destroy him from that point on but at the same time, he would have been great as a test for new rookies coming in (for a little while).

 

[UNORTHODOX]

lol I get ya. and yea they were alittle animate.

 

[dacalion]

But on another note, I was VERY disappointed with the Shane / Mayweather fight (as far as money goes). Yeah Shane did ok in the first 2 rounds but that fight was not worth $55 imo. I was so disappointed with the money part that I think they should limit the hype built on all fights in the future. That fight wasn't worth $25 and even if i were going for Mayweather, I would have still been disappointed.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

But on another note, I was VERY disappointed with the Shane / Mayweather fight (as far as money goes). Yeah Shane did ok in the first 2 rounds but that fight was not worth $55 imo. I was so disappointed with the money part that I think they should limit the hype built on all fights in the future. That fight wasn't worth $25 and even if i were going for Mayweather, I would have still been disappointed.

I only saw the end, glad I didnt even watch it lol. Its like everyone has gotten really safe these days. Too many technicalities not enough killer instict. I suspect money is at play here, usually is...

 

[dacalion]

I only saw the end, glad I didnt even watch it lol. Its like everyone has gotten really safe these days. Too many technicalities not enough killer instict. I suspect money is at play here, usually is...

Cosign! the only thing you missed was Mayweather breaking Shanes confidence and then the normal Mickey Mayweather Mouse Show that follows...lol

 

[UNORTHODOX]

...and then the normal Mickey Mayweather Mouse Show that follows...lol

lmao!! The visual!

 

[skidflow]

the only thing you missed was Mayweather breaking Shanes confidence

He beat Shanes ass in boxing skill...he even looked bigger than Shane...which suprised me. I didnt pay for that crap cuz I know it would be on "HBO DEMAND" a week later.

 

[dacalion]

I disagree, Shane was waaay thicker than Mayweather especially up top. They didnt even appear to be in the same weight class to me....lol.

 

[shadeed]

Kimbo isnt MMA material. He's more of a boxer than mma fighter, ESPECIALLY with bad legs. It was embarrassing tho, especially the last moments. dude got gassed quick too, overall I'm glad I didnt order it. Most of the fights werent too entertaining.

Kimbo isn't much of a boxer either. Sad thing is if he did decide to take up boxing he would get punished even worse.

Kimbo is an overnight success story to go from streetfighting to fight on a UFC pay-per-view. He's probably the most popular streetfighter ever, other than Tank Abbott.
He should be proud of that but I don't think he's done yet. He can go and do WWE or just go and continue to streetfight for bigger stakes.

 

[Sucio]

I see him going to WWE...

He's not a boxer, he's a brawler...Any tuned heavyweight will smash him...

Dude wasn't really impressive to me, at all...and was exposed way too easily...

 

[dacalion]

Yeah I can see Vince McMann coming up with schemes and themes for Kimbo right now. HUGE payday! Im not sure of what type role he would play even in the WWE...though it is entertainment, bodyslams and all that other ish is still rough on knees and ankles. I think it's gonna have a lot to do with the shape he's in, he's 36yrs old, not much time left.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Kimbo is an overnight success story to go from streetfighting to fight on a UFC pay-per-view. He's probably the most popular streetfighter ever, other than Tank Abbott.
He should be proud of that but I don't think he's done yet. He can go and do WWE or just go and continue to streetfight for bigger stakes.

Doing both, imo, would be a great paycheck for him, while it lasts. Between that, and using his image for little things like a fight club or gloves, he can make good income for himself.