- #Kimbo slice back yard fights movie
- #Kimbo slice back yard fights pro
- #Kimbo slice back yard fights professional
Which brings up an interesting dynamic: For as celebrated as Slice was for how real his persona came off, he constantly fought off rumors that his actual fights were the opposite (despite nothing ever being proved).
#Kimbo slice back yard fights pro
So was his forgettable seven-fight run as a pro boxer, which prompted similar whispers of improper matchmaking that followed him at each stop of his MMA career. His blue-collar work ethic endeared him to fans who could relate to the underdog element of his "everyman" run from the backyard to the UFC's Octagon.īut Slice's UFC career proved to be short-lived. He rebounded from a potentially disastrous 14-second loss to late replacement Seth Petruzelli in 2008 and won back the respect of the MMA community by quickly transitioning into a real fighter, joining the UFC through "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. It would also be unfair to suggest he was never promoted as anything more than an "attraction." Yet it would be unfair to discredit the importance of his run - particularly in prime time on CBS with Elite XC - in terms of bringing MMA into the living rooms of the casual fan. Many fans never looked at him as anything more than a joke - or ratings bait - who received headlining bouts simply because of his marketability. Slice's legacy as a fighter, however, is complicated, if not unique. In fact, it was because of his quiet demeanor that his tough aura felt so authentic. While other fighters have borrowed elements from pro wrestling in an attempt to add legitimacy to their toughness, Slice never filled the silence with unnecessary trash talk.
#Kimbo slice back yard fights movie
With his thick beard, gold teeth and chains, Slice was a comic book and action movie villain put together, yet it seemed he was never really trying to play that character. But he pulled it off (complete with his pioneering chest-hair designs) in part because we wanted so badly to believe it. It's hard to imagine Slice's trademark look - or his combination of bald head, braided hair on the sides and mini ponytail in the back - would have worked for anyone else. While no one would mistake comparing the abilities of the two, they shared that unavoidable element of raw transparency as to who they really were. Slice's backyard fights brought a certain element of fear through the screen that's hard to explain and hasn't been seen since the days of Mike Tyson. He found work in strip clubs and eventually as a bodyguard in the adult film industry.Įverything about him felt alarmingly real. It's a testament to the reason why we couldn't take our eyes off him from the beginning: Slice was a legit tough guy who was born to be a fighter, and despite some of the bizarre moments that followed, he never stopped being true to that identity.īorn in the Bahamas in 1974, Slice battled poverty in Miami and was later homeless in his adult life after an injury brought an end to his college football dreams. Given his backstory, Slice's MMA run is nothing short of remarkable, progressing from backyards to the UFC in record time despite the fact that he didn't pick up the sport until his mid-30s.
#Kimbo slice back yard fights professional
Years before Billy Corben's documentary "Dawg Fight" shined a light on the culture of Miami street fighting, the character of Kimbo Slice provided an unforgettable introduction.Ī little more than a decade later, following a meteoric rise as a professional fighter (running the gamut from sideshow to legit, and back again), Slice died on Monday in South Florida at the age of 42. In fact, for many, there was a competing element to the emotions at play, alternating between excitement, fear and shame. The fights, staged for cash throughout backyards and empty parking lots in Miami, produced unforgettable emotions for each viewer. Slice, born Kevin Ferguson, forced random tough guys with names like "Dreads" and "Chico" into submission with the loud popping of his bare hands.
— - The exact time and place may differ from person to person, but the portal in which Kimbo Slice first became part of our collective consciousness was likely the same: YouTube, roughly a decade ago, prompted by a friend's instruction to type "backyard street fight" into the fledgling video site's search engine.
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