James Thompson is tailor made for Kimbo. He's a big, impressive looking veteran that will surely make the wide-eyed casual fans on CBS go, "Wow, this guy must be legit!" But he also has sloppy stand up and a chin made of Styrofoam. Kimbo is going to plaster him, and the Youtube fanboys will rejoice. And for actual MMA fans, we will have learned absolutely nothing.
I'm not prepared to completely right off James Thompson, because in the world of combat-sports, nothing is sure until the bell rings. BUT he is coming off of not one, but two devastating knockout losses. His record is FILLED with assorted KO losses, and actually of his eight losses, ALL were stoppages. Sure, he did TKO Don Frye in '07. But looking at the evidence at hand, Thompson is a perfect opponent for Kvin Ferguson to stop handily and make a case for himself in front of a mainstream audience.
Kimbo will dispatch this guy and then take out Tyson easily then one of the higher echelon heavyweights.
Um, which of those three guys will be an upper echelon heavyweight? Thompson is going no where fast. Tyson is fat former boxer. And Kimbo is an enigma. Beating two guys who sound impressive, but are worse fighters than Hong Man Choi, doesn't answer any questions about Mr. Slice. I'm not expecting him to get thrown to the wolves like Lesnar was, but the guy should at least take be fighting other up and coming fighters. Getting hand picked opponents fed to you like baby food in a high chair isn't all that impressive.
We already know he's branding his product and selling it, hence the reason I pointed out the fact it was a perfect, tailor made fight for Kimbo. So no, I won't be learning anything. Just because he's trying to make lots of money doesn't mean I need to agree with it. I'd rather see good fights than see Gary Shaw make a buck.
I've decided to refer to "Kimbo Slice" as Kevin Ferguson, his real name, from now on. I just can't stand the name "Kimbo Slice". When he was a Youtube streetfighter, it was like, OK, that's a funny nickname, but come on! He's an athlete now! I just can't say the name without sounding silly! Furthermore, I doubt the Tyson fight comes off, I don't think Mike Tyson is interested in competition anymore. Recently, a new documentary told from his perspective, debuted in front of a huge crowd (forgot where). Tyson was there, and apparently, the crowd was absolutely moved by the tale. On a final note, if Tyson gets into HALFWAY decent shape, I would pick him to knockout Ferguson. It's a stretch, but I think it would be very possible, considering Ferguson's stand-up tendencies and lack of real ground-fighting education.
If Kimbo's got that MMA submission defense down some he could beat some of the top heavys right now imo. They would never take his punch and he hasnt shown any chin problems as of now. Kimbo has some heavy hands.
He could possibly go places - I'm not going to deny that. I just would like to see him in with another up and coming fighter that actually comes to fight. I don't expect him to face Fedor tomorrow, but a guy that's 3-0 would be nice to see. Of course, 3-0 guys don't make money on CBS, and Pride veterans with glass chins do. It's like Butterbean getting into the ring with a 50-year-old Larry Holmes but not fighting a decent 8-0 heavyweight. Of course, he still managed to lose :yep War Jiu jitsu Bean!
Nice bump whoever done it. How times have changed, realality has sunk in. Knocking out bums in backyards and looking intimidating dont make you a world class fighter. Kimbo has no chin. Seth Petruzelli knocked him out with a jab in 10 seconds or whatever. He couldnt knock out James Thompson, who has one of the worst punch resistance of any fighter. And striking is Kimbo's strong suit! He has no ground game. Kimbos stanima is not too good. Is he going to fight again?