by Robert Cramer

Created on: October 07, 2009   Last Updated: October 09, 2009

Kimbo Slice, the backyard brawler from YouTube. He hit the ground running when EliteXC picked him up and gave him a huge contract. They had hoped that they would be able to mold him into an all around fighter but even more so, hoped he could draw big ratings and man did he draw big ratings. That being said, the Mythos of Kimbo Slice would deteriorate one fateful night when his opponent Ken Shamrock would be forced to pull out at the last second and alternate UFC reject would step in to fight the legend in the making Kimbo Slice. Seth Petruzelli would step up to the plate and hit a homerun for himself while also helping the demise of the Elite XC as their main man had been beaten by a relative no one. This would alter the MMA universe.

Now, does this make Kimbo a bad fighter? Of course not. Everyone has off nights not to mention that Kimbo would not be fighting the person he was supposed to be. That being said, he was beaten handedly and quickly by what looked like a weak jab. Now as far as I know, Kimbo has never declared himself the greatest. He was hyped to be so and made a lot of money, but never has he said he was the best. He is a fighter, that is for sure, but as a mixed martial artist, he has limited versatility.

Kimbo can bang, this is not in question. It also seems that on most nights that he is able to handle some punishment. This is a good start. This is where his skills seem to end. Once Kimbo is down, he is a fish out of water. He does not have wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu, and does not seem to know how to really accomplish much if anything on the ground. His cardio also seems to be somewhat suspect, despite his impressive physique.

The other thing of note is that this mega star has yet to fight anyone of note. He has also had troubles with lesser competition. In all reality he is nowhere near the greatest fighter. If he fought any of the top heavyweights of the UFC, or anywhere else for that matter, pending a lucky punch, he will be beat. Now, this is true of most of the fighters in the world, but a lot of up and coming fighters are in their early twenties. Kimbo is already in his thirties. I am not saying he cannot learn, I am sure that if he got himself into a decent training camp, he would improve, but not everyone is a Randy Couture and can fight into their forties. Father time is ticking against Kimbo.

To be the greatest fighter, you need to beat the great fighters. So this becomes a simple answer. Regardless of skill, Kimbo has not beaten anyone of note. He has never been a champion and until he fights some people of note, he will never be great. Money he will make, people will watch, but as a MMA artist, he is severely lacking.

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