With Kimbo going to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) series, one has to wonder, has hell frozen over? Kimbo Slice, the man who unfortunately tied street fighting with MMA, and was the face of a bankrupt fighting promotion, is now one of the contestants fighting for a lucrative deal with the UFC. Can this work for everbody in the end? Or will it explode in everyone’s face?
One of the biggest critics of Kimbo has been UFC president, Dana White. Calling him everything from a thug to a guy who can’t fight, Dana White once stated that the only way Kimbo Slice could go into the UFC is that he would have to go through TUF. Many thought this scenerio would never happen as both would have to put their differences on the back burner. And how would a man that headlined the first MMA event on a major network go to a show and prove that he can fight professionally? Imagine many peoples face when they found out that such a deal was met between the 2 parties.
So far this experiment benifits everyone from Dana White to Kimbo Slice to the fans. The UFC gets Kimbo almost for no money to help a show that has seen better days. Not to mention the two coaches for season 10, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans, have a deep dislike for each other. Kimbo gets to prove to all the people that he belongs in MMA and is a real fighter. And, the fans get to reap all the benefits of a hopefully soon to be great season for TUF.
Now, if Kimbo ultimately fails, all responsibility falls on one man, Kimbo himself. Everything that his critics have said will have been vindicated and UFC will be able to wash their hands of him very easily.
However if he does lose a fight in TUF, it does not means that the venture was a failure in any way. Look at some of the other fighters that lost on TUF, only to go on and have a great career in MMA: Stephan Bonnar, Matt Hamil, Keith Jardine, and others.With all the scenerios that can play out this makes it the most anticipated season of The Ultimate Fighter ever.
Raul Rangel