Spike has put together a special tribute for Kimbo Slice that will air Friday night at 7 p.m. ET ahead of Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
“Kimbo Slice: One of A Kind” takes a look at the life and career of Slice, who passed away recently at 42 years old.
The documentary gives viewers an inside look at Kimbo’s legendary rise to prominence as a Miami street fighter and YouTube sensation with rarely before-seen-footage and interviews with those who were with him from the start. From feared street fighter to globally-renowned MMA sensation, Kimbo became one of the sport’s first mainstream and crossover stars. He fought on the first ever MMA fight on a broadcast network in American history, drawing record viewership along the way.
During his dramatic ascent to stardom and highly-publicized career, Kimbo maintained a fierce loyalty to his loving family and close knit friends. “Kimbo: One of A Kind” will be the definitive look at this inspirational cage warrior told by the people who knew him best.
Acclaimed actor and close friend, Kevin Connolly will provide the narration for “Kimbo: One of A Kind.” The list of big names from the world of sports and entertainment featured include David Blaine, Bill Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Scott Coker, Dana White, Renzo Gracie, Rashad Evans, Roy Nelson, Rampage Jackson, Liam McGeary, Antonio Tarver, King Mo, Daniel Strauss, Big John McCarthy, Baby Slice (Kimbo’s son), Brendan Schaub, and more.
Check out a preview for the episode in the video below:
Spike has put together a special tribute for Kimbo Slice that will air Friday night at 7 p.m. ET ahead of Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
“Kimbo Slice: One of A Kind” takes a look at the life and career of Slice, who passed away recently at 42 years old.
The documentary gives viewers an inside look at Kimbo’s legendary rise to prominence as a Miami street fighter and YouTube sensation with rarely before-seen-footage and interviews with those who were with him from the start. From feared street fighter to globally-renowned MMA sensation, Kimbo became one of the sport’s first mainstream and crossover stars. He fought on the first ever MMA fight on a broadcast network in American history, drawing record viewership along the way.
During his dramatic ascent to stardom and highly-publicized career, Kimbo maintained a fierce loyalty to his loving family and close knit friends. “Kimbo: One of A Kind” will be the definitive look at this inspirational cage warrior told by the people who knew him best.
Acclaimed actor and close friend, Kevin Connolly will provide the narration for “Kimbo: One of A Kind.” The list of big names from the world of sports and entertainment featured include David Blaine, Bill Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Scott Coker, Dana White, Renzo Gracie, Rashad Evans, Roy Nelson, Rampage Jackson, Liam McGeary, Antonio Tarver, King Mo, Daniel Strauss, Big John McCarthy, Baby Slice (Kimbo’s son), Brendan Schaub, and more.
Check out a preview for the episode in the video below:
An hour-long special devoted to the life and career of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will air next week on Spike.
Officials announced that “Kimbo” will broadcast on Spike at 7 p.m. ET June 24, an hour ahead of Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
Slice passe…
An hour-long special devoted to the life and career of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will air next week on Spike.
Officials announced that “Kimbo” will broadcast on Spike at 7 p.m. ET June 24, an hour ahead of Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
Slice passed away last week due to heart failure. The street fighting legend was just 42 years old and had recently been told he would need a heart transplant before passing.
He earned a win over Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris earlier this year, finishing with an overall pro record of 6-2. Slice also earned a win in his Bellator debut over Ken Shamrock.
Slice was scheduled for a heavyweight battle with James Thompson next month in London at Bellator 158.
At the beginnings of the mixed martial arts movement, back in the early 1990’s when the sport was still often referred to as ‘No Holds Barred,’ the UFC arrived on the scene with a policy of fighting with bare knuckles. The no-gloves stipulation (which boxer Art Jimmerson partially managed to circumnavigate at UFC 1) had
At the beginnings of the mixed martial arts movement, back in the early 1990’s when the sport was still often referred to as ‘No Holds Barred,’ the UFC arrived on the scene with a policy of fighting with bare knuckles.
The no-gloves stipulation (which boxer Art Jimmerson partially managed to circumnavigate at UFC 1) had been requested by one of the event’s founders, Rorian Gracie, who wanted to see fighting in its purest form.
By UFC 6 in 1995 gloves had become optional for fighters though, and by UFC 14 in 1997 they were mandatory.
Even when wearing gloves became the norm though, some fighters were still willing to test themselves in bareknuckle combat, whether it was for fight promotions in packed arenas, or just out on the street in front of a few dozen onlookers baying for blood.
Among them were some of the most famous fighters in the sport, battle hardened warriors who would move on from those barbaric beginnings to fight at the highest level in the UFC, and in some cases still do even to this day.
In this article we’ll tell the story of ten past and present UFC stars who were brave enough to go bare knuckle, providing rare video footage of them in action where possible – so let’s get right to it!
Kevin Ferguson, you will be missed. Earlier this week the news broke that the man known as “Kimbo Slice” had passed away due to heart failure. The MMA community mourned his passing. Despite his look and reputation as a hard man built to do hard things, Slice was universally liked and respected by anyone who came
Earlier this week the news broke that the man known as “Kimbo Slice” had passed away due to heart failure. The MMA community mourned his passing. Despite his look and reputation as a hard man built to do hard things, Slice was universally liked and respected by anyone who came into personal contact with him. From journalists to coaches to fans, anyone who talked to Kimbo Slice came away saying the same thing: he was a genuinely warm, funny guy.
Slice was responsible for some of the greatest ratings in the history of the sport. His combination of easy charisma, distinct appearance, and appeal to non-fight fans made him a audience magnet whenever he was in front of a camera.
While he would never be confused for an elite mixed martial artist, he had an undeniable place in the sport nonetheless. His ability to draw brought people to MMA who otherwise wouldn’t tune in, and his ratings boon allowed promoters to get other talented fighters over with fans. Love him or hate him, he was an asset to the sport in a way few others could match.
As we reflect on the life and accomplishments of Kevin Ferguson, let us look back at the greatest moments of his alter ego, Kimbo Slice.
The mood in the combat sports world has been sombre this past week, and it’s no wonder given the losses that occurred since the weekend. Firstly boxing legend Muhammad Ali passed on at aged 74, then the loss of street fighting sensation and MMA star Kimbo Slice rocked our community to it’s core. Slice (real
The mood in the combat sports world has been sombre this past week, and it’s no wonder given the losses that occurred since the weekend. Firstly boxing legend Muhammad Ali passed on at aged 74, then the loss of street fighting sensation and MMA star Kimbo Slice rocked our community to it’s core. Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson) was reportedly taken ill to the hospital in Florida near where he lived, and subsequently died at age 42 following health complications resulting in heart failure.
It later emerged that Kimbo was in need of a heart transplant, meaning his well being was far more dire than anyone had realised. He’d recently failed a drug screen for steroids following his third round knockout against Dada 5000, but it wasn’t something Ferguson shied away from. But it appears there’s far more to the story than many people are assuming at this point, as former training partner Mike Brown revealed during a lengthy discussion with Luke Thomas on Sirus XM.
A former WEC champion and long time friend of Kimbo Slice, Brown started training the Youtube famed MMA star for his fights with Ken Shamrock and Dada 5000. He talks openly about Kimbo’s final days, revealing he had got sick with pneumonia and also had gall bladder problems leading up to his tragic passing:
“He wasn’t feeling well the last, I don’t know if it was maybe the last month or so. I know he went on a P.R. tour to London and I think on the way back he’d gotten pneumonia or something like this. From there on, he was having some trouble. He had troubles with his gall bladder. I know he was having hiccups for a few days at a time. It was really uncomfortable. I know there were some other things going on.
I don’t know all the details, but I know he wasn’t feeling well.”
Yeah, he stopped by the gym a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t look great. He had the hiccups. He just looked real uncomfortable. He looked sick. He looked like he was losing some weight.
We had chatted about, ‘Hey man, we gotta pull out of this fight’ and he was on board. I don’t know if he made the official call yet, but he was talking about not fighting. Then I got the call a week or week and a half later.
He actually seemed relieved, honestly, because somebody else on his side was saying [that]. A fighter never wants to not fight, of course, but when other people are telling him, ‘Hey man, you gotta pull out of this’ he seemed kinda relieved.
We talked about Anderson Silva just having that gallbladder surgery and he thought he might need the same surgery, actually.
I think he had been before because he had pneumonia. He was in the hospital not too long ago because of pneumonia.
Finally Brown tells a nice story which pretty much sums up how Kimbo Slice was as a person. The former WEC boss says he was misunderstood because of how much of animal he appeared to be when fighting. In reality, the truth about Kimbo could not have been further from that daunting image of a street fighting KO artist:
He’s just such a great dude. He just made time for everybody in the gym. He was so cool like that.
Literally like a month ago, we were in there hitting the mitts and the gym was pretty closed and this family came in. They were looking to sign up. They got so excited that he was in there. They were elbowing each other, you know? It was this older father, this maybe 17-year-old kid and he’s like, ‘Man, I told you this is the place! I told you this is the place!” They were so excited he was there.
Kimbo saw it and he was hitting the mitts and he did his thing. He finished the round and he went over. It was so funny how he interacted with them. He wanted to make them feel good and feel welcome. We get this stuff all the time. So many people in and out of the gym, most fighters don’t do that type of thing. But he was asking the kid all kinds of questions about himself, like, ‘Hey how old are you? You want to be the best?’ Stuff like this.
You could just see it made these guys’ year. That’s what he did. He did that type of thing a lot of times. He was always trying to make people feel good and I don’t think a lot of people knew that about him.
We’ve got some video tributes and interviews on Kimbo Slice, if you’d like to view them, they are on the next page…
