Kimbo Slice vs. Sean Gannon in October? (UPDATED)
August 20, 2008 by Adam Morgan
Filed under EliteXC, Kimbo Slice, Sean Gannon
SI.com’s Josh Gross certainly seems to think so:
Three names keep popping up as the next opponent for Kimbo Slice on Oct. 4: Brett Rogers, Ken Shamrock and … wait for it … Sean Gannon.
The feeling among Elite XC execs, however, is that it’s better to hold off on a Rogers-Slice showdown for fear that its cash cow, Kimbo, would lose, and thereby extinguish his marketability and the organization’s potential pay-per-view debut.
Shamrock would fit nicely — he hasn’t made it out of the opening round since 2005 — but it appears Elite XC is having trouble getting the deal worked out.
And so, that leaves Gannon, a Boston police officer who defeated Slice in the most famous of the Miami street brawler’s underground fight videos.
Well, folks, you knew this was coming. I mean, really, who didn’t see this coming? Rogers vs. Slice is a matchup that doesn’t make any sense for EliteXC right now. If he loses to Rogers, a relative unknown to casuals, then Kimbo’s mystique is all but dead. And at this point, it’s very likely that Rogers would take Kimbo to school in that fight. It’s obvious what kind of plan EliteXC has for Kimbo and that’s to build him up against people that they feel he can beat.
Gannon makes perfect sense in that role. He’s the only guy who has beaten Kimbo in a street fight and the fight has been seen by millions of people on YouTube and other video sharing sites. It doesn’t matter to EliteXC if Gannon is not even a legitimate MMA fighter as long as he presents A) an opponent that Kimbo can beat and B) a marketable story. Gannon fits the description for both of those requirements.
So for those, like myself, who are still waiting to see what Kimbo does against a legitimate MMA fighter it looks like we may have to wait even longer. Eventually EliteXC is going to have to put Kimbo in against a real fighter because at some point people are going to get tired of watching him beat up on lesser fighters.
Update: MMAWeekly.com is quoting EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw as saying the promotion is considering several options for Slice’s option on Oct. 4 but that Gannon is not one of them.
To get Gannon, they’ll have to offer him insane $$$. If I remember correctly, the Boston PD put him on notice that if he fights another MMA fight, he’ll be released from the department for breach of their code of conduct. Not saying I agree with that, its simply why no one has seen Gannon fight since that loss to Hinkle.
I’d love to see Kimbo fight Ken. I think Ken actually has a chance since he historically can take a lot of punishment (I realize he was flash KO’ed in his last fight, but he has also taken some brutal beatings and stayed coherent, well, as coherent and Ken gets anyway) and I think he might just be able to pull off a leglock or other submission. I mean he subbed Kimo just a couple years back and Kimo at least knew some BJJ.
everyone said that same thing about Brock Lesnar “If He loses to Mir his career is over… if he loses to Herring his career is over”
If you dont buy a ticket you cant win the lottery.
To be the best you need to BEAT the BEST!
Kimbo vs Gannon or Rogers is fine with me.
PLEASE NO MORE KEN “The worlds most dangerous CAN” Shamrock
first off i think ken would get the fight to the ground and submit kimbo and kimbo vs. rogers in my opinion is a toss up both guys like to bang.
All elite xc cares about right now is drawing in as many viewers as their first cbs show. Gannon vs. Kimbo has a great back story and many have seen it and many will want to see this fight again. I think if they are going to put this fight on the card it can not be the main event unless their trying to kill mma entirly, put jake shields or noons as the main event and this card will not only be accepted by the casual viewer but also the hardcore fans
As much as I’d love to see Kimbo fight a good fighter, this comes first. You can compare MMA training vs. no training in his previous fight.
I vote for Shamrock. Even though Ken is past his prime he is still a real fighter. Of course they can market the hell out of the Gannon fight. Can’t you hear it now? “THE ONLY MAN EVER TO DEFEAT KIMBO SLICE IN A STREET FIGHT. NOW CAN HE DO IT FOR REAL? CBS SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!”
To Gygax – The reason he was put on notice was not for his UFC fight, it was for his Kimbo fight because underground fighting is illegal.
If I remember correctly Steve Jennum of old UFC days was a full time police officer and he had no issues fighting in the UFC…
matt: WORD!!! i agree w/adam’s assessment too. b/t the two of you, you have hit it directly on the head!
Gannon is a weak match for Kimbo. I think its time to see what hes really about instead of the company babying him and putting these weak foes in front of him. Brock Lesnar is being tested fighting legitimate apponents, kimbo needs to fight someone who actually has skill and elitexc needs to stop trying to protect their poster boy, to be the best you actually have to fight someone worty.
Shamrock would probably beat Kimbo if he trains for it. The last fight all got to see that Kimbo has absolutely no ground game. They should just put him up against a credible fighter and then this Kimbo saga could end.
I was on Bloody Elbow a few minutes ago, and an inside source within the company denied that Gannon is Slice’s next opponent. Let’s not forget Gannon hasn’t been in an MMA since 2005, and that was a lost in the UFC. So don’t place your bets yet!
This is as close to pro wrestling MMA can get. Will Gannon run out to the cage with a chair? In all seriousness I guess it is compelling. If he loses EliteXc can kiss their company and credibility goodbye.
i think exc just wants to make money (and who can blame them) it’ll draw people in – “the guy who beat Kimbo at his own game – blah blah” how many times would Mauro say that during a telecast – - whatever allows EXC to survive for now is cool with me – they do have some great fighters ad this circus match-up would provide a platform to show off some of those fighters – - -
Wow that would be pathetic. I doubt it would draw anyone in who wasnt already gonna watch in the first place.
Wow what a joke..
Funny, but I have no problem at all with a Gannon fight or any other donut for a Kimbo foe… Elite never promotes Kimbo as anything but what he is…an extremely hard working man who has an awesome backdrop story, the best instructor and a fair bit of potential.
Even a couple of street fighters with MMA rules is cool.
This is all much better for MMA then most people think: massive exposure, will educate the fairly unitiated to some MMA subtleties, its sparks huge debate amongst the entire spectrum of fans, when he eventually loses to no more than an average MMA’r it will bring wider credibilty to the sport, its interesting (remember Tank Abbot- can Kimbo do the same 10 years later) and its fun. People have got to take a chill pill on Kimbo… He’s kool n the gang with me!
Boy, I really dislike this charade that is the marketing of Kimbo Slice.
They probably won’t let him fight Rogers for awhile, since he will obviously LOSE, and do so in a very embarassing manner. Rogers will probably KO Kimbo in the first round, and then nobody will watch these shows….
Shamrock will fight anyone for a payday at this point. He is a circus sideshow in the sport. I am not saying it isn’t possible that Shamrock could win if he immediately takes Slice down and work on submissions, it’s just thast he generally goes in punching and gets beat up quickly. I also wouldn’t discount that a cretin like Shaw wouldn’t make a “down-low” deal for Ken to take a dive. And at this point if the money was right, I think Ken would do it.
The problem with the Kimbo/Colossus fight is that Thompson actually came to go to war, and this almost derailed the Shaw’s plans. You have to hand it to Thompson, however.
Man, Kimbo is like a death-row inmate who keeps getting his execution delayed. Pretty soon they’re gonna have to start pulling people out of the stands to fight him to make sure his record stays intact. Or EliteXC can just start bringing in jobbers from the WWE. I’m sure if the moneys right Lex Lugar would fight him, but that might be a little too risky.
What annoys me, is that when EliteXC goes under (which it is doing everything possible to fail right now), there will be a contingent of people that will blame the audience. They will say, “Oh, I guess the MMA fans are just to stupid to appreciate anything other than the UFC brand that has been spoon-fed to them by Dana White.”
But it isn’t blind loyalty to the UFC and Dana White that will cause EliteXC to fail. It is stuff like this crap about Kimbo fighting Sean Gannon. The best response anyone can have to this fight announcement is, “Who cares?” I, for one, couldn’t care less about watching this fight. EliteXC should be shamed of themselves that this is the best they have to offer, and they rightly should fail as a company if this is what they are offering.
Gary Shaw may be out of the picture, but the slimy stain he left on that company remains in their attitude and business practices.
THank goodness this joke fight has been called off. I was about to pronounce EliteXC goner.