Ben Fowlkes has a new article up about Kimbo Slice at SI.com where he gets a great quote from Bas Rutten, one of Kimbo’s trainers, regarding the hate that Kimbo has to deal with now because EliteXC has put him in a main event:

“I don’t see anything that he does wrong for these people to talk about him like this,” Rutten said. “Is it just because of the way he dresses that they call him a thug? If he dressed however they told him to dress, just to make people happy, that seems more like a slave to me. More people know him than know some other fighters, and some guys don’t like that, but that’s not his fault.”

Exactly the point. None of this hype is Kimbo’s fault. He’s just a fighter who likes to fight. Chuck Liddell was the first one to take shots at Kimbo, not the other way around. People are quick to forget that. People are also quick to forget that Kimbo didn’t put himself in commercials, didn’t put himself in the main event, and didn’t ask to fight cans. And since when did being a heavyweight prospect early in your MMA career become a bad thing?

If you asked Kimbo to fight Chuck Liddell, I’m sure he would have no problem with that but his handlers would. A lot of this stuff is totally out of his control, so the hate is completely unwarranted.

Here’s the two part Kimbo Slice piece that was featured on ESPN’s “E:60″ television show tonight. The first part is the piece that aired earlier on ESPN regarding Kimbo and the second part is an update regarding what Kimbo’s been up to since ESPN last caught up with him. Part two is after the jump…

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Not too long ago Dana White made a comment to Deadspin regarding a fight between Kimbo Slice and Chuck Liddell, saying that Kimbo’s not ready for Chuck yet and that he heard a rumor that Slice had been knocked out by Forrest Griffin in a sparring session recently. According to a recent interview with Kimbo at MMA News, that’s not the case:

“No, there is no truth to that at all. It’s bullshit and Forrest Griffin will tell you that it’s bullshit too. The fact is it was a good sparring session and I was training with Forrest and he was talking to me about defending yourself at all times and then he threw a big kick and I was like “WOAH I never even seen that coming” but no I never got knocked out. Even if I did get knocked out, saying that and putting that rumor out there just makes you a pussy.”

Chuck Liddell was a guest on Rear Naked Radio in Dallas over the weekend and took some more shots at Kimbo Slice:

“All I said is fight to someone real,” Liddell said. “The only guy he lost to in his street-fight things came into the UFC and lost. Fight a guy that is real and fight a guy… who has a few wins in MMA, and then talk about it.”

“That first fight they had on HDNet, he fought a guy that had been knocked out two times before in less than 30 seconds, and he tapped on his way down in [that] one,” Liddell said. “That was three fights that he lost in less than 30 seconds. How many guys do you know who’s done that? Talk about a tomato can.”

Liddell is referencing Bo Cantrell, Kimbo’s first professional opponent, in that last part. Don’t be surprised if the UFC makes a big run at Kimbo if he wins a few more fights to try and make a fight between him and Liddell happen. Dana White and Co. know that Kimbo is a draw and a fight between him and Liddell would sell a ridiculous amount of PPVs. It seems far fetched right now, but I am not discounting the thought for a second.

The only MMA fighter to be featured on the cover of ESPN Magazine is Chuck Liddell… until now. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson has recently wrapped shooting for the cover of next month’s issue.

Check out tons of Kimbo Slice content on Five Ounces of Pain.

Apparently Kimbo Slice is now officially “Street Certified” according to this poster and it looks like they will most definitely play off of Gina Carano’s stint on American Gladiators to hype her up. I, for one, am excited for this event. Let’s just hope it does the kind of numbers that CBS is looking for.

EliteXC and CBS officially announced the lineup for the premiere of CBS Saturday Night Fights on May 31st from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

The televised card is as follows:

MAIN EVENT

• Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson

UNDERCARD

• Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith (EliteXC MW Title Fight)
  
• Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
• Phil Baroni vs. Murilo Rua
• Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy

Check out more CBS Saturday Night Fights content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

Elite Xtreme Combat announced a multi-fight contract extension with Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson late Monday afternoon.

Terms of the deal have not be disclosed.

Slice is scheduled to headline EliteXC’s network television debut on CBS on May 31 in Newark, N.J. An opponent for Slice has not been officially announced, but NBC Sports’ Mike Chiapetta reported last week that Slice will be taking on James “Colossus” Thompson.

Slice, 2-0, made his professional mixed martial arts debut this past November at EliteXC’s Renegade in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he recorded a first round submission (punches) against Bo Cantrell.

His second career win came this past February at EliteXC’s Street Certified event in Slice’s adopted hometown of Miami, Florida. Slice needed just 0:43 to knock out Tank Abbott.

Prior to making his MMA debut, Slice gain notoriety for participating in unsanctioned street fights that were made available on YouTube. Before signing with EliteXC, he defeated former professional boxer Ray Mercer in an MMA exhibition last summer while competing for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships.

EliteXC also officially announced extensions with Gina Carano and middleweight champion Robbie Lawler. FiveOuncesOfPain.com first reported Lawler’s extension last month and sources have indicated that Carano’s extension was negotiated several months ago.

The mother of all sports blogs, Deadspin, recently conducted a phone interview with UFC president Dana White.

One of the topics Deadspin discussed with White was Chuck Liddell’s recent comments that attempted to downplay Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s stature in the MMA world.

White, who has been bearish on Slice as an MMA fighter in the past, is actually open to the idea of a match between the Internet street fighting legend and the former UFC light heavyweight champion, Liddell.

“If he [Kimbo] fought anybody that mattered, I would book that tomorrow,” White is quoted as saying by Deadspin.

While White said he might book the fight “tomorrow,” he would eventually temper the statement. White expressed his belief that Kimbo needs to get better before he can step up to fight Liddell.

“The fact is, Kimbo’s not there yet,” White told Deadspin. “He would get destroyed. I heard he just got knocked out by Forrest Griffin last week in a sparring match after a kick to the head,” he said.

The reference to Griffin rocking Slice while sparring is notable because the rumor has been circulating since last week. Guys rock each other all the time in sparring, so it’s usually not really a big deal. However, considering the nature of Slice’s mystique, I’m sure there are people out there who won’t be happy with White’s comments.

While Slice won some people over during his first round knockout of Tank Abbott during “Street Certified” in February, many critics were hardly impressed. I think it’s safe to include White in the latter category.

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Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s opponent for EliteXC’s first show on CBS on May 31 will be officially announced by week’s end, NBCSports.com’s Mike Chiapetta is reporting.

According to the report, the opponent set to be announced is none other than former PRIDE veteran James “Colossus” Thompson.

It was reported by FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) following the combined EliteXC & Strikeforce show on March 29 that Thompson was in fact the leading candidate to face Slice after an attempt to finalize Ron Waterman as an opponent was unsuccessful.

Slice, 2-0, last fought on in February during EliteXC’s “Street Certified” show in Miami, Florida. During the card’s main event, Slice recorded a first round knockout victory over MMA pioneer Tank Abbott.

Thompson also fought on the same card, but lost to heavyweight prospect Brett Rogers after being knocked out at 2:24 into round 1.

Thompson, who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, is 14-8 lifetime and holds notable career victories over Don Frye, Hidehiko Yoshida, and Dan Severn.

The debut CBS show, which is set to emanate from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., will also feature Robbie Lawler defending his EliteXC middleweight title vs. Scott Smith, Gina Carano facing Kaitlin Young in a women’s MMA fight, and Phil Baroni taking on Murilo “Ninja” Rua.

Chuck Liddell had some words for Kimbo Slice in The Sun about how he thinks Kimbo might be a bit overrated:

“Kimbo’s one of those guys who doesn’t have any ground game. He’s training and he’s learning but he’s been built up as such a big star and that’s the thing that bothers me. People talk about him like he’s the next great thing when he really hasn’t done anything. He’s been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street.”

And Liddell joked: “I could make some impressive knockout videos too if you let me walk outside and just punch people and knock them out – “hey you, come fight!”

Who are these people that are calling Kimbo Slice the next big thing? EliteXC maybe? I have harped on this very website about how we still don’t really know anything about Kimbo Slice’s game except that his boxing is clean and that he punches extremely hard. Beyond that, that’s it. I’ve never proclaimed him to be the next champion or one of the best fighters right now.

Where I think Liddell might be making a mistake is in the fact that yes, lots of people have talked about the “phenomenon of Kimbo Slice.” I think he’s mistaking that for people saying that Kimbo is actually a good fighter at this point in his career. He has a ton of marketability and he draws serious interest, but he is nowhere near the caliber of fighter that Liddell thinks people are making him out to be.

I agree with Steve Cofield on a lot of things, but not everything.

I’m late to the party with this, as I believe Steve posted this last week, but I still think it is relevant as Kim Couture’s amateur Muay Thai match is slated to air on HDNet on Friday.

Steve, like many others, is questioning the amount of attention the UFC heavyweight champion’s wife is getting in regard to her debut:

Is anyone going to watch this Kim Couture fight? She speaks on HDNet’s InsideMMA along with Gina Carano.

Congrats to Randy’s wife, Kim, for trying her hand in the fight game. From a purity standpoint, aren’t there 100s of women who have legit accomplishments in the ring/cage who deserve the TV/online time? We assume she’s equipped to handle a real fight and it doesn’t go the way of Johnny Morton’s debut. Morton was only given a spot on an MMA card based on his name.

Cofield makes a valid point but I don’t begrudge Kim Couture. Nobody is holding a gun to HDNet’s head telling them they have to televise the Xtreme Couture smoker. Mark Cuban’s high-definition network has made it very clear they’d like to televise as much MMA as possible. Randy Couture’s wife making her fighting debut is noteworthy and if you’re able to televise it, why not?

There are a great many more women more deserving of the exposure, but has Kim Couture said anything to the contrary? And at the end of the day, is Kim Couture fighting not a great thing for female MMA? Female MMA has come a long way but it still has a lot of respect to earn in the minds of many MMA fans. The exposure and attention that a high-profile participant such as Kim Couture can bring to female fighters is not a bad thing.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports! gives us more details on the EliteXC deal with CBS. Iole states the following in his article:

• The official announcement will come tomorrow, February 28th
• It’s believed to be a four fight deal that begins in April
• Kimbo Slice is expected to headline the first card either in Atlantic City, NJ or Newark, NJ at the brand new Prudential Center
• The CBS cards are expected to be two hours specials on Saturday nights, presumably from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

We’ll have as much detail as possible on any developments that take place regarding this historic event in mixed martial arts history.

Here’s the audio of an interview conduced with Dan Le Batard on 790 The Ticket in Miami, FL after Kimbo Slice defeated Tank Abbott. This is one of the best Kimbo Slice interviews to date as Le Batard has been one of the people driving the Kimbo Warwagon since the beginning. Kimbo talks about some pretty controversial topics, including smoking blunts, his next fight, the topic of steroids, and he absolutely rips his afterparty after the EliteXC fight.

HT: Steve Cofield

Gary Goodridge appeared on Fight Network Radio and had some unpleasant things to say about Kimbo Slice and also indicated that he would be more than willing to fight Kimbo:

“‘Kimbo Slice’ is a 2008 version of ‘Mr. T,’” Goodridge told Fight Network Radio. “Was ‘Mr. T’ tough back then? No. Could he beat anybody back then? No, but he had the words, he had the lyrics, and he had the gold.”

“Don’t come out telling people that you’re ‘Street Certified,’ that you can walk on the streets and punch out anybody, any man … you’re not afraid of nobody,” Goodridge said. “Man, I know people that will put him down and spank his ass.”

“I would fight ‘Kimbo’ for free,” he said. “Make the fight up, and I will fight him for free just to show people that I could kick his ass. He can’t beat nobody. He don’t want to fight any of this.”

For free? I don’t think you want to get your ass whipped for free, do you Gary? Maybe take the road that Tank Abbott did and command $1,000 more than Kimbo just so you can say you got paid more than he did.

Seems like everyone’s coming out of the woodworks now and saying they’ll fight Kimbo. Kimbo gets some publicity for the EliteXC show and then all of a sudden everyone and their mother is trying to get a piece of him. As for a fight with Gary Goodridge? I’ll take Kimbo via TKO, round one. All day baby, all day.

Of course, you should be reading my weekly MMA columns CBSSports.com on a regular basis, but in the event that you haven’t been keeping up with them, this week’s edition is a must read.

In this week’s article I convey my belief that the initial success of crossover stars Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice could inspire additional athletes to make their MMA debuts. I present six candidates that have had their names linked to MMA in the past and analyze whether a crossover is realistic for them or not.

I decided to reach out for some expert analysis for the piece and former NFL defensive end and professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, EliteXC play-by-play commentator Mauro Ranallo, CBSSports.com columnist Gregg Doyel, JarryPark.com host Ariel Helwani, and 15 Rounds.com and CBSSports.com writer Gary Herman are all quoted in the article.

CLICK HERE to check out the article.

The article will no doubt spark debate, so feel free to leave your comments here.

In a recent article by ESPN writer Michael Woods focusing on what lies ahead for recent Kimbo Slice victim, David “Tank” Abbott, there are a couple of quotes from UFC president Dana White on the recent EliteXC event.

White gives respect to Abbott but not to the recent Showtime production. EliteXC: Street Certified has now been lumped into the same category as Fedor Emelianenko with Dana White labelling the recent event a ‘farce’.

UFC president Dana White watched the Slice-Abbott fight Saturday after taking in the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight.

He prefers that Abbott call it a day.

“I think the whole thing was a farce,” White said of the EliteXC promotion. “I love Tank. I have nothing but respect for him; he’s always been good to me. But I don’t want to see that again.”

White would like Abbott to concentrate on the book and his next logical out-of-the-cage career move.

The article finished with Dana White making somewhat of a surprising statement.

“Tank Abbott,” White said, “absolutely will be in our Hall of Fame.”

I know half of you probably choked on your cereal when you read that but you have to admit that Tank Abbott was an integral part in the development of MMA. Tank Abbott is a constant reminder of how far the sport has come and in the earlier years he was the yardstick as to whether or not your ’style’ worked.  That being said, I find it very hard to picture a ceremony in which the guest of honor is Tank Abbott.

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The ESPN article also featured some post-fight comments from Tank. In defeat Abbott seemed impressed with Kimbo’s progression as a fighter.

Kimbo definitely came out differently than I thought he would. He’s improved his punches; they are straighter. He didn’t come out like he did in his videos. But I was whacking him, and he wasn’t moving, like a telephone pole. Usually when I hit someone, they move.

Get more MMA news and Opinion on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger, Paul Buentello has called out former Youtube street fighter, Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson.

Buentello was a recent guest on MMAWeekly radio and said the following:

People want to see it. I think everybody wants to see it. Me and Kimbo should lace up the gloves. Everybody wants to see it and I think it’s time. He’s fighting all the guys I’ve already knocked out and I’ve already exposed. He needs to get off that buffet line I put out there and come over to my Paul Buentello taco shop and see if we can get to work.

I give him much respect. He stepped up. He went from street fighting to MMA and everybody thought he couldn’t produce, but he’s doing it

A fight between Buentello and Slice is probably a little too soon for Gary Shaw’s liking but it is a definitely an option for the future once Kimbo gets some wins over lesser opponents. I for one would definitely like to see this fight as it would show everyone what level of striking Kimbo actually has and let’s face it, it would be a slug-fest.

Buentello last fought at Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives for the vacant Strikeforce heavyweight title and was demolished by Alistair Overeem. He is scheduled to fight on the March 29th, Strikeforce card but an opponent has not yet been named.

Read more Kimbo Slice and Paul Buentellocontent on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Here’s the fight that every MMA site, for better or worse, was talking about over the weekend. Big thanks to SHOWTIME for putting this up on their site for general usage. Didn’t see Kimbo demolish Tank? Here’s your chance.

Photos posted with permission from www.combatlifestyle.com, for more pics click HERE.

Lots more EliteXC: Street Certified content here.