Kimbo Slice Quitting MMA
Written by Kimbo Slice on March 18th, 2009Bahamian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) professional fighter Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson, speaking exclusively with The Nassau Guardian yesterday, disclosed plans to venture into the professional boxing arena as soon as his contract is fulfilled.
The 35-year-old 6′2″, 235-pound phenomenon expressed these intentions on Monday, a day before returning to his Miami, Florida based home. Ferguson became a household name after signing a professional contract with Showtime’s EliteXC in 2007. Before that, he gained notoriety on the underground fighting scene through the Internet.
“Boxing is really my first desire. I have a lot of love for it and believe I can do pretty well. [The sport of] MMA is somewhat of a project for me. Boxing is one dimensional while there are a lot of dimensions in MMA. I don’t think it would be a hard transition from MMA to stand-up boxing because of my fighting style,” noted Ferguson, who has brought international prestige to The Bahamas through his MMA exploits.
Nonetheless, making the transition from MMA to professional boxing presents challenges.
“Not taking anything away from boxing preparation, MMA training is extremely hard,” said Ferguson. “When you consider martial arts training, you have to prepare for kicks to the head and legs, and opponents wanting to grapple and throwing you to the ground, pounding you with their knees and hands, whereas in boxing you just have to be prepared to weave and bob although the training can be just as intense. At this point in my career, I want to take that same drive and focus that I invested in MMA and put that into training for pro-boxing cards.”
The extreme fighting machine does have preference as to where he wants to make his pro boxing debut.
“Out of no disrespect to my country, seeing as I am there [United States] and already established a relationship in the fighting world, I would have to continue that until I get officially set up. Furthermore, I have two more MMA fights scheduled before this year is out. Every fighter and athlete knows that you should not switch camps in the middle of something. Also, I train in Florida. My MMA trainer will also be training me for stand up boxing. Finishing up my contract would allow me to be a free agent,” he said.
Ferguson further noted that those two fights have tentative schedules, so putting a time frame on the fulfillment of his contract is impossible.
“The last two fights that I have left in MMA don’t have set dates,” he said. “Everything normally gets set up six to eight weeks prior to the fight. Nearer to that point I would be told the particulars like who my opponent is and where the fight would be. With boxing, you can have a fight on Monday and if you are well you can have another fight the following week. Before the month is out, you would have already fought on several cards. In MMA, whether you are well or not, there is a six-week waiting period before you can engage in any other battle.
“In some cases, if you are too far advanced in promoting a MMA fight, anything can happen to the fighter. A fighter can get an injury, causing him to pull out of the fight; like Shamrock [MMA fighter Ken Shamrock] getting a cut above his eye and backing out at the last minute. That left me having to fight an opponent who I knew nothing about. If the fight is called off then it would mean bad business for that promoter and that also affected me,” explained Ferguson.
Ferguson currently sports a win/loss record of 3-1 with two knockdowns and one submission. The gentle giant added that he was surprised at the local support generated while visiting the island of his birth. He arrived in town last Thursday and is scheduled to leave today [Tuesday].
“I represented my country well in a sport that I love and I had no idea that I had touched Bahamians this way,” he said. “I even went to some of the schools and the children loved me there. It was an overwhelming feeling and I will continue to do my best. I am not just doing this [career] for me, I am representing my whole country. Now I have more of a reason to continue my fight, so I will continue to pray and put God first in my life,” he added.
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jus wanna shout out to KIMBO SLICE & let the brotha know to keep his head up!! being an aspirin indie rap astist myself i know all to well the struggle of jus tryna make it in sumthin u put ur all into & have people cut u down!!!
I’VE BEEN DOWN WIT KIMBO SINCE HIS BACKYARD FIGHTS & WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT HIM!!! KEEP KNOCKIN HEADZ OF MY N***A!!
MUCH LUV
SHADOW
ABBEVILLE, LA
29
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Good luck with whatever you do.
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u are a fucking animal keep on cracking skulls god bless u.
21
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DON’T GIVE UP LION
27
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ur a true warrior kimbo ! keep it up bro.
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Kimbo, when i first saw u, i was reminded of young Tyson. U have a gift. It’s not a win that make the man. it’s what he does after a loss. I met Mike once years ago , i regret that i did not have a chance to tell him this: U carry a certain spirit with u. The Spirit of the Warrior God. U need to go into trance with it, to infuse your being with it’s higher lessons. U are a satelite for this energy but u must cultivate it for success.
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Kimbo is a joke. He was brought in to sale tickets. His fans are retarded thinking he would beat anyone in the ufc is ludacris.
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Kimbo u da man u give street people somthn 2 look up 2 keep it up man train 2 ill kick these suckas azz 4 ya
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Kimbo slice is nuffen a cud knock the so cald best my self if he wants to fight a pro cum see my in SCOTLAND if you are not scarded hahahahahahahah wee wait and see left my email adress if you want fight a PRO
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thats if you think your man a nuf KIMBO SLICE and this aint no fake
20
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I’ve always said that Kimbo needs to actually be a four rounder or fighting in the toughman series. That’s where he made a name for himself because streeting fighting & the toughman fights are really the same; it’s just with fighting in the series, you have rules. MMA & boxing are totally different. Kimbo’s style is actually suited for boxing/toughman fighting because he’s mainly a standup fighter, and there’s NOTHING wrong with that. Keep your head up, Kimbo, and keep looking straight ahead, brother. Great things are coming your way.
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kimbo is a beast!! from backyards to cages, keep callin him out i hope u get what your askin for!! a pure uncut ass kickin!! my $ on the beast all day, always!! loyalty!! not just a word it’s a way of life!! bitches!!!!!!!!
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I just want to say fuck all the kimbo haters eat a dick! Kimbo i have been a fan since the first ko and the petruzzeli fight was stopped to soon he was scared as hell keep it up slice much love from detroit. And all the fake ass street fighters calling out my nigga kimbo put your money where ur mouth is pussy
6
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your still a fuckin g no matter what u do u still can throw hands with the best of oh and to would pick u over iron mike all day
23
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kimbo is a pussy
and middleweight in the ufc could beat him
he sucks
plain and simple
and i think he is much older than 35
he looks 40, easy to me
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I love how ferguson says “All you have to do is weave and bob.” Sadley because boxers can actually throw a punch unlike MMA fighters. And kicks? You barely see any being thrown…
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Kimbo is living his dream, we should all be so lucky. Lots of people talk with no knowledge of what it takes to give Martial Arts your entire soul, it becomes a way of life,a constant challenge. Call him a puss on line you wouldnt in his face . Say what you will hes dedicating his life to something and supporting his Fam @the same time. Props to Kimbo keep livn
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Kimbo keep it pushing don’t nothing beat afailure but a try I am a boxer myself and I see the fire in your eyes when u fight. Don’t stopwhat you are doing just keep getting better and prove em wrong
2
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I think going into Boxing is a great direction for Kimbo. If you’ve seen yesterdays TUF 10,
they changed how he fights.(look at his net vids before TUF 10.I
think he’s going to be “The Big Black Buck” of boxing and take home all the belts. He just has to get back into that mind set of “Getting His Paper Straight”. So, I say to Kimbo take some time to get back in touch with your family then get back out there and dominate like I know you can. I’m still a die hard fan.
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To: stewart Mclaughlin/McTalkin, whatever your name is.
I googled you bro, guess what, nothing anywhere about you.
Google Kimbo Slice, see what you find.
Kimbo, I am a huge fan bro and will continue to support whatever you do.
Mad respect and love for you and as one wise fan has already stated “loyalty!! not just a word it’s a way of life!! “
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As a personal decision its a great one because he is a great stand up fight. In terms of business, it is an awful decision because of the fact that MMA is taking over and boxing is on its way out.
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KIMBO SHOULD HAVE WENT TO PRO-BOXING INSTEAD OF THAT BULLSHIT ASS UFC STUFF…. I COULD HAVE SEEN KIMBO AS THE NEXT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP…. DAMN….