Who Was Kimbo Slice and What Was He to the MMA?

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By Danielle Sobelman

Many of you who are reading this article probably know who Kimbo Slice was. Well, a few years ago I myself just learned who he was and what he did. After all, I really have not followed sports much since I got married and started my career as a nurse. When I heard my brother mentioned his name many times, I really became fascinated about who this larger than life figure was. When I saw this 6ft 2in, 235lb man on the TV set, I definitely knew this man was larger than life.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was born on February 8, 1974 in Nassau, Bahamas. At an early age Kevin and his family moved to Miami, Florida with his mother Rosemary and his two brothers. While in high school, Kevin became the star middle linebacker at Miami Palmetto High School. Despite the fact that he had lost his home to Hurricane Andrew and was forced to live in his Nissan Pathfinder, this didn’t stop his dream of playing professional football. Kevin would go onto college and attend both Bethune-Cookman University and the University of Miami, in which he attended on an athletic scholarship. However, despite the fact that he had tried out with the Miami Dolphins and was on the preseason squad, his dream of playing professional football ended when he wasn’t picked up.

What would happen next would change Kevin’s life forever. In 2003, while working as a limousine driver and bodyguard for the Miami-based pornography company Reality Kings, Kevin began a career in unsanctioned mutual combat street fights on the internet. When Kevin had a fight against a man named “Big D”, Kevin left a huge cut under his opponent’s eye, this lead his internet fans nicknaming him “Slice”. Along with his childhood nickname of “Kimbo”, Kimbo Slice was born. This also lead to Rolling Stone Magazine to call him “The King of Web Brawlers”.
Kimbo Slice, which is what Kevin was known as made the transition to unsanctioned mutual combat street fights to MMA in 2005, when he began to train in martial arts. Kimbo Slice’s MMA debut fight occurred at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 5 in Atlantic City on June 23, 2007 against former WBO Heavyweight champion and Olympic Gold-Medalist boxer Ray Mercer. Kimbo defeated Mercer at 1:12 into the first round of a scheduled three round bout. This is the beginning of Kimbo’s controversial career as an MMA fighter.

With his MMA career with first the CFFC, then the UFC as well as EliteXC then later Bellator toward the end of his life, Kimbo Slice never won a championship. This is despite the fact that he had a record of 5 wins and 2 losses. He had at one point tested positive for performance steroids and had to pay a fine. The supremacy that Slice once had in the unsanctioned street fighter was gone. As a result, promoting Kimbo as a top MMA fighter lead to the demise of both the CFFC and EliteXC. In order to join the UFC, Slice had to win an MMA battle against Houston Alexander during The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweight Finale. Kimbo defeated Alexander. On May 8,2010 would be Slice’s last MMA battle. After losing to Matt Mitrtione, Slice would not have the opportunity to fight in the MMA for the next five years. During that time Slice would work as a professional boxer and wrestler.

Who was Kimbo Slice? Well, many friends of Kimbo Slice knew this father of 6 as a gentle giant. Slice had a warm personality and was very committed to his friends and family. Many people were surprised that he had a friendly personality and his bad ass behavior in the ring was not representative of who he was.

After 5 years away from MMA, Bellator gave Slice another shot. On June 19, 2015, Slice defeated Ken Shamrock at the Bellator 138. He would then defeat Dada 5000 at Bellator 149 on February 19, 2016. This seemed to be Slice’s resurgence of his career in MMA, but sadly, while waiting to fight James Thompson as the main event of Bellator 158 on July 16, 2016 in London, Slice died at age of 42, from heart failure, on June 6, 2016. Slice who had for many years battled high blood pressure was awaiting a heart transplant when he died. Kimbo Slice was what legends are made of. His legacy lives on in his son Kevin “Baby Slice” Ferguson, who now has his own career in MMA.

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