Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson 5/31/08

[YellowJacket]

would you step in the ring with him...

Right now? No. But you pay me to train 6 days a week for a year plus like he has and let me add about 20lbs, and fuck yea I would but lets be honest, hes not an MMA fighter, hes a street fighter.

Id bet my car and home my jiu jitsu right now is better than his ever will be.

[YellowJacket]

If Elite folds, UFC should sign Kimbo to a one-fight deal...and then feed him to Lesnar. Just for shits and giggles.

Thatd be way too boring. Lesnar would take him down and dry hump him.. I want to see someone like Verdum or someone with a great ground game.

[Bouncer]

well the ref was at my gym today. apparently he has been going to my gym for years. anyway, the owner of the gym introduced us and i talked to him for about 5 minutes. i asked him about the kimbo fight. he said he didn't stop the fight because of the burst ear, he stopped the fight because Thompson's eyes were rolled back into his head and when he asked him if he was ok he was none responsive.

mr. incredible i really don't know what the hell you watched or listened to but thompson got fucking drilled with 3-4 shots with the 4th shot popping the ear. don't deny the obvious simply because he is a UK fighter. neither fighter should be the pride of a country, they are both shit compared to true skilled fighters.

[The_Grinder]

I think the ref should have let Kimbo get in 2 or 3 more shots and it would have been a little less contraversial. I don't doubt that he was probably about to go down, but I thought he was done for earlier in the fight and he ended up shooting Kimbo's legs, and putting him on his back. I think he should have given it about 5 more seconds. But definately not the worst call I have ever seen.

That being said, that telecast sucked hairy balls. I get the point, "In mixed martial arts, anything can happen", but damn they don't have to repeat that every 10 seconds.

[Bouncer]

That being said, that telecast sucked hairy balls.

agreed, every time there was a good strike or take down, they were switching cameras etc.. pissed me off.

[YellowJacket]

Let the backlash begin...


MMA’s network debut mocks true sport

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports 11 hours, 19 minutes ago



It sounded like such a good idea when the news broke a few months ago that CBS would broadcast a series of mixed martial arts cards in prime time.

But after watching its effort on Saturday’s Elite XC show from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the good news might be if CBS opts not to do another show.

These were supposed to be the professionals who would show the amateurs at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who do their own production, how it’s supposed to be done.

And while neophyte play-by-play man Gus Johnson acquitted himself well and analysts Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock didn’t embarrass themselves, the broadcast dragged on interminably.

There was more chatting than “The Tonight Show.” Fighters were introduced as they made long, slow walks to the cage, then were introduced again once they hit the cage. Given that the show went 45 minutes over its allotted time, what do you want to bet the ring walks will be eliminated if there is another show on CBS?


For some reason, particularly early in the broadcast, CBS chose to use its overhead camera to repeatedly show Elite XC’s skanky-looking cheerleaders doing nothing more than shaking their butts.

This wouldn’t have been so bad had there actually been a fight on the air every now and then. But after the show had been on the air for 32 minutes, there had been 61 seconds of actual fighting. When it was 70 minutes into the show, there had been just 2:12 of fighting.

The whole show was built around Kimbo Slice, the Internet-generated star whose street fights made him into something of a mythical figure in the sport before he’d ever faced a serious opponent.

Slice’s name and face was everywhere in the days and weeks leading up to the bout. Considering the way this dragged on, though, you have to wonder how many folks were still awake when the bell rang to begin Slice’s bout with James Thompson at 11:27 p.m. ET, nearly a full half-hour after the show was supposed to have been over.

While it was mostly C-level talent on display, the fighters by and large held up their end of the bargain. Brett Rogers delivered a one-punch knockout of one-time Syracuse linebacker Jon Murphy in just 1:01 in the first fight of the night.

After glorifying loutish middleweight Phil Baroni as some sort of star – ignoring the fact he’d lost three of his last four and was just a decidedly mediocre 10-9 coming in – CBS looked bad when he was knocked out in 1:11 by Joe Villasenor.

The next two bouts were sensational. Gina Carano outslugged Kaitlin Young after two rounds and middleweights Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith went at it fiercely until Smith was inadvertently poked in the eye in the third, forcing a premature end to their middleweight title bout.

The main event showcased two mediocre fighters in mediocre condition, though after listening to Johnson, Ranallo and Shamrock, you’d have thought we were watching the MMA equivalent of Ali-Frazier.

Have no doubt about this: Slice would be destroyed by any legitimate mixed martial artist. Had Slice faced ex-WWE champion Brock Lesnar, the current UFC rookie hopeful, he’d have been beaten in less than two minutes.

As it was, Slice struggled his way to a sloppy third-round knockout of a complete tomato can.

You can’t blame Slice, because he had no business being in a main event of a mixed martial arts bout at this stage of his progression. It takes years of training and sacrifice to reach the main event in MMA and Slice was only there because of the notoriety he’d gained in his YouTube street brawls.

It was kind of ironic that at the show’s opening, Shamrock said with a straight face, “You won’t find them fighting in a bar and you won’t find them fighting in the street.”

Really?

Well, this card featured a guy (Baroni) who fights in bars and another who made his name by fighting in the streets.

CBS should have known better.

The fans deserved better.

The sport deserved better.

The CBS folks ought to take a look at the WEC card on the cable network Versus on Sunday to see how an MMA show is supposed to be put together. They’ll learn from watching that show how to introduce the viewers to the fighters but not drag the show on like a book that goes on 200 pages too long.

They’ll see quality fights between trained and competitive MMA fighters.

Hopefully, CBS didn’t manage to turn off a large segment to the country to what is a classic and compelling sport.

There’s no question, though, that CBS didn’t do MMA any favors Saturday.

[Mr I]

well the ref was at my gym today. apparently he has been going to my gym for years. anyway, the owner of the gym introduced us and i talked to him for about 5 minutes. i asked him about the kimbo fight. he said he didn't stop the fight because of the burst ear, he stopped the fight because Thompson's eyes were rolled back into his head and when he asked him if he was ok he was none responsive.

mr. incredible i really don't know what the hell you watched or listened to but thompson got fucking drilled with 3-4 shots with the 4th shot popping the ear. don't deny the obvious simply because he is a UK fighter. neither fighter should be the pride of a country, they are both shit compared to true skilled fighters.

I just don't agree, and neither did Shamrock whe he was ring side, listen to the audio for yourself. The ref was terrible and most people agree. I don't pretend JT is a great fighter if you see my posts above. I just think he got robbed.

[Mr I]

LOL

"This was worse than Keith Jardine laying unconscious for 4 minutes. I cringed from the undeniable closure of it all.

Kimbo's finishing blow of James Thompson was hands-down, DEFINITELY the most brutal knockout I have ever witnessed. Thompson was even standing the whole time, and never went down.



OUCH!
















In fact, when that final death-blow landed, I almost had to turn my eyes because I'd never seen a fighter react to a punch like that, by like, waivering a little bit more than slightly.



BRUTAL



In fact Thompson was so KTFO'd, he actually regained his footing and his composure within a moment or two.



OMFG YOU JUST GOT KTFO



Come on, all you EliteXC haters out there have to admit it. That was a pretty devastating KO. You have to be pretty out of it to regain complete control of your balance immediately after being hit, like within a second.

And then to respond, by immediately moving forward again toward your opponent to throw another punch?!?

Man, from the way that looked I'm surprised Thompson isn't dead right now. You know the kind of dead where you are standing and throwing punches and arguing with referees and stuff.



















How anyone can question this stoppage is truly beyond me, Thompson is clearly out on his feet, and arguing and fighting and being pissed off at the referee while completely unconscious.


Also, anyone who says that the fight was poorly reffed or fixed is either a conspiracy theorist or a UFC-fanboy. Gary Shaw even said himself, in the post-event press conference:


"Kimbo carried this promotion."


Now does that sound like a guy with a vested interest in only one particular bout's result to the point that he would possibly bribe a ref with a sum of money in order to ensure that his company's first-impression on network television went according to plan?

... EXACTLY. DIDN'T THINK SO.



Or, to quote Kimbo when he was put on the spot and asked point-blank in that same post-fight press conference, if he believed the fight was stopped too early:


"Uhhhhhhh......"

[Bouncer]

I just don't agree, and neither did Shamrock whe he was ring side, listen to the audio for yourself. The ref was terrible and most people agree. I don't pretend JT is a great fighter if you see my posts above. I just think he got robbed.

well lets just agree to disagree.

[toolwtf]

I agree with Bouncer. Just watched the fight. Kimbo was a few punches away from really hurting that guy. He wasn't defending himself, he was out of it. I don't think Kimbo is some great MMA fighter, but let's be honest there is some definite bias around here because he's a black/thug/streetfighter and people don't think he's good for the sport.

[Mr I]

the thing is JT had just throw a punch back when the ref jumped in, that was after eating a few shots from the Kimbo. So he was intelligently defending himself and if a ref is going to jump in so quick, why didn't he do it when kimbo was on his back in virtual crucifix?? he was clearly unable to intelligently defend himself so by the letter of the law it should have been stopped there.

Anyway its only my opinion and a small few dissagree. I would say loo at JT's fight with Fujita at 9minutes in, that is him getting pummeled but it took many shots to put him away. Also see his fight against Don Frye which he won but it too over 6 minutes and it was this way and that, JT had that same expression for much of the fight, vacant.http://www.mmalinker.com/xExternal.php?vidid=4772

I just feel he didn't get a fair go and thats all, he isn't all that of a fighter but he turned up dominated the first two rounds and deserved more for his efforts and did not get knocked out.

end of my input on this, agree to differ

[Bouncer]

mr incredible, me and you agree on one thing. the fight should not have been stopped. stopping that fight was bullshit no matter who would have one.

[blm]

Let the backlash begin...

I read it quickly but it seems pretty accurate.

[blm]

I just think he got robbed.

Not sure what fight you were watching, but as painful as it was to watch to this point...JT got rocked at the end.

[FrankTheTank55]

I agree with Bouncer. Just watched the fight. Kimbo was a few punches away from really hurting that guy. He wasn't defending himself, he was out of it. I don't think Kimbo is some great MMA fighter, but let's be honest there is some definite bias around here because he's a black/thug/streetfighter and people don't think he's good for the sport.

Every fight is a few punches away from really hurting someone but you have to see if it happens and not just assume it is and stop it. What about the last minute of the second round when they were on the ground Kimbo was just lying there he wasnt defending himself. They let that go on.