Kimbo Slice

[CrackerJack]

I have not watched nor been a fan of MMA, but watched the CBS Fight Night broadcast tonight. Pretty impressive.

Kimbo is one tough SOB, as was the English guy he fought - wow that was as good as any dramatic boxing match I've ever seen. Kimbo took a pounding for what seemed like 2 minutes on the floor, somehow got up from it, and beat his opponent by brawling - his speciality. I'm not sure a lot of these MMA guys can handle Kimbo on their feet.

I think the call to end that match came early though - and not sure what the heck was up with his ear. Forgive me for not knowing the names yet.

There's also a very geeky, savage attractive quality about Gina Carano.

[guttle11]

Cauliflower ear is a condition many wrestlers and MMA guys get. When your ear gets pounded and hit so many times, the cartiledge dies and seperates, allowing for a buildup of fluid.

As for the fight, Kimbo Slice came across both as better than I thought, and completely exposed. To be honest, I thought he was done when he was on the mat. Against a better fighter he would have been. But, he did pretty well outside of the last minute of the second round.

At the same time, the mystique is gone. He can't rely on the heavy punches and street fighting reputation. He's got work to do.

[CrackerJack]

Cauliflower ear is a condition many wrestlers and MMA guys get. When your ear gets pounded and hit so many times, the cartiledge dies and seperates, allowing for a buildup of fluid.

As for the fight, Kimbo Slice came across both as better than I thought, and completely exposed. To be honest, I thought he was done when he was on the mat. Against a better fighter he would have been. But, he did pretty well outside of the last minute of the second round.

At the same time, the mystique is gone. He can't rely on the heavy punches and street fighting reputation. He's got work to do.

Thanks on the caulifllower ear - just looked like a big infection or blood filled bump to me. That really hurt him, the ref immediately got all concerned when that busted open, and Kimbo went right after it - guy has a great killer instinct, Thompson seemed to lack.

I heard Kimbo would get schooled by high level MMA fighters on the mat, but given how relatively easy it is to get a knock out in MMA - who knows.

[WVPacman]

What time did that fight come on?? I was going to watch it but I forgot.

[TeamSelig]

Youtube him... he is a beast

[HumnHilghtFreel]

He needs to work on his endurance. I thought it was going to end like the Sean Gannon fight where he just burnt out.

The ground and pound looked like it wore him down a lot. If he wants to be seen as a legit force in MMA, he's going to have to put in a lot of work.

[Caveat Emperor]

The ground and pound looked like it wore him down a lot. If he wants to be seen as a legit force in MMA, he's going to have to put in a lot of work.

Both fighters were total crap when it came to fitness -- they both were sucking wind early on the bout and it didn't get much better from that point forward. Kimbo's fitness level was slightly better, but he's not even close to where you need to be if you want to compete in the upper-echelon of MMA. He got lucky (or benefited from corporate desire to see him win) in being matched up with such a mediocre opponent and getting a referee with a very quick whistle.

I came away thoroughly unimpressed by Kimbo -- he looked like a less-prepared version of Brock Lesnar and I think he would have been annihilated by anyone who had good BJJ training. He left himself wide-open for several submissions that a better fighter would've used to make quick work of him.

[kbrake]

Kimbo is a joke, if he ever fights even a slightly above average MMA guy he will get destroyed. He has no takedown defense and no ground game what so ever. He can swing with the best of them but that is not enough to carry you in this sport. Not even sure he would have won last night had the fight not been stopped. No way EliteXC could have their only star lose in their first big show. I bet they got decent ratings last night, now it should XFL like the rest of the way.

[Puffy]

There's also a very geeky, savage attractive quality about Gina Carano.

She is downright hot. HOT!

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/825505/ginac.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/825505/ginac2.jpg

[Matt700wlw]

Yes she is.

[HotCorner]

Oh yeah Crush from American Gladiators!

[Cyclone792]

Kimbo is a joke, if he ever fights even a slightly above average MMA guy he will get destroyed. He has no takedown defense and no ground game what so ever. He can swing with the best of them but that is not enough to carry you in this sport. Not even sure he would have won last night had the fight not been stopped. No way EliteXC could have their only star lose in their first big show. I bet they got decent ratings last night, now it should XFL like the rest of the way.

Yep, Kimbo was a joke, Thompson was a joke, and the whole fight was a joke. The EliteXC itself pretty much is a joke. They have a handful of worthwhile fighters, and last night they only had one fight (Lawler vs. Smith) that was actually a good MMA fight, but the stoppage on that fight was a joke too.

[kbrake]

Yep, Kimbo was a joke, Thompson was a joke, and the whole fight was a joke. The EliteXC itself pretty much is a joke. They have a handful of worthwhile fighters, and last night they only had one fight (Lawler vs. Smith) that was actually a good MMA fight, but the stoppage on that fight was a joke too.

At least tonight there will be a good MMA fight on. Can't wait for Faber vs. Pulver tonight on VS. Anyone who is just kind of curious in MMA and thought last night was even remotely interesting I highly recommend checking out the WEC fight tonight.

[Javy Pornstache]

True Cyclone, but Smith said he couldn't see, and anyone who's a longtime fan of MMA knows those are the "magic code words" to end a fight. Not that I'm suggesting he wanted out of the fight, he looked great in rounds 2 and 3 in particular, but anytime someone says they can't see, the fight's done, no matter what.

Elite's got some talent on their roster, they just chose to reach out to the common fan who doesn't know about MMA with all the sloppy, non-cardio-having, non-technical striking Toughman-type fighters like Kimbo, Thompson, Baroni, Rogers, Murphy, etc. With apologies to Villasenor, Lawler and Smith, who all are strikers with technique. Can't fault them for marketing reasons, because obviously everyone now knows the name "Kimbo Slice" and Gina was already getting very well-known.

How about Nick Diaz and Yves Edwards for the next CBS special?! I could dig it.

[Javy Pornstache]

At least tonight there will be a good MMA fight on. Can't wait for Faber vs. Pulver tonight on VS. Anyone who is just kind of curious in MMA and thought last night was even remotely interesting I highly recommend checking out the WEC fight tonight.

I agree 100 million percent. Miguel Torres is defending the 135 championship against Yoshiro Maeda on this show as well, and that will be fantastic. Did anyone see the HBO-esque Countdown show previewing Faber and Pulver? Phenonemal television.

[kbrake]

Yeah anyone who wants to see some crazy submission skills get a load of Torres tonight, that guy is crazy.

[guttle11]

Torres/Maeda was a heck of a fight.

I'm not much of an MMA fan, but I like the little guys. They're scrappier.

[kbrake]

That was everything I was expecting and more. Two great fights to end the night. Great display of what MMA is about after last nights debacle.

[gilpdawg]

Torres/Maeda was spectacular. So was Pulver/Faber.

Kimbo Slice isn't a threat to any established stars in MMA. He'll just keep on beating up tomato cans.

[Cyclone792]

True Cyclone, but Smith said he couldn't see, and anyone who's a longtime fan of MMA knows those are the "magic code words" to end a fight. Not that I'm suggesting he wanted out of the fight, he looked great in rounds 2 and 3 in particular, but anytime someone says they can't see, the fight's done, no matter what.

I didn't know he had said he couldn't see so that would make much more sense for the stoppage then. I actually missed the "official" result due to the DVR screwing up right after the stoppage and just saw that it was ruled a NC. That all makes sense then if Smith said he couldn't see.

[Caveat Emperor]

I didn't know he had said he couldn't see so that would make much more sense for the stoppage then. I actually missed the "official" result due to the DVR screwing up right after the stoppage and just saw that it was ruled a NC. That all makes sense then if Smith said he couldn't see.

I don't know what the case was, but his reaction to the stoppage seemed closer to shock and disbelief than "I can't go on" -- which he (as an experienced MMA fighter) had to know would be the case if he said anything to the ref about his ability to continue fighting.

[halcyon]

I agree with most of you here about the fights the last two nights. Evidently there is some amount of controversy with folks who were ringside for the Kimbo fight saying that he tapped at some point. Some of you might remember that CBS cut away in the middle of the action at one point to a zoomed out camera view and thats when they claim the tap happened. Who knows? Certainly EliteXC is not interested in seeing him lose.

I also thought that the entire card/production of the WEC event on Sunday made the EXC show look fairly pathetic.

[Caveat Emperor]

Some of you might remember that CBS cut away in the middle of the action at one point to a zoomed out camera view and thats when they claim the tap happened.

I was watching the fight at a bar, and somebody yelled out "The fix is in!" when that wide-angle shot happened.

[Javy Pornstache]

I don't know what the case was, but his reaction to the stoppage seemed closer to shock and disbelief than "I can't go on" -- which he (as an experienced MMA fighter) had to know would be the case if he said anything to the ref about his ability to continue fighting.

Yep, he went wild about it afterward, but he said twice that he couldn't see in the corner, which is pretty much standard procedure to ask twice. They interviewed the head ringside medic right after the fight and Scott Smith didn't deny that he said that, but said he was hoping to still get more time to recover and get his vision fully back. I'm sure he knew the fight wouldn't go on though, that was probably more posturing.

Don't worry, there'll definitely be a rematch. And I wouldn't be shocked if they rematched Kimbo and Thompson, though I am not sure I could stand to watch that again. Kimbo could barely make it through the postfight interview and had to be helped from the cage he was so gassed.

[CrackerJack]

I guess I'm not a big fan of clean and neat fights where scrawny guys roll around and put holds on each other for 5 minutes then. :) I guess i'm more of a boxing fan - the audience CBS was not doubt trying to reel-in.

Thompson, for being such a hulk, sure couldn't punch or defend himself on his feet to save his life. And the fact Kimbo was so exhausted after being pounded (albeit not as hard as some other MMA guys might've, supposably, hit him in that state) then came back to win by pulverizing Thompson's head - made it all that much more entertaining to me. Keep in mind I really won't be watching much MMA unless there's a compelling reason for me to tune in - Kimbo is a good reason for now - just to see how he stands up. When/if he gets annihilated, I'll be different, but, still waiting for that to happen. Everyone loves a Rocky story.

I thought it was an interesting match-up of a street brawler and a supposably skilled MMA guy - only to learn Thompson was a chump and of course Kimbo is unproven and very raw. Still, I found the drama and match-up entertaining - as well as the other fights. The females ecspecially (although it's a bit sad to me, for some reason, to see women brutalizing each other like that).

So if you're looking for a purist's POV - not me! I was probably CBS' ideal demographic, hehe.

[Matt700wlw]

Dude's ear was messed up....kind of gave me the willies.