Was the Kimbo Slice fight fixed?

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<SCRIPT language=javascript>if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['j6DfHUwNBmM-']='&U=13ft6nnav%2fN%3dj6DfHUwNBmM-%2fC%3d289534.10117937.11078110.1918016%2fD%3dHEAD%2fB%3d4352157%2fV%3d1';</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>Many long-time mixed martial arts fans think Saturday’s Kimbo Slice fight on CBS was fixed because, well, it looked exactly like what they think a fixed fight would look like.

Personally, I don’t think it was rigged, if only because it worked. Kimbo, the obvious beneficiary since the entire promotion hinges on his success, won. For Elite XC to purposely deliver this desirable result would display a level of competency not seen in any other part of its amateur hour production.
But that’s just me. In the days after the first ever network televised card, everyone seems to have an opinion.
It generally splits into two groups.
Moderate to hardcore fans saw it as an abomination of their sport; CBS and Elite XC combining to produce a circus act headlined by an overhyped Kimbo that set the perception of MMA back a decade.


New and casual fans saw it as great entertainment, especially considering it was on late Saturday night where the expectations of programming aren’t real high, although some viewers undoubtedly were.
Both sides are correct; it’s simply a matter of perspective.
If you’re a fan of MMA, then what Elite XC trotted out as a main event was mostly an absurd exhibition. It’s like tuning in for the NBA Finals and finding the And 1 Mixtape Tour – only with announcers pretending Hot Sauce is a better player than Kobe Bryant.
This was entirely predictable. Any promotion that was going to use Kimbo Slice as its main event clearly cared nothing about the quality or growth of the sport. It was just grabbing cheap viewers. If that meant sending a mostly unskilled street fighting sensation against a guy who was such a tomato can he should have dressed in red, then so be it.
Of course, the tomato can, James “Colossus” Thompson, almost won. At least, until the fight got stopped, Kimbo was declared the winner and MMA message boards almost collapsed in fury.
But if you didn’t know, or care, then you didn’t know or care. This was better than reruns of “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
What the main event lacked in quality it made up for in entertainment, unintentional or not. Here are my four favorite absurdly hysterical moments of the Kimbo-Colossus fight.
4. When the fight was called, Colossus, the loser, tried to fight the ref for unfairly ending it. Kimbo, the winner, collapsed in exhaustion as many in the once pro-Kimbo crowd in Newark, N.J., turned on their guy. Not exactly a victory lap.
3. The CBS announcing crew’s endless hyperbole reaching its pinnacle when one of them compared Kimbo to Tiger Woods.
This would be applicable if Tiger had gained fame hitting trick shots in putt putt and then was invited to a second rate club championship which CBS was conned into televising. He then shot a final round 124, after which he was declared the winner anyway.
2. The judges. Kimbo spent most of the second round getting his skull hit and thanking the heavens that Colossus could only manage weak punches and elbows. Anyone else and this ends ugly. Even with Colossus, the fight could have been called (ha) in this undeniably terrible round for Kimbo.
Naturally, one of the “impartial judges” scored the round in his favor anyway. If this had gone to decision, is there any doubt at least one of the judges would have scored the three-round fight for Kimbo, five rounds to zero?
1. The Ear. What, you’ve seen an ear like that before? When everyone predicted this would be a freak show, no one thought the Colossus would take it to heart. His cauliflower ear was massive, this huge ball of blood and puss hanging off his head.
Ah, didn’t anyone think to mention he might want to drain that thing before Kimbo whacks him upside the head and makes it explode? Which, of course, happened.
Pre-fight, as the cameras zoomed in on that monstrosity everyone watching was horrified, fascinated or laughing uncontrollably. It was something out of a summer comedy; I kept expecting Verne Troyer to appear in the scene. CBS’s Gus Johnson declared it an “alien life form.”
This was the stuff that pained longtime fans. For the average person just looking for something to watch, though, this train wreck was wildly entertaining. At the very least, it was memorable. Not everyone is concerned about the integrity of cage fighting.
It’s worth repeating that Kimbo Slice isn’t the problem. He may have a long way to go to be even a good MMA fighter, but he is an easy-to-root-for American original. He shouldn’t apologize for suddenly having a chance to make a bunch of money.
If out of the blue the New York Yankees called and said you could have Alex Rodriguez’s third base position (and contract), you’d take it. Then you’d spend every waking minute at the batting cage and taking grounders, all while walking around scared senseless that this was going to end badly (except for your bank account) when they realized you aren’t a major league ball player.
That’s what Kimbo looked like in the run up to this one. He’s training as hard as he can, but he has to know the truth. Fedor Emelianenko, the best heavyweight in the world, would toy with him. Every heavyweight and light heavyweight in the UFC would beat him handily. Even some middleweights, such as Anderson Silva, despite giving up 50-plus pounds, would take him. It’s just a matter of MMA being a lot more than a street brawl. He’s on their turf now.
Colossus has now lost seven of his last nine fights and he wasn’t enough of a stiff to assure Kimbo victory. Kimbo is fun, but reality is reality.
Still, it wasn’t Kimbo saying he was Tiger Woods. It wasn’t Kimbo who showed up with a racquetball in his ear, or hired the dancing girls or choreographed the WWE introductions.
As frustrating as this was for many who love the sport, I don’t buy the argument that the card was a big negative for MMA. Yes its credibility was hurt with old media and some skeptics, but many potential fans were exposed to it for the first time.
Some of them will stick around and discover the upper reaches of the sport. If Sunday’s WEC card highlighted by the Jens Pulver-Urijah Faber epic had been on CBS, then the sport would have shot into the stratosphere overnight. The same is true for any UFC production or, most likely, next month’s promising Affliction event.
If new fans watch those, soon they too will realize what first introduced them to the sport was mostly just an entertaining joke.
Now, if only CBS could realize it. Not since someone decided to make a television show about the Geico Cavemen has a network been sold such a bill of goods.
CBS tried to claim it was wary of MMA because of its old perception as “human cockfighting.” That hasn’t been a reality in over a decade, though. Naturally, they contracted an organization that played on that very stereotype and, in turn, furthered it.
If CBS would dump Elite XC but stick with MMA – finding a more suitable promotion to televise – they’d find the good overnight ratings it produced could build into a juggernaut over time.
Not by providing minor league fights long on unintentional comedy that insult hardcore fans, but by trusting the sport on its own merits.
If we could get that fixed, there’d be no complaints.









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Woah, woah, Daddy's wrong, Mommy's right.
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Bill,

Where did you find that article? Also, did you tune in for the WEC event on Versus last night?
 
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I think it was a Little Fishy, but that's just Me.

I will tell you this, I Now think Kimbo is NOT as good as I first thought.

Unless All the Hype and Mainstream is going to his Head. and Didn't prepare right. :think2:
 

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I don't think either fighter was aware of any fix but there was a ton of fishy stuff.

#1) A judge gave Kimbo round 1. Kimbo did nothing and was on his back for most of it.

#2) A judge gave Kimbo round 2. Kimbo had the shit beat out of him. There is no way he should have won that round. Should have been 10-8 Thompson but the fishy judging continues.

#3) Who in the hell told James Thompson it was a good idea to have that ear not get drained?

#4) Very early stoppage. Thompson never hit the mat and although he probably would have, he deserves the same chance to recover as Kimbo got. The fight should have been stopped in the 2nd round.

#5) EliteXC has had a few bogus looking fights in the past. The whole organization seems corrupt.
 

Rx Wizard
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I honestly think Kimbo is getting a raw deal by the public and media over this. First off the guy was in a no win situation, he obviously isnt close to "main event of the card" material and he was thrust into this by this business group. He pretty much carried that whole card and was hyped by everyone as this superstar of this well established sport. It was third fight, I would have to imagine he has A LONG WAY to go to even get in the elite status of this sport. You have to give him a chance. I doubt many fighters had this kind of pressure on them the 3rd fight of their career. Let's face it without the scary look he is just what he is, "an up and coming" fighter, who has fought some bums on the street. He has a long way to go in this sport that features guys who have did this stuff for years.

I think is a vaild point also, what was he suppose to do? If he knocks the guy out in the first few minutes than people claim fix because they are hyping him up. I cant count how many people I read before the fight saying this, that the fight is fixed and he will pummel thie guy for the good of the sport, etc... So if he does than everyone throws a fit. Now if he struggles (like he did) he sucks. What would have made everyone completly happy Which is what everyone is saying today. He ended up winning the fight it just was a little more of a struggle than most thought.

Bottom line they did a HORRIBILE thing by putting their first primetime spot with this guy being the "main event". Way too much pressure for him. A main event should be between 2 guys who are top notch fighters. A poetential one sided fight for the main event is just a bad idea.

I know a lot of guys that follow this sport say how bad this product was but the general public liked from the things I read and heard. Next time (and there will be a next time) they need to do a better job scheduling these matches. I am rooting for Kimbo, this is his 15 minutes of fame. You cant blame him, it looks like he is making the best of this situation and bettering himself. Not bad for a guy who was homeless just a few years ago.
 

Uno

Ban Teddy
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I Do Know This...

He Has Trouble With Big White Boys

personal experience?

of course it was fixed. on some level or another Elite was not letting him lose this one. the next one tho... i would imagine Elite is already planning their exit strategy.
 

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i dont think it was fixed. personally was hoping it was n kimbo came out first punch would have knocked him out. now we saw how bad kimbo really is. wouldve been better for him with a 1 punch knock out.
 

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I honestly think Kimbo is getting a raw deal by the public and media over this. First off the guy was in a no win situation, he obviously isnt close to "main event of the card" material and he was thrust into this by this business group. He pretty much carried that whole card and was hyped by everyone as this superstar of this well established sport. It was third fight, I would have to imagine he has A LONG WAY to go to even get in the elite status of this sport. You have to give him a chance. I doubt many fighters had this kind of pressure on them the 3rd fight of their career. Let's face it without the scary look he is just what he is, "an up and coming" fighter, who has fought some bums on the street. He has a long way to go in this sport that features guys who have did this stuff for years.

I think is a vaild point also, what was he suppose to do? If he knocks the guy out in the first few minutes than people claim fix because they are hyping him up. I cant count how many people I read before the fight saying this, that the fight is fixed and he will pummel thie guy for the good of the sport, etc... So if he does than everyone throws a fit. Now if he struggles (like he did) he sucks. What would have made everyone completly happy Which is what everyone is saying today. He ended up winning the fight it just was a little more of a struggle than most thought.

Bottom line they did a HORRIBILE thing by putting their first primetime spot with this guy being the "main event". Way too much pressure for him. A main event should be between 2 guys who are top notch fighters. A poetential one sided fight for the main event is just a bad idea.

I know a lot of guys that follow this sport say how bad this product was but the general public liked from the things I read and heard. Next time (and there will be a next time) they need to do a better job scheduling these matches. I am rooting for Kimbo, this is his 15 minutes of fame. You cant blame him, it looks like he is making the best of this situation and bettering himself. Not bad for a guy who was homeless just a few years ago.

I don't think people were expecting it to end soon because of a possible fix involving Thompson. They were expecting it to end soon because Thompson was the perfect candidate for Kimbo to KO early. He was a handpicked nobody who almost always gets knocked out. It wasn't that people were thinking it was a fix, just that they obviously set up what they thought would be an easy KO win for Kimbo as he continues to fight cans.
 

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Bill,

Where did you find that article? Also, did you tune in for the WEC event on Versus last night?
Yahoo.com

No, New England Cablevision does not carry Versus, for what reason I do not know.
 

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PS, I have no problem with Kimbo... He's just making his money. Showtime and the moron that runs this EliteXC thing (Gary Shaw) should be ashamed though.
 

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I think Uriah Faber would kick Kimbo's butt.

Haha I'd love to see the matchup but the 100 pound size difference is gonna be a pain the ass for Urijah.
 

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Urijah would hit and kick Kimbo 5 times before he knew what was going on. I've never seen anyone that fast......Kimbo may be good for clearing out a drunk or two in a bar but not in a cage with these nuts.
 

I'm from the government and I'm here to help
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i thought it was ended prematurely but the fact is it would have been over FOR CERTAIN in 5 more seconds. Don't think it was fixed at all but shoddy reffing all night...not just in kimbo fight
 

The Great Govenor of California
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No more fixed than the nba refs giving the LAkers a month long blow job.
 

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CBS scored the only legitimate knockout with decent ratings according to Nielsen.
 
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I don't think either fighter was aware of any fix but there was a ton of fishy stuff.

#1) A judge gave Kimbo round 1. Kimbo did nothing and was on his back for most of it.

#2) A judge gave Kimbo round 2. Kimbo had the shit beat out of him. There is no way he should have won that round. Should have been 10-8 Thompson but the fishy judging continues.

#3) Who in the hell told James Thompson it was a good idea to have that ear not get drained?

#4) Very early stoppage. Thompson never hit the mat and although he probably would have, he deserves the same chance to recover as Kimbo got. The fight should have been stopped in the 2nd round.

#5) EliteXC has had a few bogus looking fights in the past. The whole organization seems corrupt.

That's all you need to know right there. F-I-X
 

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