Kimbo Slice made his UFC debut in December against Houston Alexander on Spike TV and most believed the popular heavyweight’s next bout would be featured on a pay-per-view card. However, Slice could return to action at the UFC’s March 21 event on Versus, according to MMAjunkie.
A contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 10, Slice lost in the opening round of the reality series to former IFL champion and tournament favorite Roy Nelson, but defeated Alexander by unanimous decision in his official UFC debut last month.
Slice has delivered stellar ratings for the UFC in his brief time with the promotion, as more than 7 million viewers watched his bout with Nelson and more than 6 million tuned in for his fight against Alexander.
An opponent has not yet been determined for Slice’s next fight, while the March 21 event takes place in Denver, Colorado and is expected to be headlined by Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones.
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Kimbo sure is bringing in the $ for Dana. I can’t think of a suitable opponent @ hw for kimbo. I’d like to see him at another catchweight fight or maybe @ lhw. Nowadays, these hw are true “HEAVYWEIGHTS”. I like kimbo even though he embarassed my boy houston and I hope he does well and continues to grow as a fighter.
Alexander embarrassed himself with that gameplan. Kimbo didn’t have a whole lot to do with it.
if vera loses to jones, is he out of the ufc? he is a good fighter but his record has taken a beating lately.
That’s probably possible. His record taking a beating lately is partly his fault for not taking his career seriously, until the last few months.
Yeah it’s surprising to me that a young, imho very talented fighter like vera has had such a bad record as of late. He’s got to get in there and make an example of jones.
Good bye Vera…
Brandon Vera seriously needs to win his next fight to keep his job, but I just don’t see Jon Jones coming back after that Matt Hamill DQ thing and not severely beating the crap out of his next opponent.
Seems like Scott Coker will have someone else to sign and put in against Hendo at 205 after 21 March…
if he stays at heavywieght maybe he could face paul Buentello or stefan struve, i think he should go to catchweight though or lhw if he can make the weight.
check congo would be a great opponent for kimbo slice at heavyweight.they should give kimbo opponents they are deciding to cut, and kimbo should be their last chance at redemption to stay in the ufc.
kimbo needs alot of work in his stand up and ground game, his left leg took a beating last fight, he’s old and his knees are weak. i give him 5 more fights till he calls it quits.
Thats what its about for Kimbo…line up half ass opponets who may get cut and feed them to there last chance Kimbo…he brings in the bucks even if he gets stomped…
If Kimbo fights at HW in his next fight, I would like to see him face Paul Buentello. I think that would make for a pretty good slug fest. Buentello doesn’t like fighting on the ground anymore than Kimbo does. They would stand and trade until someone falls….then again, I thought the same thing when Kimbo fought Houston Alexander.
Bones Jones will beat Vera. He will dominate him like he’s done everyone else.
Kimbo needs to continue to win…for his career’s sake and for Dana’s sake. Kimbo is a draw….a HUGE draw. The bookers need to give him someone that seems like a convincing competitor, but in all actuality he should be able to beat.
Here is, who I feel (in Order of likely competitors) Kimbo will face at the March 21st event:
Mostapha Al Turk
Heath Herring
Cheick Kongo
Tim Hague
Gabriel Gonzaga
What do you think?
Hague, Al Turk, and Gonzaga would all likely try to take him to the ground.
“… all likely try to take him to the ground.”
Which I think the UFC would like to avoid.
Thus leaving Kongo and Herring. Like Jacob said above, if the UFC wants to clean house, give Kimbo someone that he could beat, that way they can get rid of the loser. Cheick Kongo seems like the most reasonable opponent. But do people want to see Cheick Kongo AGAIN???
But it IS a very marketable matchup….think about it.
KIMBO vs. KONGO !!!
does heath herring still fight?
Not in a while. I’m not sure when he will be back, exactly, but he is not retired, and is still under contract with the UFC. He has been taking a break and doing some acting for a while.
i think any of those guys would destroy kimbo i dont think hes ready for any of them
Cheick Kongo and Gabriel Gonzaga would be a lil bit to much for kimbo to handle a Heath herring fight would be interesting just cuz we havnt seen him fight since he lost to lesnar otherwize i think Mostapha Al Turk, Paul Beuntello, Stefan Struve, or if Mirko Cro cop wins his next fight who knows that could be a good fight to keep an eye out for.
I’m surprised that Dana wouldn’t have Kimbo fight on the March 27th card in Jersey. One the people who went to the last PPV show there deserve a good card after the crap they put on last time. And also it would draw a lot of attention from the beat writers in New York an get a lot of good publicity for the push to legalize MMA in NY
UFC 108 was a pretty good card, alot of finishes and a decent “Main Event” but that isn’t really an issue… I believe that the NY Writers will be coming out cuz well honestly GSP v Hardy and Mir v Carwin is going to bring alot of attention to getting MMA legalized in NY, I have a feeling that UFC 111 will be “stacked” due to this 1 reason
UFC 111 March 27,2010 looks like this
Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Dan Hardy
UFC Welterweight Championship
Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir
Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship (vacant)
Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
Frankie Edgar vs. TBA
Ricardo Almeida vs. TBA
I don’t believe they need Kevin Ferguson on this particular card, he by no means is the “face of MMA” so why try to push through legislation for NY MMA by having him on the card?
I was referring to UFC 78, that was Evans Vs Bisbing main event. As for the New York writers only George Willis from the daily news is the only guy who even talks about mma in NY. Kimbo will bring out the casual sports fan an thats would do more then GSP or Mir ever would IMO.
Kimbo Slice is going to have to have his next few opponents VERY carefully selected for him, at least until he develops a semblance of an MMA skillset which includes takedown and submission defense.
Normally I would be opposed to an arrangement of that nature, but Kimbo seems to be a decent enough guy, and one who is trying hard to catch on in our sport.
Also, Dana loves money, and Kimbo draws money, so, y’know.
Matt Mitrione comes to mind as a future Kimbo dance partner, as I’ve yet to see him do anything more than walk forward and throw punches.
Also Mirko CroCop could fill the bill here, seeing as how he has an almost pathological aversion to being off of his feet.
I’m also sure that Dana and company could find some big, one-dimensional strike-throwing opponent for Kimbo at some casino or truckstop somewhere to toss Kimbo another easy win.
But just to be clear, there aren’t any “bookers” or “matchmaking” involved with Kimbo Slice. Dana White essentially tells Joe Silva to get the paperwork signed, and the fight is on. Its not like Slice is an actual contender, or even a full-fledged UFC/MMA competitor. He’s more like an attraction than a well-rounded fighter at this stage of his career, and should have his opponents selected with that mindset until such time that he can stuff basic shoots and throws…
I think I’d rather see Kongo in against another Kickboxer. Maybe someone like the young Stephan Struve or either a rematch with Gilbert Yvel from their first match-up back when they were both in It’s Showtime over in Amsterdame.
Kimbo cannot always fight catchweight fights if he cant hang with the true HW then he needs to drop and go to another weight class….and lets not be giving him easy opponets to help improve his record to keep him in the ufc. he will get better in time but fight him someone in his weight class….Heath Herring…Cain Velasquez…someone??? haha
Technically 215 or 232 are both HW, weights.. We choose to call it a catch weight bout when both competitors decide on a “specific” weight, hell Couture fought Lesnar (265) when Randy weighed 220 lbs.. so technically he is part of the UFC’s HW roster, they aren’t making a “special” weight class for the man
I’m thinking that if Mirko CroCop still wants to fight in the UFC, Kimbo Slice would be an ideal opponent for him…
that would be a pretty damn good one.. kimbo wouldnt know what to do with all those feet coming at his head
If slice went against Gonzaga he would get his head ripped clean off. Gabs will be taking a limb home with him that night believe me… not a good match for Kimbo in the slightest.
As for Brandon Vera, his chance in my eyes has slipped. Randy was beatable, his muy thai kicks were crushing and he could’ve won convincingly when they fought but against bones, i cannot see jones getting beat, the guy is HUNGRY, especially after hamil decision loss and Vera’s gonna get the tail end of that storm!!!!!!
Kimbo vs Shogun as a warm up for Machida.
Good call on those 2 matchups Jcohl. I think Mitrione or Crocop would be great fights with Kimbo. (although I think Crocop would prove a better challenge to Kimbo’s chin)
I have a bit of a bone to pick with UFC scheduling events on Versus Network and Spike as it relates to Canadian cable providers. Hopefully some other Canadians on these forums with the same issue can relate to this.
With the TV world rapidly moving towards the HD era, there is no HD version of Spike here and no access to Versus at all. MMA (specifically UFC) is just as popular in Canada as the US and it only hurts the UFC when people can’t watch events or can’t watch them in HD. With most of the HD televisions these days, standard definition is bloody terrible to watch.
I really hope that the UFC starts thinking of ways to get free programming onto HD and available to watch in all of their major markets and not just the US. If the wave of the future in MMA becoming mainstream is going to involve moving away from PPV, then hopefully they will start looking at these issues. Rant over ;)
-Note- Sportsnet picks up most of the Spike broadcasts in HD but they are on at weird times and not always at the same time of the event. There is no access to Versus network here at all that I know of…
Spike does have an HD channel, if you local Satellite/Cable provider carries Spike, but not SpikeHD, that is not the fault of the UFC. You should call your provider and ask that they add SpikeHD. Also, look to see if another provider might carry SpikeHD.
Jones will beat Vera. Vera was very unlucky to lose to Couture. I think Jones vs. Vera will be a great stand up fight but Jones will win ground & pound. Kimbo in the heavyweights will be better than light heavyweights. Kimbo vs. who though?
I think vera has good enough bjj and grappeling skills to have the advantage if it goes to the ground. Jbj’s best chance is to keep it standing.
This is a good card to put Kimbo on. He’s not good enough to be PPV main card material, and he’ll bring vieweres to UFC’s first Versus show. I believe that if he wins this one then they’ll want to put him at the start of a PPV main card next, and if he loses, he’ll stay on Spike/Versus cards and bring in the viewers.
So is the UFC doing this Versus business in an effort to strong-arm DirecTV based on the ratings it will draw? Why Versus?
I was thinking about someone from the ultimate fighter. Mabec a rematch with Roy Nelson or someone else from the show. If that doesn’t work, I think the UFC should bring in some “low class fighters” to fight Kimbo.
We all want Kimbo to win again, but lets face it there is no one else that he would be able to win against in the HW division. Hes a big dude but he isnt big enough to be in the division he is in and i don’t think he would be willing to drop well earned muscle mass to compete as a light heavyweight. The only reason he is in the UFC is because he brings in a load of money for Dana. I like the guy I jut st dont think he could make it as a HW.
Kimbo will be in the UFC as long as he pulls ratings…..it doesnt matter how many fights he loses if he continues to draw five or six million homes to VS or Spike or PPV for each of his fights dana will have him in there till hes old enough to draw social security.
Dana should go find that cop Gannon Kimbo lost to in the video floating around and set up a grudge match.Guy seemed to take a punch pretty well…..read he did some small mma shows before and after that video with little sucess.Maybe he would be good for kimbo in a ppv setting if kimbo was to make it that far.
Dana already did that with Sean Gannon and Gannon got KO’d in the first round by Brandon Lee Hinkle @ UFC 55