RIP Kimbo Slice

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Dr. Zoidberg
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RIP Kimbo Slice

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

MMA fighter Kimbo Slice dead at 42

Popular mixed martial arts fighter Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson has died. He was 42.

Slice was stricken at his South Florida home and taken Monday afternoon to the Northwest Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, a spokeswoman for the Coral Springs, Fla., Police told Yahoo Sports on Monday. He later died.

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed Slice's death in a statement:

"We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family. One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that trancended the sport."

"Outside the cage, he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo's friends, fans, and teammates."

Sgt. Carla Kmiotek of the Coral Springs police told Yahoo Sports no foul play is suspected. She said the department dispatched a team of officers to Slice's home because he is a public figure in order to control whatever crowd might gather.

"At 8 p.m. (ET) we received a call from TMZ," Kmiotek said. "Our communications department confirmed with Northwest Medical that he is there. We did not receive a police or EMS call from the residence. There is no foul play suspected and there is no investigation. It is being handled as a medical incident.

Slice burst into prominence a little more than a decade ago, when videos of his infamous street fights were viewed millions of times on YouTube. He initially signed with Elite XC and drew huge ratings for his fights on CBS.

In 2009, he signed a deal with the UFC to appear on Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter." He was eliminated by Roy Nelson in the opening round, but appeared on the season finale and defeated Houston Alexander. He fought once more in the UFC and was knocked out in the second round of UFC 113 by Matt Mitrione.

Slice fought his last two fights in Bellator and drew huge television ratings for each. He defeated Ken Shamrock at Bellator 138 on June 19, 2015, and Dhafir Harris, aka Dada 5000 at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19. However, Slice tested positive for an anabolic steroid following that fight and the victory was turned to a no contest.

He had been scheduled to rematch James Thompson at Bellator 158 in London on July 16. Slice was 5-2-1 as a professional mixed martial artist. He also had seven pro boxing matches and was 7-0 with six knockouts.

Source: Yahoo

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Dr. Zoidberg
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Re: RIP Kimbo Slice

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

arielhelwaniI: was texting with Kimbo Slice recently. At the end of our conversation he sent me this picture. He was one of my very first interviews and was so very kind to me every step of the way. Can't believe one of the most important and recognizable faces in the history of this great sport is no longer with us. Rest in peace, Ferg. Thank you for everything. You lived the American Dream and did it your way. We will miss you.
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Big Boss Man
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Re: RIP Kimbo Slice

Post by Big Boss Man »

Sad news, always liked him, he had an unorthodox fighting style and was different to the cut and dried usual image of what a MMA fighter should be. He harked back more to the early days of the Toughmanesque contests and showed you didnt have to have years of training and a brazilian jujitsu background to be a fighter. Kimbo was just a tough guy and i would have liked to have seen him around the UFC might longer than he was. Kimbo vs Brock, Kimbo vs Mark Hunt would have been some great exciting fights. RIP Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson :(

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Bandit
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Re: RIP Kimbo Slice

Post by Bandit »

That's incredibly sad. You never heard a bad word about the guy, everything was how nice he was from people who met him or trained with him.

The first time I saw Kimbo was 2006 when I saw this video on Youtube during its early days:



I remember thinking he looked like he should be in Street Fighter or Tekken and that even if he lost every MMA fight he'd still be a star based on his look. I thought PRIDE would want him immediately, but they ended up closing before his career really got started.

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