Kimbo Slice will forever remain one of the most notorious fighters of the 21st Century.
The big-punching 42-year-old’s untimely death has left fight fans around the world stunned.
Real name Kevin Ferguson, he was never the most gifted fighter, he never won a UFC belt or even fought the top MMA heavyweights in their prime.
But fans followed his fights in their millions. He was widely regarded as an MMA ratings king – and 2.5m people tuned in to see his last fight against long-term rival Dada 5000 at Bellator 149 which almost resulted in his opponent’s death.
So why was the Bahamian-American fighter one of the biggest draws in MMA?
You can trace it back to his days as a back yard brawler. He was the first internet fighting star and his street fights were stuff of legend.
Kimbo gained worldwide notoriety on YouTube with his brutal fighting style long before many of today’s internet stars even knew what the word ‘viral’ meant.
But there was one video that catapulted Kimbo from obscurity to the most feared name in bareknuckle boxing almost overnight.
It was a four minute clip of his first back yard scrap against a man named Big D.
Unlicensed, unethical and truly unbelievable to any fight fan who had been brought up on classic Queensbury Rules boxing, it sent shockwaves around the world.
No gloves, few rules and just raw street fighting brutality, Kimbo demolished his heavier opponent in that Florida back yard with the ferocious knock-out power that made him famous, opening up a horrific cut on his eye. That’s where he got the internet moniker ‘Slice’ and soon everyone knew the name of the world’s most notorious street fighter.
The former nightclub bouncer had a number of other back yard fights which spread across the net like wildfire, before he famously lost to Boston police officer Sean Gannon who trained MMA.
It put both men in the spotlight and set Kimbo on course for a high profile career in Mixed Martial Arts.
Slice’s first foray into licenced MMA came with the now-defunct Elite XC – and he tore it up in his first fight, beating former WBO boxing champion Ray Mercer by guillotine choke in an exhibition match.
He went on a three-fight winning stream in Elite XC beating Bo Cantrell, UFC veteran Tank Abbott and James Thompson by submission by strikes, KO and TKO respectively.
He was lined up to fight the legendary Ken Shamrock, who was then replaced by Seth Petruzelli who handed Kimbo his first official loss with a knock out 14 seconds into the first round. He still earned a reported $500,000 for the fight.
The sheer pulling power and notoriety of Kimbo turned the heads of the UFC top brass, and soon he was competing on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights series.
Despite losing his first fight to eventual winner Roy Nelson, it remains one of the highest-viewed TUF series ever.
He did beat Houston Alexander in his debut UFC fight at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale before losing to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 in 2010 after which he was dropped by the promotion.
He launched a boxing career thereafter, notching up a 7-0 winning records with 6 KOs before he was picked up by the Bellator MMA promotion in January 2015.
He was slated to fight James Thompson at Bellator 158 in London on July 16 before it was announced the American Top Team fighter had died.
Controversies aside, Kimbo will always be remembered as a luminary of MMA. A tough-as-nails brawler who never backed down and a self-made man who rose from the street to become one of the cult heroes of the sport
Rest in peace.
