James
Kimbo Slice gained his notoriety on youtube in a series of street fights.
Opponent after opponent was dealt a beating, one nearly even losing an eye, at the heavy hands of Kimbo Slice.
Kimbo, real name Kevin Ferguson, made the transition to mma(mixed martial arts) last year under the guidance of mma pioneer, Bas Rutten.
Kimbo's fought 2 mma fights in EliteXC to date: his heavyweight debut against Bo Cantrell on 10th Nov. 2007 and this February he fought and knocked out veteran brawler Tank Abbott.
Kimbo's total time in the ring or cage as we should call it, has been 1:07. You could put this down to the calibre of his opponents, but he's clearly been the better fighter.
Kimbo's destruction of Tank was raw aggression. He looked in good shape and had good movement. His punches found their mark on a rather stationary opponent.
No doubt that training with Bas is gruelling, and he has looked in very good shape for a so-called "street fighter".
His camp is bringing him along at a decent pace for a rookie fighter.
There are questions in his game: stamina, groundwork and ability to take a punch, as neither of his opponents has really tested him.
However, you could put that down to Kimbo; you can only fight as good as your opponent will allow you.
He is an intimidating prescence and is seemingly fearless.
All in all, Kimbo has shown dedication in training and respect to fighters in mma. Not bad for a "street thug".
Kimbo's opponent for CBS Saturday Night Fights EliteXC main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on May 31, is James "The Colossus"/Megapunk" Thompson.
James, a goliath of a man standing 6' 5" and around 264 pounds (Sherdog Fight Finder) has had a bad run of form as of late.
James has been fighting professionally since 2003 and has amassed a record of 14-8.
In his last 8 fights he has gone 2-6. It seems as though if James goes into the fight as the underdog, he comes out on top.
Such was the case when he battered Hidehiko Yoshida and veteran hardnut, Don Frye.
A 43-second "KO loss" to Eric "Butterbean" Esch had critics speculating a glass jaw.
Despite believing it was a "slip", the loss did James no favours as he would go on to lose his last two fights by way of KO in 0:10 seconds and 2:24 respectively.
So, it appears that James is being set up to be knocked out, or at least that's what you might believe if you read some of the hype about this fight on the forums.
When James is on form, he's a force. He overwhelms his opponent with relentless aggression.
He hardly ever take s a backward step and keeps coming til he or his opponent hits the deck.
It's this strategy that has won him an army of fans, but also he's gained his fair share of naysayers.
The fight he had with Japanese fighter Kazayuki Fujita was one turning point in his career.
He came in with an excellent strategy...unfortunately, the ol' gas tank let him down, but it's a testament as to what he's capable of doing....they don't call Fujita "Iron Head" for nothing.
As I stated earlier, Kimbo is still a relative unknown and I'm sure that James will bring out a different side to Kimbo's game, be it clinch, takedown defence or groundwork.
One thing's for sure, Kimbo does pack a punch.
For James to win this, he has to come in with a similar strategy as what he had in his last fight against Brett Rogers.
James clinched and took Rogers down, only to find that Rogers was a bit better than he thought at wrestling and was able to power himself up against the fence.
Training at Xtreme Couture, I'd like to believe that James has the better wrestling going in to the Kimbo fight.
I'll give the stand up to Kimbo.
Everything else I have to give to James.
Prediction:
Thompson.
Second round tko from ground and pound.
