This is not me spamming a website, this is something that I wrote and want to discuss with MMA fan, so fuck off thx.
Pound for Pound: Back on the Streets
Written by Dom Velando
Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Kimbo Slice has more haters than most of us have friends, enemies and family combined. Much of the criticism comes from fans of mixed martial arts, especially those who have patiently waited for the sport to rise from its government-afflicted dark ages and finally attain the undisputed title of "mainstream sport". MMA's network television debut was a major milestone in that quest, but many had envisioned the unveiling of someone like a Georges St. Pierre or an Anderson Silva - an athlete, gentleman and "complete" mixed martial artist. Instead, it was the scary lovechild of Tank Abbott and Mr. T, a former streetfighter and porno studio bodyguard, who ushered in this new era. What some may not realize is that this event isn't quite as ironic as it seems when considering the rise of the Gracies, a family of street fighters who started a revolution when they issued an open challenge to the world almost fifteen years ago...
Helio Gracie
In 1917, legendary fighter Mitsuyo Maeda taught jiu jitsu to Carlos Gracie, an older brother of Helio Gracie. Helio would eventually learn the art and issue open challenges to fighters from all over Brazil to "vale tudo" matches, which loosely means, "anything goes".
Inspired by Gracies in Action , a video series featuring Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighters in various no-holds barred matches, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was unleashed upon the world in 1993. The UFC was essentially a continuation of the Gracies' open challenge to a street fight, and the street fight element of it was heavily marketed. The public reaction to the extreme violence of the UFC resulted in MMA being banned in 37 states by 1997.
Fast-forward about a decade later to the rise of Kevin Ferguson, AKA Kimbo Slice. In a series of videos released on the internet, this 240lb. bogeyman beats the hell out of various opponents in backyards and warehouses. Kimbo's ghetto prize fight vids garnered millions of views and make im something of a legend. Legendary fighter in his own right, Bas Rutten, would eventually befriend and train Kimbo to prepare him for his MMA career. After trouncing three meticulously hand-picked opponents, including Tank Abbott, Kimbo finally found himself tested as a mixed martial artist when he faced PRIDE veteran James Thompson.
Some claim that Kimbo was exposed on the eve of MMA's network debut when he was nearly choked out and suffered over a minute of punishment to his skull. However, Kimbo never gave up and ultimately landed the titanic, blood-gushing punches that everyone had come to expect. He did what he came to do, which was to fight.
The story of today is that MMA is a sophisticated sport driven by professional athletes/martial artists, and there will be plenty of chances for the public to read that particular chapter. But what we saw in Kimbo Slice's last fight summons the spirit of how the story began.
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