The king of the web brawlers, Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson passed away on Tuesday at age 42, apparently from heart failure, leaving behind a legacy as an MMA fighter, boxer, and bare-knuckle slugger.
In the southwest Miami-Dade County neighborhood of West Perrine, locals regularly gather around a poorly constructed backyard boxing ring to witness young men duke it out in unsanctioned brawls.
There are no gloves, no medical staff, few rules and little-to-no cash up for grabs, yet Florida toughmen continue to sign up in hopes of making a better life for themselves with their bruised fists.
“When the blue tarp goes up, the neighborhood knows it’s going down,” award-winning documentarian Billy Corben told The Roar.
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The Florida-based director, best known for the Cocaine Cowboys series, recently released Dawg Fight, a brutally honest look at the harsh realities of these lawless bare-knuckle fights.
“Americans imprison more of our citizens than any other country in the world,” Corben explained.
“A disproportionate number of those incarcerated are minorities, many of them for non-violent drug-related crimes, and many come from underprivileged communities where people are living at, or below, the poverty line where a very high percentage of the men are criminalised, so they don’t have job opportunities that people without a criminal record would have.
“I think that’s where it begins, and I think the next essential step is having the heart and balls to actually step in the ring inside a backyard.”
Ferguson had both, and quickly became an underground celebrity after signing up for his first unsanctioned brawl in 2003.
The ex-con was a sight to behold. With a muscle-bound frame, smooth cocoa skin, a long-flowing beard and hands the size of sledgehammers, Ferguson looked like a real-life Street Fighter villain.
“Kimbo’s a great American dream story,” Corben continued.
“We love a good story about a man who comes from nothing and is able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become a success. It’s just one of those stories that (are) unmissable – whether it’s Tony Montana in the world of fiction, or something more real and inspiring, Kimbo falls into that category of ‘anything is possible in America’ stories.”
Ferguson was undoubtedly the most popular underground prize fighter on the Miami-Dade circuit, and for years discussed the possibility of ‘going legit’.
Nobody ever mistook the six-foot-two, 110-kilo striker for a great, or even an above-average fighter. He had no takedown defense, his footwork was poor, his cardio was practically nonexistent and he had no proven track record beating fully trained fighters, but managers and promoters were tripping over themselves to sign him up by 2007.
Before he ever had a professional fight, Kimbo had achieved something that few UFC champions and perennial contenders ever have: he made people care.
From his first fight until his last, Ferguson was a television magnet, drawing record-setting ratings in the United States.
The Bahamian-born boxer’s first professional fight came in EliteXC, a short-lived promotion out of Los Angeles. Ferguson faced American journeyman Bo Cantrell in a bout that lasted 19 seconds. Kimbo punched the hard-headed fighter into retirement with one clean shot on the button.
The Florida-based smashing machine fought three more times for the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it promotion – zero featured high-level technique, but all were unabashed success stories, with his May 2008 bout against James Thomson attracting 4.8 million eyeballs, and 4.5 million for his October 2008 loss to Seth Petruzelli.
In 2009, Ferguson signed a deal with the UFC to appear on The Ultimate Fighter, the promotion’s then-popular reality television series.
Ferguson lost in the first round of the heavyweight tournament to ‘Big Country’ Roy Nelson. The fight was taped, and nowhere near competitive, but as always with the YouTube superstar, it was a rating bonanza – peaking with 3.7 million viewers.
The ex-bare-knuckle brawler’s time in the big leagues was short and forgettable. He had two ‘official’ UFC bouts, going 1-1 and competing in one of the worst fights in company history, against Houston Alexander.
The hard-hitting fighter stepped away from mixed martial arts in 2010 following his release from the Nevada-based promotion. He dabbled in some acting, and even tried his luck as a boxer, going 7-0 as a pro.
Ferguson returned to mixed-rules fighting for his final two pro bouts, in Bellator MMA, the second-largest fight promotion in North America with a television show on male-driven US station Spike TV.
The American Top Team-trained fighter defeated past-his-prime UFC legend Ken Shamrock and Dhafir ‘Dada 5000’ Harris – however, Ferguson tested positive for an anabolic steroid following his trainwreck fight against Dada 5000 and the bout was overturned to a no contest.
Ferguson was preparing for a rematch against Thomson – the man he defeated in front of a record-setting audience in 2008 – when he passed away.
“We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in an official press release on Tuesday.
“One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended 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.”
The story of Kimbo Slice isn’t a pretty one. It’s a gritty, blood-soaked tale of a man who, against all odds, built a better life for his family with little more than guts and two brick-sized fists.
Never a great fighter, but forever an important one.
Rest in peace, Kimbo.
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