Kimbo Slice: The Personification of the American Dream

Kimbo Slice: The Personification of the American Dream

By James Lee

On the eleventh anniversary of Kimbo Slice’s first professional loss to Seth Petruzelli, his legacy in the sport is still remembered. It forever will be and forever should be.

The outcome of the fight ended in Kimbo being finished in just fourteen seconds and was the last event in the EliteXC promotion’s short history. Controversy has surrounded the event since with suggestions of fight-fixing.

However, regardless of that specific incident on October 4th, Kimbo’s lasting legacy in the sport should be as a legend.

Traditional martial artists might disagree with that statement as his initial street fighting didn’t represent pure martial arts, but the eyes he put on the sport for a decade cannot go unnoticed.

Kimbo Slice was one of the very first few examples of an internet sensation. Everybody had seen his street fighting videos on YouTube and that earned him the big reputation that allowed him to pursue an MMA career that fans were interested in.

Kimbo didn’t represent the average fighter who debuted on a local event. He represented a street fighter who fought for money as a way of providing for his family. Slice brought hundreds of thousands of eyes to the sport when he initially participated and the accumulation of wins over Tank Abbott and James Thompson during his time in EliteXC saw him become one of the biggest draws in the sport at the time with little experience.

His EliteXC stint persuaded Dana White to put him on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 reality show. The season had some of the best ratings in the history of the programme and although he lost to Roy Nelson in his preliminary fight, he put up a solid performance against a veteran and earned himself the chance to go on to compete twice for the organisation.

Kimbo then tried a professional boxing career where he won all seven of his bouts before returning back to MMA to fight for Bellator twice against Ken Shamrock and rival Dada 5000 before he passed away in June 2016.

Kimbo’s legacy can be seen by the dramatic impact his death had on the martial arts world. The messages of support his family received after his death was a tribute to how inspirational Kimbo was to everyone involved in combat sports and those outside found inspiration from a man becoming wealthy from very little opportunities.

His story is that of a modern American dream. From rags to riches. From fighting on the streets to fighting in front of millions. A man who achieved a life of comfort for his children through his unorthodox, but successful actions.

With a biographical film in the making about his life, Kimbo should never be forgotten. A true combat sports success story that will forever have a part in the history of growing the sport.