So the big news this week was Kimbo Slice fighting Roy Nelson on Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) reality show. The show has had the best ratings in its ten year history with Kimbo drawing in tens of thousands of viewers that probably wouldn’t otherwise be watching the program. The show this week featuring Kimbo’s fight drew a whopping 6.1 million viewers which was a record for any show ever on Spike. 

Honestly, I have never been a big Kimbo fan but in reality that had nothing to do with him. What bothered me was Elite XC taking a guy whose backyard brawls turned him into a YouTube sensation and holding him out to be a top level MMA fighter. Thousands of first time MMA viewers saw Kimbo on ShowTime or CBS and took him to be a top MMA fighter. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Kimbo was nothing more than an unskilled brawler with big drawing power that Elite XC shamelessly exploited.

I believe that many of those first time viewers would have become fans if they really got to see what skilled MMA fights are like, but they probably didn’t become fans because they saw a fight that wasn’t any more skilled or entertaining than what they have seen on the school yard or local bar. However, I can’t really blame Kimbo for that, if I was offered a fat paycheck to fight on TV I would jump at it.  Elite XC was the real culprit and oddly enough they got what they deserved.

When I heard Kimbo was going on The Ultimate Fighter I was pretty impressed. This is a show that is supposed to be for up-and-comers with some raw talent but not a lot of experience. That is the perfect place for Kimbo and he probably had to give up some money to do it. There were at least a couple of promotions vying for his talents that surely would have paid more than the UFC paid for him to be on TUF.

I have also been impressed by Kimbo’s attitude and effort on the show. He showed up in the best shape I have ever seen him and he appears to be extremely coachable. He refers to himself as a “Sponge” just soaking up everything his coaches are teaching him. So it looked like we were going to get to watch Kimbo fight other guy’s with equal talent/experience and see if he has the talent to someday become a top level MMA fighter, which was something I really wanted to see.  

Unfortunately, what we got is Kimbo fighting the former Heavyweight Champion of the International Fight League (IFL) who has a blackbelt in Jiu Jitsu and 17 professional fights. The outcome of that fight was not hard to predict or particularly entertaining.  What I want to know is why that guy is on the show in the first place. Several of these guys have never fought in the cage before, so the reason an experienced fighter like Nelson is in that group completely escapes me.

Well if the clips of upcoming shows are an indication, it looks like we might get another chance to see Kimbo. It looks like Marcus Jones may leave the show due to a bad knee, fever, or some other ailment paving the way for Kimbo to reenter the competition as a substitute. It looks a lot like Jones is really suffering from a sever case or “I-don’t-want-to-fight-itis” But hey, if it gives me another chance to see if Kimbo has the chops to eventually become a top MMA fighter I am all for it. .

It was announced this week that former Vikings running back and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker has signed a contract with the MMA promotion StrikeForce. Walker came to the Vikings in 1989 via the famous, or maybe infamous, trade that saw five Viking players and six Minnesota draft picks going to Dallas.  Unfortunately for the Vikings, Walker never regained the form or glory he achieved in College, the USFL or his fist two years with Dallas. Since retiring from football Walker has tried Olympic Sprinting, Bobsledding, and a stint on Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice.

Walker obviously has world class athletic skills and he has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. However, if he is looking for a hobby or even a second career, he would be better served choosing a sport where a good day for your opponent does not entail you being punched, kicked, or choked into unconsciousness.  

For those of you who are not familiar with StrikeForce it is,  in my opinion, the number two MMA organization in the United States and the only serious competitor to the UFC. StrikeForce has a contract with ShowTime and will air their first Network Televised MMA event on CBS in November. They also have a stable of great fighters including the number one heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko under contract.  

So this makes about as much sense to me as Elite XC making the backyard brawler and YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice their headline fighter and the face of their organization. The first time Slice fought someone who wasn’t hand picked for him to beat, Seth Petruzeli easily knocked him out and Elite XC was forced to close it doors. I love MMA but I was actually glad to see Elite XC go out of business because they were hurting the credibility of the sport by propping up an unqualified fighter as a top level pro.

I don’t like the Walker signing for the same reason. StrikeForce won’t put Walker on the top of the card or anything like that but suggesting that a 47 year old ex football player with no related training can start competing in a top level professional MMA organization takes credibility away from the sport. After all you don’t play for first football or basketball game as a pro. Certainly MMA is not as big or as mature of a sport as basketball or football but there is still a huge difference between guys fighting at the local level and guys in the UFC or StrikeForce. If Walker fights a qualified StrikeForce fighter we will see that very fast, however I doubt that is likely to happen in his first few fights.

I know someone will say, hey Brock Lesnar did it”. The difference is that Brock Lesnar is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Wresting has proven to translate into MMA very well for its value in the cage and also because the training is very similar to MMA in form and intensity. He also trained full time for over a year in Muay Thai and Jiu- Jitsu before his first fight. Tae Kwon Do has not proved to translate to MMA very well at all and will not help Walker much in a cage fight with someone skilled in kick boxing, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu.  As a person who had his first fight at age 41, I certainly respect Walker for trying but he should start at the local level. Then if he turns out to be a phenom, he could move to the National level instead of just letting his celebrity get him there.