Depending on how you look at Kimbo Slice’s career, starting out as a YouTube phenomenon and then becoming an MMA fighter, you could say he is a star. He has made people notice the MMA and UFC. He was the rage of the Internet and was discovered on the Internet. He became an overnight star and part of UFC. After a major disappointing loss he was no longer taken seriously. Whether that assessment of Kimbo Slice is fair or not, because he won other fights, I cannot say.
Kimbo Slice is just a star. In fact, I would call Kimbo Slice an entertainer, an overpaid entertainer. Should he be in MMA matches? That I can’t say. I can tell you he has drawn a lot of attention and made his sport a spectacle and not necessarily in a bad way. If you ask Dana White, President of the UFC Kimbo Slice doesn’t have what it takes and he’s all mouth. If you ask me Dana White was referring to himself. These are people in a position that are entertainers. Reminds me of wrestling. Everyone chitter chatters to drum up the hype and in less than 10 minutes the spectacle is over.
Kimbo Slice is now seen as a celebrity. He’s not a celebrity for his MMA abilities. He is a celebrity for putting himself out there and being seen. His MMA abilities are still questioned and ridiculed. I personally don’t know enough about the sport to give you an educated guess as to the man’s power and ability or lack there of. He has found fame on the internet. He has found fame by being a people person. He has found fame by telling his story of being homeless and still winding up on top. He has found his fortune by entertaining and performing in the UFC. He has earned $500,000 for his matches and events.
I don’t know if Kimbo Slice should make so much money for his bouts but I can tell you they should be paying him that to bring MMA and UFC to stardom. Kimbo Slice seems to be the name that is associated with UFC and MMA. Why? Probably because Kimbo Slice has the brains to market himself. He is spreading the word which is also spreading by people hearing and seeing him.
Although Dana White “disses” Kimbo Slice, he does it for controversy and to make more people watch. Neither are fools. Kimbo Slice knows it is all for show. He knows that is what has helped him reach the level of stardom he is at now. In today’s society, if Kimbo Slice thought he was being defamed the lawyers would come running to help with their hands out.
2008 turned into the biggest year for MMA and UFC. Partly because of Kimbo Slice, partly because of CBS. MMA is now taken seriously as a sport and the participants are considered athletes. This year has proved triumphant for the sport.
