Fight Write

Just as the soothsayer said “Beware the Ides of March” to Julius Caesar, someone must have said something very ominous to Dana White: his fighters are dropping like flies. Injuries and ailments (and Hollywood), while commonplace, have plagued the UFC in Fall ‘09 worse than ever before and delayed several high-profile pay-per-views.

On top of that, UFC’s cable cash cow, The Ultimate Fighter, is in it’s 10th season and many will agree that the Heavyweights have not delivered.  The fighters lack good cardio, the fights have not been terribly exciting, and the technical execution has been noticeably sloppy.  On top of that, Rampage’s decision to do the A-Team movie has sucked all the heat out of his on-screen rivalry with Rashad Evans.  We, the viewers, know they won’t get to throw down at UFC 107 as planned due to his shooting schedule and both the show and interviews have shown him to be an uninspired leader.

Enter Kimbo Slice.  Despite his loss to an overrated Roy Nelson in episode 3, the UFC brass have been impressed enough with Kimbo’s improvements (and not to mention, his popularity) to give him a fight against the equally ground-challenged Houston Alexander during TUF 10: Season Finale on December 5.

After BJ Penn defends his belt against Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 in December, all UFC belt holders will be on the shelf with Lesnar and St.-Pierre being some of their biggest PPV draws.  If ever was a time to leverage Kimbo’s popularity to raise awareness of up-and-coming talent to the casual MMA fan, it would be now.  Dana & Co. have already done this with prospect Jon “Bones” Jones fighting on the TUF 10 Finale against TUF vet Matt Hamill (Ed. note: This was unintentional since the Kimbo fight was announced after the proposed Jones vs. Hamill main event, but still fortuitous none the less).  A Kimbo victory over Alexander could validate a 1-2 fight contract with the UFC to help further his popularity.

Depending on the length of the contract, and this is all contingent on Kimbo beating Alexander, having Kimbo fight on a main card will help draw the attention of casual fans as well as the curious hardcore fans who are “on the fence” about buying that month’s PPV.  With the dearth of hot prospects like Cain Velasquez, Anthony Johnson, and Todd Duffee on the rise, Kimbo could give the marketing boost to give them a bigger stage to fight on while the UFC’s champs and fan favorites are sidelined.

Now, critics and fans tend to get very title-shot happy once someone goes on a streak.  Should Kimbo be thrust into a title situation? Absolutely not.  The biggest problem the UFC will have to solve with Kimbo is which weight class he should fight in.  He’s being gifted a catchweight fight at 215 for Alexander, but many question Kimbo’s ability to get down to 205 for Light Heavyweight and if he can hang with the bigger Heavyweights.  Is the UFC in dire straits? Absolutely not, but at 35 years old, Kimbo’s popularity has a finite window to use to it’s advantage.  If Kimbo wins one more, I’d say cash in the chips to invest in other younger fighters’ futures.