While helping build the hype for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show set to debut in September, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson spoke to Spike TV about the opportunity of fighting for the UFC.

"It means a lot to me to be part of the UFC. It's a chance to become the ultimate fighter. The UFC is as big as it gets," Kimbo said.

While preparing to answer his next question, fellow TUF 10: Heavyweights contender Wes Sims came into the scene to jokingly ask Kimbo for an autograph, perhaps dispelling some of the rumors floating around about the two of them.

Kimbo went on to add, "I still have a lot of things to learn to become a mixed martial artist, but there are a few things I can do in the meanwhile to survive in a fight. My stand up game is still improving."

"The heavyweight competition is tough," Kimbo continued. "There are a lot of big guys that can go to the ground. And with guys their size, they can be dangerous."

Kimbo also humbly admitted that the man he was two years ago wouldn't stand a chance inside the octagon. "A guy coming into this thing with my caliber while I was street fighting would get smashed. You gotta have a feel for so many different things in this sport. It's kinda like a science."

Kimbo also spoke to what his motivation is when it comes to his fight career. "My biggest motivation is the opportunity. And to make tons of money."

At least we know there's still part of the old Kimbo Slice left inside him.

You can see Kimbo, Sims and the rest of the cast for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: Heavyweights when the show makes its premiere September 16th on Spike TV.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will likely host two major events in November. One on Spike TV and one on pay-per-view on back-to-back weekends.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently updated its online calendar, showing the UFC had formally requested a November 21 event date at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Additionally, multiple sources have told the Vegas event, UFC 106, will likely follow a November 14 UFC 105 event, a show expected to take place in the UK, possibly Manchester, that would air on Spike TV.

UFC 105 would air on free basic cable and help promote the following week's pay-per-view offering.

No fights rumored of official are set for either card, though UFC 105 will likely be heavy on European talent and could feature in the main event British fighter Michael Bisping as well as recent The Ultimate Fighter 9 winners Ross Pearson and James Wilks. Bisping is slated to fight Dan Henderson next month at UFC 100. UFC President Dana White has hinted that Bisping could earn a title shot with current champion Anderson Silva if he defeats Henderson.

Although far from official, a Silva vs. Bisping UFC 105 headliner on basic cable could surely be a ratings hit and be a major draw for UK fans.

The back-to-back November cards would then be followed just two weeks later by The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, which concludes the currently in-production heavyweights-only season of the UFC's reality series. TUF 10 features notables such as Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and Roy Nelson and NFL veteran Marcus Jones, and the finale takes place in Las Vegas at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort on December 5.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's journey from YouTube sensation to CBS main event fighter was well publicized, and even though his career as a professional MMA fighter has been short and problematic, you had to expect others to follow in his footsteps.

Dhafir Harris, a childhood acquaintance of Ferguson and a reported member of his entourage at one time, began promoting backyard fights in the Miami suburb of Perrine where both he and Ferguson grew up. The fights were haled as no-rules, bare-knuckle affairs and were not sanctioned for obvious reasons. With no protective equipment or medical staff on hand, the fighters at these types of events knowingly place themselves in danger. Most say it's for pride, while others just need the money.

Harris' promotion may have already come to an end, but even if that's the case, it would be pretty naive to think that others like it haven't already sprouted under similar circumstances. Rakontur, a film company that specializes in producing edgy, compelling documentaries, spent some time filming Harris' fights last year and confirmed via email that they plan to create a full-length feature documentary on the subject.

Fans and members of the MMA community fear that exposure for backyard fighting will undo much of the work that MMA has done to repair the image created by its early years. Some worry that by depicting a bloody, unregulated style of fighting complete with bloodthirsty spectators, the anti-MMA crowd will gain additional ammo.

Read what MMA fans are saying at themmaspace.com

In reality, it's not very hard to explain the differences between the fighting that is depicted in Dawg Fight and the legitimate sport of MMA in its modern, sanctioned form. Anyone who tries to make a direct comparison is probably so bitterly opposed to the sport of MMA that nothing could change their mind anyway. Instead, I think Dawg Fight is going to address some incredibly interesting social dynamics. No, it's not the future of MMA, but Kimbo Slice may not be the last fighter to rise from similar beginnings and make a name for himself.

Here's a link to the trailer for Dawg Fight. Take a look and leave your comments here.

Picture: Dhafir Harris aka DADA5000

Source: examiner.com

The Nassau Guardian recently caught up with street fighting sensation Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who touched on a number of subjects including Ken Shamrock getting injured before their May 31 fight, his current status in MMA and a possible transition to professional boxing. Kimbo Slice last fought in October 2008 at EliteXC: Heat, where he was defeated by replacement fighter Seth Petruzelli. Kimbo Slice's loss on EliteXC's October event was believed to be the nail in the coffin for the promotion, which has since drastically scaled back its operations.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

On Ken Shamrock getting injured before their fight:

"In some cases, if you are too far advanced in promoting a MMA fight, anything can happen to the fighter. A fighter can get an injury, causing him to pull out of the fight; like Shamrock [MMA fighter Ken Shamrock] getting a cut above his eye and backing out at the last minute. That left me having to fight an opponent who I knew nothing about. If the fight is called off then it would mean bad business for that promoter and that also affected me," said Ferguson.

On possible move to boxing:

"Boxing is really my first desire. I have a lot of love for it and believe I can do pretty well. [The sport of] MMA is somewhat of a project for me. Boxing is one dimensional while there are a lot of dimensions in MMA. I don't think it would be a hard transition from MMA to stand-up boxing because of my fighting style," noted Slice.

"Out of no disrespect to my country, seeing as I am there [United States] and already established a relationship in the fighting world, I would have to continue that until I get officially set up. Furthermore, I have two more MMA fights scheduled before this year is out. Every fighter and athlete knows that you should not switch camps in the middle of something. Also, I train in Florida. My MMA trainer will also be training me for stand up boxing. Finishing up my contract would allow me to be a free agent," he said.

On transition from MMA to boxing:

"Not taking anything away from boxing preparation, MMA training is extremely hard," said Ferguson. "When you consider martial arts training, you have to prepare for kicks to the head and legs, and opponents wanting to grapple and throwing you to the ground, pounding you with their knees and hands, whereas in boxing you just have to be prepared to weave and bob although the training can be just as intense. At this point in my career, I want to take that same drive and focus that I invested in MMA and put that into training for pro-boxing cards."

On current MMA status:

"The last two fights that I have left in MMA don't have set dates," he said. "Everything normally gets set up six to eight weeks prior to the fight. Nearer to that point I would be told the particulars like who my opponent is and where the fight would be. With boxing, you can have a fight on Monday and if you are well you can have another fight the following week. Before the month is out, you would have already fought on several cards. In MMA, whether you are well or not, there is a six-week waiting period before you can engage in any other battle."

MMANews.com was able to catch up with Ken Shamrock prior to his fight this weekend at the WarGod's and KSP St. Valentine's Day Massacre show on Feb 13th in Fresno, CA and when the topic of Frank Shamrock, his adoptive brother, came up, Ken was not to pleased about the way things have turned out for their proposed match up.

"Frank's been talking about fighting me forever. Every time it comes down to fighting me though, he backs out. From early on I was very skeptical about fighting him because all he does is get all the press he possibly can out of fighting me - doing interviews and getting time on TV and stuff - and then when it comes time to fight he doesn't. This is the fourth time he's back out of a fight with me. It's the same thing with Kimbo Slice. He wants none of me because he knows he'll get his ass kicked."

When asked about Frank recently stating that Ken was the one who didn't want to fight, the UFC Hall of Famer had the following reply:

"Dude, I've given that many interviews about this and not one time have I ever said I didn't want the fight. He is the only one that ever brings anything up about not fighting. Every single time this is what happens and I keep telling people that. You've never heard me say I don't want to fight Frank. He will always come up with an excuse to not fight me. He did it with Wanderlei Silva, he did it with Sakuraba, and he did it with Rickson Gracie. He challenges people to fight because he wants the press and people to cover him but when it comes down to fighting he always finds a way out of it."

Frank will be fighting April 11th against Nick Diaz for Strikeforce on Showtime and Ken was surprised to see that fight happen when they had been planning a fight.

"Tell me this; I was supposed to fight Frank. Who is he fighting now? He's fighting a 155lb Nick Diaz instead of me because he is telling people I was having personal problems. He's a chump, he's a poser, and he's a punk. He needs to either get in there with me and fight or he needs to shut up."


"Frank wants attention. He wants people to think he is a legend. He wants people to call him a legend. No one ever called him a legend. He started calling himself a legend, he gave himself that name. He'd an idiot. He tries to get people to buy into him. For so long people have been trying to get him to fight somebody credible and he won't fight them."

Shamrock is not getting any younger and there will come a point where Ken's body may not have the go it used to. He wants the fight with his brother but it seems to be just getting tiresome for him at this point.

"I'm tired of talking about it. Every time I do Frank uses it to get media attention. I say this over and over again, I want the fight but it won't happen because Frank will make an excuse when it's time to fight for it not to happen. If he comes to me again with the fight what am I suppose to do? This is four times now. What are people going to think? I want the fight. If he walked in front of me today I'd punch a hole in his head because he's a poser and a fake. He's a chicken."

Ken also says that this is the most personal the fight has ever been due to the fact Frank won't go and visit there dying father, Bob.

"My father is lying in a bed dying. My father went to prison when Frank was in there and would help him out and took care of him while he was in prison. When Frank got out he took him in and asked him me to take care of him. I put him up in my house. My father took care of him and I trained him. I got him fights, I took him to Japan, I got him to where he needed to be and then he walked out on us. My father is dying in a hospital bed and has asked Frank to go see him numerous times and he doesn't go see him. He's supposed to be his son. I want to put Frank in a hospital bed. He's been doing this for years and I'm just tired of it. I'm sick of him talking. He's a pussy. He needs to put up or shut up."

Whether in happens in a ring or cage has been the question for many MMA fans out there, but with all the bad blood and heat between these two, it could happen elsewhere.

"I won't wait, because eventually I'm going to run in Frank. End of story."

Source: MMANews.com

Eight-time world boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. is moving into mixed martial arts, albeit on the promotional side of things.

His Square Ring Promotions will put on "March Badness", a mixed boxing/MMA card on March 21 at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. A light heavyweight boxing match between Jones (52-5) and Omar Sheika (27-8) will be the main event, Jones said at a news conference Wednesday at the venue, where the show will be broadcast live on pay-per-view for a price tag of $29.95.

In an interview, Jones said he decided to test the waters of MMA promotions "because I respect all kinds of fighters. People are always saying, 'Boxing this, MMA that.' But both of those are hand-to-hand combat man-to-man. Anyone who will fight another man straight up like that, I got nothing but the utmost respect for."

"So to cure the stigma that we don't like MMA or that we're against it, to prove my point, I'm going to start promoting them too," Jones said. "And they have a huge fan base too. They love fighting. Boxing. Ultimate fighting. It's all still fighting."

Jones said he does not understand the boxing-versus-MMA mentality.

"Why do people keep trying to pull us apart?" he asked. "Why not come together and make for an even bigger situation and make it better for both sports? MMA has something that boxing doesn't have, which boxing needs to acknowledge."

Jones said he believes the audience is there for a promotion combining boxing matches with MMA fights.

"I know there is because a lot of times, the only time people get disappointed in MMA cards is when they don't give them enough rounds," he said. "In boxing, you always get enough rounds or a little more than you really want. So how about mixing the two and make it good for everybody? You get enough rounds, plus you get enough action too."

Jones said the boxing skills of several MMA fighters are good enough for them to compete against professional boxers.

"Some of them can," he said. "But you have to remember, not all of them have a boxing background. But boxing is only one of the components that make up MMA. You have to be good at at least two components: either boxing, either wrestling, or some form of jiu-jitsu or something like that."

One such MMA fighter whose boxing skills Jones respects is UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, who has said he would like to fight with Jones.

Jones said he would relish the fight.

"That would be a wonderful fight," he said. "He is a good fighter and a good boxer and he's quick and he's tall and he's left-handed. So he's the kind of guy that really, in boxing, creates a problem for me."

Jones said the UFC should allow Silva to fight him.

"They won't, but why not allow us to come together?" Jones asked. "That's a fight the people would like to see."

Jones said the "March Badness" undercard will feature three MMA bouts: Seth Petruzelli (10-4-0) vs. former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Doug Marshall (9-3-0) in a light heavyweight fight, Roy Nelson (13-3-0) vs. Jeff Monson (27-8-0) in a heavyweight fight and former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley against an as-yet unnamed opponent. Petruzelli will be fighting for the first time since his spectacular 14-second TKO victory against Kimbo Slice at Elite XC: Heat last October 4.

In another boxing match on the card, IBF No. 2-ranked cruiserweight BJ Flores (22-0-1) will fight another as-yet unnamed opponent.

K-1 World GP 2008 Final took place a little earlier this Saturday at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

It was an enjoyable event, filled with nonstop action. Unfortunately, it was marred by a bizarre and unsatisfying ending.

Yes, a bizarre and unsatifying ending. It was happen when Badr Hari pulled Remy Bonjasky to the ground in Round 2 and continued to pummel Bonjasky and even tried to stomp on his face.

It was truly shocking, especially seeing as he might of cost himself the whole tournament. Hari was given a yellow card for his "insanity" and fined 10% of his purse.

Bonjasky was given 5 minutes to recover but was still seeing double after the time elapsed. So, the referee called the match and disqualified Hari for his actions and talkabout a disappointing ending to an otherwise great event.

When all was said and done, Bonjasky was crowned the K-1 World GP Champion for a third time in his career.

This event also featured EliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice as guest commentator.

Here are the official results for K-1 World GP 2008 Final:

• Opening Fight #1: Taisei Ko (Japan/Kyokushin Kaikan) def. TAKERU (Japan/Seido Kaikan) by unanimous decision

• Opening Fight #2: Mitsugu Noda (Japan/Silver Ax) def. Tsutomu Takahagi (Japan/Team Dragon) by KO at 2:49 of Round 2

• Fight #1: K-1 World GP 2008 Quarterfinal #1: Badr Hari (Morocco/Show Time) def. Peter Aerts (Holland/Team Aerts) by TKO at 1:39 of Round 2

• Fight #2: K-1 World GP 2008 Quarterfinal #2: Errol Zimmerman (Suriname/Golden Glory) def. Ewerton Teixeira (Brazil/Kyokushin Kaikan) by split decision

• Fight #3: K-1 World GP 2008 Quarterfinal #3: Gokhan Saki (Turkey/Team Rebel) def. Ruslan Karaev (Russia) by unanimous decision

• Fight #4: K-1 World GP 2008 Quarterfinal #4: Remy Bonjasky (Holland/Team Bonjasky) def. Jerome LeBanner (France/LeBanner Xtream Team) by TKO at 1:46 of Round 3

• Fight #5: Reserve Fight #1: Ray Sefo (New Zealand/Ray Sefo Fight Academy) def. Choi Hong-man (Republic of Korea) by unanimous decision

• Fight #6: Reserve Fight #2: Melvin Manhoef (Holland/Mike's Gym) def. Paul Slowinski (Australia/Team Mr. Perfect) by Ko at 2:26 of Round 1

• Fight #7: K-1 World GP 2008 Semifinal #1: Badr Hari (Morocco/Show Time) def. Errol Zimmerman (Suriname/Golden Glory) by KO at 2:15 of Round 3

• Fight #8: K-1 World GP 2008 Semifinal #2: Remy Bonjasky (Holland/Team Bonjasky) def. Gokhan Saki (Turkey/Team Rebel) by KO at 0:53 or Round 2

• Fight #9: K-1 World GP 2008 Final: Remy Bonjasky (Holland/Team Bonjasky) def. Badr Hari (Morocco/Show Time) by disqualification at 0:53 of Round 2

Many sources reported that Brett "The Grim" Rogers has been contacted by Affliction regarding a possible bout with Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett (picture) on January 24 "Day of Reckoning" card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Rogers is most known for his three impressive wins in the -- now bankrupt promotion -- EliteXC as well as calling out Kimbo Slice at a post-fight press conference.

Many believed that Rogers was next in line to fight Kimbo Slice if Slice had beaten Seth Petruzelli. Instead Rogers finds himself looking for another promotion to work with.

Barnett currently has no opponents for "Day of Reckoning" after being pulled out of the main event when Fedor Emelianenko returned to the card.

According to an SEC filing (a public companies' financial statement or other formal document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission) by ProElite, Inc. on Thursday, the company is refusing to close its doors without a fight.

On October 31, the company received a notice from Showtime Networks announcing the sale of ProElite assets at a public auction. On November 4, the cable network made an SEC filing announcing the sale and placed ads on several MMA websites advertising it. Showtime's Senior Vice President of Sports and Event Programming, Ken Hershman, also sits on ProElite's board of directors.

In line with a recent letter to fighter managers promising a return in early 2009, ProElite said it would do everything in its power to stay off the auctioning block.

"The Company plans to take all appropriate measures to prevent the sale from occurring," the filing states. "Such measures may include raising additional financing, filing a lawsuit enjoining the sale, filing a bankruptcy petition or negotiating a settlement with Showtime. There can be no assurances that the company will be successful in any of these actions."

According to some sources, ProElite's first tactic may be to sue CBS Networks over gate revenue produced by its third show, "Heat". The embattled company could argue the network forced them into default on a one million dollar loan from Showtime by misrouting the funds from the Sunrise, Florida, show.

A condition of Showtime's loan, dated June 18, said ProElite's assets could be sold or taken over if it did not maintain $550,000 in cash reserves.

"CBS took the gate revenue directly from Miami, and it was contracted to go through ProElite first," a source said. "If that had happened at the time that (Showtime) called in the note, there would have been enough money that they couldn't have called in the note. So there's a legal argument there."

"ProElite's claim would be that they could have raised the money in that time, but once Showtime called in that note, publicly, it ruined any chances of raising money."

An SEC filing on December 9 detailed an agreement between CBS and ProElite where CBS would cover all costs associated with the show, and "receive" all revenue from the event, though details on how that would occur were not specified.

The question now is whether ProElite can afford to go to battle with CBS in a civil court.

Requests to CBS and ProElite representatives asking for comment were not immediately returned.

The auction, however, could possibly determine the futures of fighters like Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Frank Shamrock, Nick Diaz, Cristiane Santos, Yves Edwards, Wilson Reis and many others.

The Sun Sentinel is reporting an interesting piece of information as they caught up with Kimbo Slice, who was at one of his kid's career days at school. Slice apparently is talking to his agent and considering fighting at K-1 Dynamite!! 2008 which will be held on December 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. His opponent would be none other than Seth Petruzelli.

The October 4th main event between Kimbo Slice and Petruzelli would always be known as the final nail in the coffin for ProElite, but now Slice may get his only chance to avenge his 14 second loss to Petruzelli.

Here's what the Sun Sentinel is saying:
"He may fight on the DREAM K-1 New Year's Eve show in Japan, possibly a rematch with Petruzelli."

UFC has an open challenge of sorts for Kimbo Slice to join "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV.

To discredit Slice's mixed martial arts abilities, UFC President Dana White said he'd be willing to bring back heavyweight to the show.

"I don't consider him (Slice) a real athlete or anything," White said at the UFC 90 post-fight conference, in a video courtesy of AOL Fanhouse. "He won't win 'The Ultimate Fighter'. The offer is out there if he wants to take it. He won't win it."

But Slice fighting for the UFC -- and especially as a cast member for "The Ultimate Fighter" -- is not likely to happen.

Between fighting for a boss who has insulted him at every opportunity, Slice stands to earn bigger bucks as a headliner elsewhere. Another possibility is Japan, where there's a fascination with black athletes with an intimidating look. Bob Sapp anyone?

The organization, whose last show featured a 14-second fight, calls it quits after losing $55 million.

It looks like Elite XC, the upstart mixed martial arts organization featuring Kimbo Slice, is down for the count.

ProElite, Inc., Elite XC's Los Angeles-based parent company, plans to file for bankruptcy, said T. Jay Thompson, an Elite XC executive consultant, whose Hawaii-based MMA organization was purchased by ProElite last year.

Elite XC has also informed fighters, office staff and others of immediate layoffs and has canceled fight dates, including a Nov. 8 card in Reno, Thompson said.

In an SEC filing Tuesday, ProElite said that Showtime Networks said it was in violation of a debt covenant because the MMA firm doesn't have enough cash on hand. ProElite has reported $55 million in net losses since January 2007, according to SEC filings.

Several ProElite executives declined to comment Tuesday.

"If I had to point fingers why this thing went bad, I'd have trouble, because I only have two hands," said Thompson.

ProElite, which opened two years ago, appointed boxing promoter Gary Shaw as president and he designated his son, Jared Shaw -- known by the nickname "$kala" -- a key executive with matchmaking powers.

Gary Shaw, who saw his role change from president to consultant this year, said Tuesday he "wasn't even a consultant anymore. I have no comment. I don't know anything about it. I don't know if they're done."

In another SEC filing, Pro- Elite acknowledged significant deficiencies in how it was operated, including wasteful spending by management and a finding that contracts it entered into were not adequately reviewed.

Thompson said he believes the company's fate was sealed when Slice, its biggest star, was knocked out in 14 seconds of the main event of a CBS show Oct. 4.

Slice was supposed to fight MMA veteran Ken Shamrock. Instead, a late injury replacement, Seth Petruzelli, was put into the cage. Petruzelli alleged in a later radio interview that Elite XC promoters told him he'd earn extra money by fighting a stand-up style that favored Slice's strength as a street fighter. A Florida commission is now investigating that claim.

Meanwhile, instead of gaining an investment by Showtime Networks that ProElite officials had said was vital for its survival, Showtime sent ProElite a default notice for $6.3 million last week, according to an SEC filing. "ProElite officials have advised us that they will not be able to put on the EliteXC event scheduled for exhibition on Showtime on Nov. 8," Showtime spokesman Chris DiBlasio said in a statement. "In view of Showtime's leadership role in sports programming, including boxing and mixed martial arts, we intend to explore other opportunities."

Thompson railed at what he called a cycle of wasted money by ProElite officials. Pro Elite would over-staff its fight cards with employees, bringing in "35 people who were running around, quite comically" at shows, he said. "It was mind boggling."

Earlier this year, in San Jose, a Pro Elite card generated a live gate of $1.2 million. Thompson, with 15 years of fight-promotion experience, said he advised ProElite officials to bring only a few employees north to maximize profits. Instead, he said, 23 employees worked the event.

A few Elite XC fighters, including champion Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz, may land at the top MMA organization, Ultimate Fighting Championship.

But Elite XC stars Slice and female fighter Gina Carano probably will have to look for fights elsewhere.

UFC President Dana White was not available for comment. But White's spokeswoman said he has previously insisted he wasn't interested in adding Slice to his stable of fighters because he didn't want to diminish the sport as "a freak show."

Carano's publicist did not return messages left for her, but the unbeaten female fighter, who has also performed as "Crush" on NBC's "American Gladiators," appears headed for a second-tier organization if she continues in MMA.

UFC's White has said that there isn't enough of a talent pool to start a women's fight league.

From day one of Elite XC's existence, White predicted a doomed effort.

"No one in that business has a clue how to do MMA," he said in December 2006. "These guys don't know the difference between MMA and thumb wrestling."

Taken from: http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-mma22-2008oct22,0,2976847.story

It's safe to say EliteXC will return for a second show on CBS.

The main event between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson, though highly criticized for its poor representation of mixed martial arts, drew in an average of 6.12 million viewers in the final 51 minutes of the program.

From 11:30-11:51pm ET/PT, the program peaked with 6.51 million viewers.

The Nielsen live plus same day ratings were updated today to include the final 51 minutes (11:00-11:51pm ET/PT) that went over the scheduled 2-hour slot (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT).

With the inclusion of the additional 51 minutes, the ratings for the CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights event improved to a 3.0/06 rating with 4.85 million viewers. The first two hours gave CBS the lead when it came to the adults and males, and the runner-up spot in households and viewers.

Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice has emerged as one of mixed martial arts' highest profile athletes and most controversial figures. His quick rise to MMA stardom from street fighter to main event status has been received with varying results within the MMA community.

One of the biggest critics of marketing Kimbo Slice to a mainstream audience by having him headline an MMA event has been UFC President Dana White.

"To have CBS, a big network like that, move forward with a guy like Kimbo Slice headlining it, I mean there's no secret, that's what I tried to stay away from," said the outspoken UFC figurehead. "Kimbo Slice isn't a mixed martial artist. This guy was fighting in your backyard three months ago, and now he's going to be headlining on CBS. Personally I think it sucks."

Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk shares White's opinion. "To be honest with you, I wasn't crazy about the idea," said the nine-year professional mixed martial artist.

"I think if you're going to headline a main event, a mainstream thing like that, you should have the credentials to follow it. You know? I would have liked to have seen a more established fighter, somebody who maybe would represent the sport a little better, because if you're tuning into CBS for the first time and you catch this street fighter guy on television, I think that's going to give us a bad name. And I think it sets us back a couple of steps."

But not everyone in the industry has the same opinion of Kimbo Slice as White and Sherk. UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn is a fan of Ferguson.

"I'm a street fighter. I love street fighters. You know what I mean? Me, I'm a Kimbo Slice fan," stated the Hawaiian fighter. "I'm a street fighter. That's where I draw my thing from. I don't draw my fights from athletics or from sports… I used to fight, so me, I'm a Kimbo Slice fan. I like fighting. For me, I'm a street fighter. I like that kind of stuff."

Former UFC heavyweight champion and Pride veteran Josh Barnett agrees with Penn. "I'm a fan. I like him. I think he's good for the sport, and I think he's got potential and shows it in every fight. I think he trains hard and wants to expand his repertoire of techniques and strategies, everything. I think he's really taking the routes to becoming a full-on pro fighter," Barnett told MMAWeekly Radio.

"He certainly has gameness, if anyone has seen his fights on YouTube. He's the kind of person to go out there, bare-knuckle against some totally unknown guy and be like, hey, let's scrap right here, right now. And that takes the right kind of mindset to get out there in front of everybody and fight.

"I can understand where hardcore people would get upset because it could present the image that a street fighter could just walk right on in and beat top level MMA guys," explained the Seattle born fighter. "Although, Tank (Abbott), I'm sure he wouldn't even disagree that his best years are behind him. Bo Cantrell was never a top fighter, and Ray Mercer was a boxer, but went out there, scrapped it up with him and got taken down. He ended up getting a front-choke of all things. That shows that he's thinking like an MMA guy, not just a street brawler or straight-up boxer.

"I think he's sort of an exception when it comes to street fighters. I don't think he's the kind of guy you pick off of like Felony Fights, or you see tussling with some frat boys at a bar," Barnett concluded. "This guy is big, powerful. He's clearly an athlete, and he's got the kind of training and experience that you just don't find in some street fighter. He beats up all the other street fighter guys pretty handily, and the one guy that beat him had a background in wrestling and MMA training... I don't think you can just casually treat it as if it's just some street fighter."

Former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Tito Ortiz publicly criticized Ferguson in the past, but retracted those previous statements to MMAWeekly.com. "When he first came in, I said some things about him. I said he wouldn't last with anybody because he hadn't put in the hard work and hard training. Now it seems like he's focused.

"I kind of have to take back a few things I've said about Kimbo," commented Ortiz. "He was a young guy coming in. I watched some of his street fights on Youtube. I saw him as strictly a street fight guy. He had no technique or anything. I'm going to take back a few of my words.

"I watched his last fight and he's starting to be a well-trained athlete. He's actually putting in the hard work it takes to be a fighter. The way he dismantled Tank Abbott, oh my God, I was like that is very impressive. His punches were crisp and looked sharp. He's actually putting in the hard work."

Love him or hate him, as the CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights nears, everyone is talking about Kimbo Slice.