EliteXC: Kimbo Slice KOs James Thompson

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson stopped James Thompson in the third round to conclude the first mixed martial arts show on prime time network television in American history.

Slice, who until tonight was best known for fighting on YouTube, showed more skill as an MMA fighter -- not just a brawler -- than anyone expected, and the mere fact that it went past the first round was an upset.

But the fight was not without controversy: In the third round, referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight while Slice was battering Thompson's bloodied left ear; CBS announcer Gus Johnson thought the stoppage was premature and I think Johnson was probably right.

Overall, the EliteXC show was a mixed bag. The best fighter on the card, Robbie Lawler, was given all he could handle by Scott Smith, but the fight ended in a no contest when Lawler accidentally poked Smith in the eye in the third round and the doctor said Smith couldn't continue. Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young put on a fairly entertaining show, but the other two fights on the card were lackluster one-minute knockouts.

And then there's Slice. Say this for him: His fighting isn't pretty, but his knockouts aren't lackluster.

Previously on FanHouse:
Elite XC on CBS: Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young Finally Give the Fans Reason to Cheer
First Hour of CBS EliteXC Show Contains Two Minutes of Mixed Martial Arts
Elite XC Newark Undercard Results
Elite XC in Newark Isn't UFC in Vegas

Latest MMA Photos

NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal (L) wishes Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) heavyweight contestant Kimbo Slice good luck during the official CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights weigh-in at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey May 30, 2008. The CBS television network will broadcast the fights live from Newark, New Jersey May 31. REUTERS/Tom Casino/EliteXC/Handout (UNITED STATES) MANDATORY CREDIT. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.

Reuters

In this image released by CBS, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, left, poses with Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight sensation Kimbo Slice at the official CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights weigh-in, Friday, May 30, 2008, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. CBS will broadcast the event live on Saturday, May 31, at 9:00 p.m. EDT. (AP Photo/CBS, Tom Casino) ** MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES; NO ARCHIVE; NORTH AMERICA USE ONLY **

Reuters

** FILE ** In this March 29, 2008 file photo, mixed martial arts fighter Kimbo Slice walks to the cage during the Strikeforce mixed martial arts event in San Jose, Calif. After coming on strong among young men in the last several years, the sport of mixed martial arts is headed for a clinch with mainstream pop culture. CBS on Saturday, May 31, will become the first legacy network to show full matches in primetime. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)

** FILE ** In this March 29, 2008 file photo, Cung Le, right, punches Frank Shamrock during their Strikeforce middleweight championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif. Le won the fight by TKO to win the title after Shamrock did not answer the bell in the fourth round. After coming on strong among young men in the last several years, the sport of mixed martial arts is headed for a clinch with mainstream pop culture. CBS on Saturday, May 31, will become the first legacy network to show full matches in primetime. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

** FILE ** In this April 9, 2008 file photo, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson arrives for the 2008 Beverly Hills Film Festival in Beverly Hills, Calif. After coming on strong among young men in the last several years, the sport of mixed martial arts is headed for a clinch with mainstream pop culture. CBS on Saturday, May 31, will become the first legacy network to show full matches in primetime. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

Mixed Martial arts fighter Gina Carano speaks during a news conference Thursday, May 29, 2008, in New York. CBS and EliteXC will televise the first prime time network presentation of mixed martial arts on May 31, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Mixed Martial arts fighters, left to right, Kaitlin Young, Scott Smith, James Thompson, speaking, and promoter Gary Shaw attend a press announcement, Thursday, May 29, 2008, in New York. CBS and EliteXC will televise the first prime time network presentation of mixed martial arts on May 31, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

5-31-2008 @ 11:44PM

bizzo5000 said...

Are you from the future?
It's 11:43 and the fight just ended.
Plus, I'm calling bullshit on the fight.

5-31-2008 @ 11:48PM

BlueGuy said...

I declare shenanigans on Elite XC. That was a weak TKO. You shouldn't stop a fight because a guys ear blows up.

5-31-2008 @ 11:49PM

edsdad said...

what was that BS, just more pro wresling,Thompson and Slice fight was a joke!!!

6-01-2008 @ 12:49PM

Andolini said...

Are you kidding me? The fight should have been stopped in the 2nd when JT was punching Kimbo repeatedly on the ground when Kimbo put up no defense. it doesn't matter that the punches weren't hurting him -- he wasn't defending himself. And that was about the most BS stoppage I've ever seen -- JT didn't even fall down!

6-01-2008 @ 12:00AM

Trogdor said...

I thought a worse decision than the stoppage was a stand-up order late in the 2nd round. Thompson was on top, doing a little damage, working for position, and the ref stepped in to stand them up very quickly (which greatly favored Slice). Lo and behold, Slice landed some good punches right away and did some damage before quickly winding up on his back again to eat some incredibly lame punches for the rest of the round. There was absolutely no reason to stand them up there, and doing so let Slice do some damage, where without it he'd have stayed harmlessly on his back with Thompson in half guard or side control.

The stoppage - eh. May have been a little early, but Thompson was clearly in big trouble. Watching his eyes, he looked really out of it on his feet, and letting the fight go would have just resulted in more damage for no good reason. It could've gone longer, but I'm not exactly upset he stepped in there.

6-01-2008 @ 12:14AM

terry brotherton said...

kimbo slice and cbs are a mma joke. he couldn't last one round with the top 20 ufc heavyweights. the ref was a joke also. kimbo "hype" now knows he is not in the same league as ufc, wec and pride. i will never watch another kimbo "hype" fight unless it is against boston cop gannon.

6-01-2008 @ 12:12AM

The fight was fixed. Thompson was the more experienced fighter and he sat on Slices chest the first two rounds and Slice did not have a mark on him. Thompson was a ginny pig for the new World Wrestling Federation. Another sport being spoiled.What a joke!!

6-01-2008 @ 12:24AM

astonsilicon said...

I agree although there was a few entertaining fights Elite XC is clearly a joke. Kimbo slice probably would have lost that one, he did hurt Thompson but from what i saw, he probably would have just taken it to the ground again, and pounded kimbo. That was complete bullshit, they clearly favored kimbo, i mean you cant have your money maker losing his prime time debut, the stand up in the second was bullshit.

6-01-2008 @ 12:25AM

Shelbz said...

EliteXC is BULLSHIT!

Kimbo clearly was outclassed, the standup order was BS and the fight ending the way it did was to protect the investment made on Kimbo.

I will never watch another EXC fight again.

6-01-2008 @ 12:26AM

Minh Nguyen said...

Elite XC had to set the fight between Kimbo and Thomspon up for Kimbo to win because if he loses, they will lose money in any of his future fights when Kimbo gets exposed. I do respect Kimbo for him trying to be a MMA fighter but he's not good yet to be comparing to a true MMA fighter. Any real MMA fighter will submit Kimbo in the first round. Thompson had many chances to submit Kimbo but he doesn't really have great BJJ techniques.

6-01-2008 @ 12:52AM

Paul said...

What a joke. The refs were all over the place. Even though they stopped it before the third, Gina Carrano was murdering that other girl for the last 30 seconds. Kimbo was EXPOSED. Thompson isn't exactly Randy Coture, and Mr. Ferguson had all he could handle. But spare me the "it's all fixed" crap. Thompson ate four straight punches and had glassy eyes, it was right to stop it. The title fight was great and cut too short, but fight doctors are there for a reason, so thats not EXC's fault

6-01-2008 @ 12:58AM

Ok so when Thompson had kimbo against the cage, throwing elbo after elbo, with kimbo not answering your going to tell me 4 punches to thompons while thompson was still trying to fight back was a good stoppage? You clearly need to watch that fight again.

6-01-2008 @ 12:59AM

305 rules said...

haters lol

6-01-2008 @ 1:01AM

petejayhawk said...

Yeah, MDS - I know you're doing everything in your power to give positive coverage to Every. Single. Thing. MMA. Does., but that entire card was a sham, and CBS should be ashamed for airing that joke of a league.

6-01-2008 @ 1:07AM

omss said...

well round 1 between kimbo and james was clearly either way for both, round 2 was a little more to james,then round 3 got stopped but for a good reason...watch the replays and the punches that kimbo lands on james right after he busts his ear open, watch how he stumbles baddddd...i love kimbo and he's going places but he deffinately needs more stamina and ground work...thats why james always took it to the ground because he knows he has no chance fist to fist with the beast

6-01-2008 @ 1:11AM

SRT said...

Kimbo was a joke - in terrible cardio condition with little to no MMA skills. The guy (chump) he was very lucky to beat showed some waning skills, but still lost for the third straight time and seventh time in his last nine fights.

Slice made his reputation fighting street fighters, not well-conditioned MMA athletes. He doesn't have an amateur wrestling pedigree. He isn't an accomplished jiu jitsu practitioner. He isn't a Muay Thai standout. And it was all very evident in the Saturday night fraud.

Dana White of the UFC has to be tickled. White's lowest ranked UFC heavyweight would SLICE Kimbo up. IMHO, too much Kimbo hype, not much Kimbo fight. I wouldn't pay a dime to see him live.

6-01-2008 @ 1:16AM

SIDEKICK said...

I Agree... Kimbo submitted in first rnd...Tapped 5 times while homeboy was choking him out...Wat a Crock of Sh#t!!!FixedFight ill never watch elite xc again just like wrestling..............

6-01-2008 @ 12:43PM

wow, read this article , freaking horrible.
http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/26466-MMA-Phenom-Kimbo-Slice-Puts-on-Show-Stays-Undefeated-

6-01-2008 @ 1:46AM

Wat a joke!!!Kimbo submitted 1st rnd ...Tapped 4 times when homeboy was chokin him out...Wat a crock of sh%t..Ill never watch elite xc on cbs again...