Notes from FanHouse in Newark.
The fighting didn't end when Kimbo Slice stopped James Thompson in the third round of tonight's main event in Newark. Brett Rogers, a heavyweight who won his match in 61 seconds to start off the televised portion of the card, took the podium during the press conference and called Slice's performance "garbage" and said it was "unacceptable" to give that to the fans.
Slice wasn't there yet but he did show up later and the press asked Rogers to elaborate on what he meant. He was much clearer this time, saying that Slice tapped out when Thompson had him down on the ground during the second round of their match. Slice asked if that was a challenge and, as you can see from the photo above, things got pretty heated. Every fighter, cornerman and Elite XC employee kept the men apart but it was a good three or four minutes before things cooled down and Slice left.
From my vantage point at cageside, I didn't see Slice tap out. There was discussion along press row about a tapout but everyone seemed to say they heard someone else say it first. Thompson said he didn't and Slice obviously denied it so either Rogers saw something different or he's a savvy marketer who knows how to put himself in position to fight the league's big dog. Promoter Gary Shaw said the next CBS show would be in August at the earliest, perhaps he found himself his main event?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-01-2008 @ 2:48AM
screw cbs said...
cbs sucks. the refs and cbs had the fights fixed. I am disappointed in cbs
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6-01-2008 @ 2:55AM
cjrbans said...
the cbs show was a rip off AND kIMBO WAS HELPED TO WIN MORE THAN 5 TIMES. dR bUGS
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6-01-2008 @ 5:48PM
napo said...
Kimbo is POOP!!! he has no chance against real MMA fighters.. for hells sake forest put Kimbo AKA POOP on his ass in a sparing match..
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6-01-2008 @ 4:57AM
scraphoops said...
Thank god I'm not crazy. Kimbo did tap out. I thought I was the only person who saw that.
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6-01-2008 @ 7:40AM
penalty4me said...
There was certainly no why Kimbo was going to lose that fight on national tv, short of a KO or submission. While they weren't exactly devastating, how many elbows did he take, without defending himself? Any other fight would have been stopped. Just goes to show that Kimbo is a great streetfighter, but is no where near ready for true MMA fighters.
Besides, when was the last time a "great" fighter collapsed in the middle of the ring after winning by TKO?? No way Kimbo would last against any upper tier competition. Proves Elite XC is just another UFC wannabe.
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6-01-2008 @ 8:43AM
james kotis said...
when kimbo was getting his head bashed in the refeeres should have stopped the match and kimbo was the loser it was fixed for kimbo to win kimbo is a big baby he will get his head kicked in
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6-01-2008 @ 8:32AM
tom tanner said...
everyone on utube likes Kimbo and all he needs is a good trainer. That guy better be glad Kimbo didn't rip his head off!
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6-01-2008 @ 8:43AM
diego said...
That referee was full of $h!t!! Kimbo was on the ground getting pounded and was not defending himself for over a minute and a half!! and the referee didn't stop it! that fight should have been stopped in the second due to kimbo not defending himself. Then kimbo had the other guy stunned for maybe 5 seconds and the other guy was still throwing punches and the referee steps in to stop the fight! wat kind of b.s. is that?! that was a fixed fight. I wish the other guy would have knocked the referee out when he swung at him that guy got robbed. Kimbo better get out of the sport soon before somebody seriously hurts him.
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6-01-2008 @ 8:42AM
Distantdrum said...
Slice did tap on Thompson's arm when he was being choked. Either the referee was dumbfounded or ignored it to give the big stiff as much time as he could to free himself.
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6-01-2008 @ 8:51AM
huzo73 said...
the whole night was a sham!!! the championship fight was only stopped because the show was running later than expected. slice is a joke and so was the ref. you could clearly hear him say to the fighters that he wanted to seperate them due to inactivity even though thompson was pounding on slices head. and people say boxing is fixed.
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6-01-2008 @ 12:25PM
ralph rao said...
What no one mentioned is that Thompson weighs 265lbs and if he was really doing damage Kimbo's face would of reflected punishment. My opinion is that Thompson did a poor job when he had Kimbo in a position to finish him off and in the end paid the price. Whether fixed or not, Thompson had a chance but did not complete the job. When Kimbo had his chance he did his job!
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6-01-2008 @ 9:34AM
Bill said...
Kimbo tapped out while being choked,they were on their feet. The fighter were rejects from the UFC. This stuff sucked. Slice would not last 1 round with Laddell,Couture etc. He could not even had whipped the chick fighter. This sucked, I should have known it. I am gonna see if him tapping is U-Tube. He is a can.
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6-01-2008 @ 9:42AM
bill said...
all these kimbo haters are dumb
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6-01-2008 @ 10:20AM
gjc said...
This Ref was clearly in the 'corner' of Slice's when he commented to Kimbo's crew that their man "was not hurt, and is fine" after Kimbo ended the first round on his back getting crushed with elbow shots.
Kimbo is not the real deal here folks. His conditioning is still suspect and his fighting style is going to be his downfall when he 'starts' to fight true MMA professionals. Also, at age 34, Kimbo is simply too old to begin now to dominate a sport that most have been involved with their whole life.
Kimbo's aura has been enhanced by hype and internet hoopla that will eventually only hurt Kimbo himself.
I like Kimbo. He is the modern day brawler who literally fought to put food in his mouth. But, he is not in the same class as the upper tier of these MMA fighters. Once he fights one of these guys, Kimbo may serioulsly get hurt. My suggestion to Kimbo is to get out now while his image as the ultimate tough-guy remains in tact. If not, one good beating from one of these MMA guys will tarnish his image forever and send him back providing security to his porn buddies for the rest of his life and figthing every bum who would think they can now take him.
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6-01-2008 @ 5:31PM
Scott said...
I hope this is not the start of fix refs and judges. This fight should have been stopped with Kimbo unable to defend himself of the ground for over a min. Then to all the blind people and refs. Watch your Tivo and plainly see Kimbo tap. And then, the ref. stopping the fight on a fighter who 1) was defending himself, 2) was fighting back 3) both fighters were exhausted that any hit would seem to have them look like they were helpless 4) main event fight to promote MMA the "SPORT" on national TV, let them fight it out.
Kimbo is the new version of Tank Abbit from years past he is a great brawler but has no true MMA skills. He is too old to try and build a good cardio strentght system to go the distance with the true MMA specialist.
Kimbo is nothing more than a (looking over my shoulder) a circus act entertainer pleaseing the crowd, looking for the quick knockout. And that will be the only way for him to compete if its, quick!
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6-01-2008 @ 11:00AM
wayne said...
the fact that kimbo is new to the sport and yet so reconized as a ligitamate tough guy is impressive. If these other fighters have been in this sport most of their life, then they should be easily manhandling kimbo. Could anyone step into a boxing ring with a pro and win, even if the pro was not a superstar? Give the guy credit he is a bad biatch.
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6-03-2008 @ 6:13PM
R-Dog said...
Kimbo did Tap on Thompson's arm. CBS should be trying to eplain this, as they clearly are the XFL of MMA. Kimbo looks great, but has no stamina, and could not go five rounds for a championship fight. Let alone three rounds, he was out of gas at the end of the first round. This was supposed to be the "Main Event" The chick fight was better that this fight.
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6-01-2008 @ 12:01PM
Bill said...
Kimbo better get in better shape (cardio) before August, as he was very winded and had no energy reserve left. Thompson gave a good fight and I believe the ref made the right call, as Thompson appeared off balance and his eyes told the story.
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6-01-2008 @ 11:39AM
KCfromCC said...
Hey, whats the big deal? The sport is UGLY. The fighters are UGLY. The referees are UGLY. Three out of three aint bad.
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6-01-2008 @ 11:47AM
kpro said...
I don't watch these fights often, so I asumed it was my mistake, I thought I saw Kimbo tap out. Kimbo did nothing to try and prevent the big guy from elbowing him for a minute, but the elbows looked pretty weak for a guy his size. When Kimbo got up he looked tired not dazed. The ref should have let it go a few more seconds.
The whole night was pretty weak. The refs, the fighters, the ring side announcing. In fact the only part that was seemed 1st rate was the announcer Jimmy L.Jr.
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