by: Jack Bratcher
We all know what happened on Oct. 4 in Sunrise Florida when an enormously inflated persona named Kimbo Slice went into the ring with Kevin Ferguson as his own shadow. This shadow was everything Ferguson was not; it was the hype, the media, the uneducated, it said he was one of the best in the world, a top ten fighter. But it was only a shadow that disappeared as soon as the light of Seth Petruzelli’s experience shown upon it.
Wouldn’t it be nice if that shadow known as Kimbo Slice never came back but rather the man, Kevin Ferguson emerged from those ashes like a phoenix rising, or at the very least like a blackbird fluttering? Let it die man. Let the myth of Kimbo die like so many fairy-tales. Let it die like when a kid finally discovers Santa Claus is a farce and your parents lied to you for years. Sure, you’re mad at your parents for lying but at least now you know the truth. Sure, Kimbo is dead but at least now the truth of Kevin Ferguson can live.
So what happens to Kevin Ferguson now that it’s all gone? Not only is Kimbo gone but the whole house of cards that built him. It blew up like a firecracker in someone’s hand leaving the burnt charred residue of unemployed fighters and rappers in basements. Does Ferguson go back to fighting in boat yards and hustling in the hood? Did he get that EliteXC check cashed before the bank account got cleaned out?
Evidently, Kevin Ferguson is not finished with Professional Mixed Martial Arts. Florida-based newspaper, The Sun Sentinel, reported today that Ferguson was back in the gym and according to his agent, Mike Imber, “He may fight on the DREAM K-1 New Year’s Eve show in Japan, possibly a rematch with Petruzelli.”
Maybe it will be a K-1 rules match and Ferguson won’t have to worry about going to the ground this time. At least that way they can avoid another “stand-gate” scandal. It seems the U.S. mma world has had their fill of Kimbo. So maybe the man, Kevin Ferguson can go to Japan for awhile, pay some dues like the rest of the mma world has had to do and come back when he’s got some solid experience and years of training under his belt. Sounds like a plan. Good luck Kevin, holler back at us in a year or two.