For those of you, like myself, who did not know what MMA stands for, it
is short for Mixed Martial Arts. MMA, as a sport, MMA had a historic
night last night. For the first time ever, an MMA event was televised
live last night on prime-time broadcast television, CBS.
The man who graces the cover on the newest cover of ESPN magazine,
shown above, is Kimbo Slice. Kimbo, is a poster child for MMA. Much
like MMA as a sport, Kimbo got his start on the streets, as a
street-fighter. On the streets as an unsanctioned street-fighter, is
where Kimbo became a YouTube
legend (video contains adult language).
With countless videos surfing the internet, his popularity continued to
rise. He moved onto sanctioned MMA events in different MMA
leagues/divisions like, CFFC and Elite XC, which was what was aired
last night on CBS. As Dan Le Batard of ESPN
explains,
Kimbo Slice is not who you might think he may be. Yes, he is a man who
excels in punishing people, but he is not the dumb, brute you might
associate with being a participant in a violent sport like this. In
fact, Kimbo (not his real name) went to the University of Miami on an
academic scholarship. However, it was in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew
destroyed many South Florida homes, including Kimbo's, leaving him
homeless. This is where the rags-to-riches, Rocky Balboa story starts
and and then continued in prime-time last night.
With little surprise, the Kimbo Slice fight was the 'headliner' last
night on CBS. Kimbo's opponent was James Thompson. Kimbo won by TKO in
the third round by a stoppage by the referee.
What is significant about this landmark event last night is that
boxing, when it was an American force in the sporting industry, hit its
ceiling of popularity through broadcast television. Muhammad Ali,
George Foreman, Hagler, Hearns, De La Hoya, Sugar Ray, Jones Jr. and
Tyson have had some of the greatest fights ever on live-TV. However, in
a post-Don King era where boxing has been irreconcilably corrupted, MMA
along with Kimbo Slice is quickly making boxing irrelevant.