Crush and Kimbo: New Faces of MMA?
Well, Crush’s real name is Gina Carano. But anyone that has watched the new American Gladiators knows her as Crush. The hot gladiator. Kimbo is Kevin Ferguson, but I’ve never heard him get refered to as anything but Kimbo Slice. Just look at the juxtaposition of those two pics. Wow. I’m pretty sure they are the opposing figures of what each man wants to run into on the street at 3 am. The one thing they share is the ability to beat the shit out of you.
In case you didn’t know, CBS aired the first primetime MMA event tonight (MMA stands for mixed martial arts). Most people’s knowledge of the sport is limited to UFC, due to it being based in America and becoming easily the biggest MMA organization in the world. I can’t say I’m any different, although I’ve heard of Pride — but that organization was bought by UFC anyhow. The organization that was televised tonight was Elite XC, a new startup that just got a ton of exposure. UFC has had its PPV events and constant shows on Spike, but those are nothing compared to CBS at 9 pm.
And the two faces that people knew were the two at the top of this post. I know I got my friends to watch it because of Kimbo. I have no doubt some guys watched due to Gina Carano — who by the way wore Red Alert 3 gear and walked out to Hell March (since she is starring in RA3 cutscenes). Awesome.
I find it pretty interesting that almost exactly a year ago, Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson fought in the most heavily-hyped UFC fight ever. Liddell had been a guest star on Entourage, and ESPN couldn’t get enough of the matchup. Unfortunately — for UFC and MMA as a whole — Liddell came in looking pretty out of shape, and consequently got knocked the fuck out by Rampage in the first round. I haven’t heard a peep about MMA since then.
But tonight, I think people got a good show. I didn’t get to watch nearly enough of the event — hell, I barely watched any of it. But Crush beat down the other girl she fought, and Kimbo won his fight as well. And both fights went past the first round. On the other hand, it seemed like Kimbo did not know what he was doing on the ground.
You see, Kimbo became famous over the past few years due to YouTube videos surfacing of a huge black dude with a crazy beard beating the shit out of other dudes on people’s lawns. That huge black dude was Kimbo. He’s the definition of a street brawler. Here’s the video you should’ve seen by now, unless you live under a rock. I remember watching the video so long ago, and only recently — when seeing an ESPN special — did I realize that was the “Kimbo” dude I was hearing about. The guy has only been training for MMA for a year and he obviously did not know what he was doing. Fortunately, the guy he was facing was apparently not that good, and Kimbo was able to punch him in the face. Repeatedly.
But this other guy, a British fighter named James Thompson, showed some heart. After looking like he was about to fall due to a barrage of Kimbo punches, he was able to get a single-leg takedown on Kimbo, which I thought was pathetic on Kimbo’s part. Mike Tyson he ain’t. The minute Thompson started stumbling, Tyson would’ve finished his ass. As John Mason says in The Rock, “You must never hesitate.” Yes, I know boxing isn’t the same thing as MMA, but I’ve watched plenty of other fights, and when guys get dazed — even if just for a second — the other fighter almost always bullrushes him and pounds the imminent loser into oblivion.
Even after landing another barrage in the third round, with one punch exploding Thompson’s disgustingly huge cauliflower ear, the referee ended up having to call the fight with Thompson still standing, leading to boos from the crowd. Kimbo should’ve finished him off right, but since he didn’t, and Thompson looked like he could lose consciousness at any moment, I don’t blame the ref for stopping the beating.
Here’s the third round:
The second half of the second round is where some people thought the match should’ve been called, since Kimbo was stuck against the cage with Thompson over him, elbowing him in the head over and over again. And Kimbo just lied there. It didn’t seem like it was particularly hurting him, but it was kinda ridiculous. He was just waiting for the bell to ring. But it’s also Thompson’s fault for not finishing him off there. A better fighter would have. I definitely don’t think it should’ve been called there, but it just showed that Kimbo really had no clue what the hell to do, and maybe that his cardio isn’t exactly up to snuff.
Well, that’s enough of my amateur analysis of a sport I barely know. If I was watching with a specific friend, I’d probably have some real insight. I just know that the sport got at least one more fan tonight, as my friend Greg said, “Holy shit, that was awesome. Fuck boxing.” after the event was over. I think plenty of men across the country had the same reaction. But it’s kinda weird it was on CBS, right?
Now I’m just curious about the ratings, since the plan is to televise an event every other month. Maybe if the ratings are awesome enough, they’ll televise every Elite XC event. What else are they going to show during the summer?
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