Kevin Ferguson (February 8, 1974 – June 6, 2016), better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-born American mixed martial artist, boxer and occasional actor. He became famous for mutual combat street fights which were spread across the Internet, leading Rolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".

Slice left the underground fighting scene and signed a professional contract with EliteXC in 2007. Slice competed in The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, where he lost in his first fight to series winner Roy Nelson. In his UFC debut, Slice defeated Houston Alexander in the The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights finale. From January 2015 until his death in June 2016, Slice was under contract to Bellator MMA.

Early life

Ferguson was born in Nassau, Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a child, growing up in Cutler Ridge, Florida. Ferguson was raised with his two brothers by mother Rosemary Clarke. He went to Bel-Air Elementary School, where Ferguson was reportedly involved in his first fight at 13 as he tried to defend a friend. He continued his studies with Cutler Ridge Middle School and later with Richmond Heights Middle School. He attendedMiami Palmetto High School, where he was the star middle linebacker. In 1992, his house in Perrine, Florida was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, forcing him to live in his 1987 Nissan Pathfinder for a month.

For college, he attended both Bethune-Cookman University and the University of Miami, where he held an athletic scholarship and studied criminal justice. He was there for only a year and a half. In 1997, he had a tryout with the Miami Dolphins and was part of the pre-season squad but was unable to get a place in the first team. Slice's cousin is United States judoka Rhadi Ferguson.

Early career

Ferguson started working as a bouncer for a strip club until high school friend and current manager, Mike Imber, offered him a job as a limousine driver and bodyguard for RK Netmedia, better known as Reality Kings, a Miami-based pornography production/promotion company responsible for a number of popular adult subscription websites. Ferguson maintained close ties with Reality Kings through the rest of his life; company representatives accompanied him, as his fight entourage, under the name Team Kimbo.

In 2002, he was charged for carrying a concealed weapon and in 2003, he began his career in unsanctioned mutual combat street fights. They were distributed through the Internet, mainly through the adult website SublimeDirectory and YouTube. In his first taped fight against a man named Big D, Ferguson left a large cut on his opponent's right eye which led Internet fans to call him Slice, becoming the last name to his already popular childhood nickname, Kimbo.

His only on-tape street fight loss was against Sean Gannon, a Boston police officer who also trains in MMA. The popularity of the fight propelled both men into the MMA spotlight.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2005, Slice started training in martial arts at the Freestyle Fighting Academy under Marcos Avellan and David Avellan. At first, Slice was training exclusively for street boxing, focusing on bare-knuckle techniques, dirty boxing from the clinch, and elbows - but then he began to develop an interest for MMA. Slice signed to make his MMA debut against former WBO Heavyweight champion and Olympic gold-medalist boxer Ray Mercer at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 5, in Atlantic City on June 23, 2007. A month prior to the fight, Slice switched camps and was trained by retired MMA fighter Bas Rutten and boxing instructor Randy Khatami at Rutten's school, EliteMMA, in Thousand Oaks, California.

Slice made his MMA debut against former WBO Heavyweight champion and Olympic gold-medalist boxer Ray Mercer at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 5, in Atlantic City on June 23, 2007. The match was scheduled as a three-round exhibition utilizing all professional rules of MMA combat. Slice defeated Mercer with a guillotine choke at 1:12 into the first round. In a post-fight interview, Slice stated that he would like to fight David "Tank" Abbott. Abbott, who was a spectator, stood up from his seat and accepted the call out. One of the matchmakers for CFFC asked Slice for his assurance so that an October 12 bout at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 6 between Slice and "Tank" Abbott could be organized. This event was later canceled due to a promotion dispute. On October 11, 2007, ProElite announced that they had signed Slice to a deal and that he would make his debut on the November 10, 2007 EliteXC. He was originally set to make his professional MMA debut against Mike Bourke, a reformed street fighter, but a shoulder injury from Bourke led him to face Bo Cantrell. Kimbo defeated Cantrell 19 seconds into the first round by submission due to strikes.

Elite XC

On February 16, 2008, Kimbo fought Tank Abbott in the main event at EliteXC: Street Certified. He won by KO 43 seconds into the first round due to strikes. At the fight his weight was announced at an all-time low of 234 lb (106 kg), a far cry from his street fighting days of 280 lb (130 kg).

On May 31, 2008, Kimbo fought in the main event of the first ever mixed martial arts event shown on prime time network television,EliteXC: Primetime. Though one of the judges had each fighter winning one of the first two rounds, Kimbo's opponent James Thompsonwon both on total points by repeatedly taking down Slice and grounding and pounding. In the opening seconds of the third round, however, Kimbo threw a haymaker to Thompson's left ear, which ruptured Thompson's cauliflower. This was soon followed by three unanswered punches to a standing Thompson, which led to a referee stoppage and the controversial win for Slice. Fellow EliteXC competitor Brett Rogers was particularly critical of Slice's victory, calling Slice's performance "garbage" in a post fight interview. Frank Mir was also a critic of Slice, stating in an interview that "every time Kimbo Slice fights, it sets (mixed martial arts) back".

On October 4, 2008, a Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock fight was supposed to take place at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida as part of CBS' Saturday Night Fights. However, Shamrock received a cut to the left eye during a warm-up only hours before the fight was to take place. This left the head of fight operations, Jeremy Lappen, to choose a replacement for the fight. Options were Seth Petruzelli, Aaron Rosa and Frank Shamrock. But Kimbo's team stated they did not want him fighting Frank no matter how much money was offered to them. So Lappen decided that Petruzelli was the best option for the main event. Slice agreed to take the fight after receiving a raise in pay, and took in $500,000. Petruzelli defeated Slice by TKO 14 seconds into the first round of the bout.

Interviewed on Orlando radio show The Monsters in the Morning two days after the fight, Seth Petruzelli said that when they offered him a spot in the main event, EliteXC promoters added monetary incentives to dissuade him from using certain fighting techniques against Slice, in an attempt to protect their relatively unproven Internet star.

“The promoters kinda hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and throw with him, they didn't want me to take him down. Let's just put it that way. It was worth my while to try and stand up punch him.”

This added to the controversy surrounding the representation of Slice as a top flight martial artist by CBS and EliteXC. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation started a preliminary investigation on the events surrounding the fight and its outcome.

However, Petruzelli retracted this statement a few hours later, claiming in a follow-up interview with MMA website FiveOuncesofPain.comthat his previous comments on The Monsters had been misinterpreted.

“What was meant to be said was that I wanted to keep the fight standing for myself because I knew that was what the crowd, the promoters, and everyone wanted to see because that's more exciting than just taking someone to the ground. That was my thing only. I wanted to keep it exciting so I decided to keep it standing. It had nothing to do with anybody else. That was all me.”

On October 23, 2008, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation concluded its investigation of the bout and found no wrongdoing. By the end of October 2008, EliteXC was forced to file for bankruptcy. Many in the mixed martial arts community, including Jay Thompson, executive consultant to the company, attributed EliteXC and ProElite's failure due to Slice's loss to Seth Petruzelli.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After Elite Xtreme Combat ceased operations, Dana White stated that if Slice wanted to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship he would have to win his way in by competing on The Ultimate Fighter TV show. White went on to say that he might create a show with heavyweights just for Kimbo Slice if he wanted in. That statement became reality on June 1, when Kevin Iole of Yahoo.com stated Slice would participate in The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

The coaches for the show were Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans, both former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions. Slice was the number one pick for Rampage and the second pick overall. In his first fight of the show, Kimbo was defeated by Roy Nelson via TKO stoppage in the second round after repeated punches to the head in the crucifix position. Kimbo later turned down the opportunity to take Matt Mitrione's place in the quarter finals after it was revealed that he had arthritis in his knee.

Slice fought Houston Alexander on December 5, 2009, at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale at a catchweight of 215 pounds. In a fight that many thought would not leave the first round, Alexander would instead spend most of the first and third rounds circling Slice tentatively with little engagement. In the second round, however, Slice landed a back suplex on Alexander, which very well may have tipped the judges' scorecards in his favor. Slice would win the bout by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) and Alexander would be cut from the promotion only days later.

On May 8, 2010, Slice made his pay-per-view and official heavyweight debut at UFC 113 versus Matt Mitrione, losing in the second round via a TKO. Following the loss, Dana White stated that it was "probably Kimbo's last fight in the UFC". His release was confirmed the following day, alongside welterweight Paul Daley.

Bellator MMA

On January 16, 2015, nearly five years since his last MMA fight, Bellator MMA announced that Slice had signed a multi-fight deal. He defeated Ken Shamrock by first-round TKO in his June 19 debut at Bellator 138. Some observers noted the fight appeared to be fixed, like a professional wrestling match. Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith accredited the fight looking as it did to Shamrock's lack of technique and durability, and said if it was fixed, Bellator wasn't in on the deal.

On February 19, 2016, at Bellator 149, Slice faced Dada 5000. The duo had a big rivalry between them due to their old street fight legacies they had in Perrine, Florida. After a back and forth fight, Slice won the fight via TKO when DaDa collapsed from apparent exhaustion in the third round. Following the bout it was reported that Slice had failed his pre-fight drug test. Lab results found traces of the anabolic steroid Nandrolone. He was also found to have an elevated (T/E) ratio of 6.4:1, which is above the maximum allowed limit of 4:1. On May 2, 2016, it was revealed that Slice had settled with the Texas Athletic Commission with a fine of $2,500 and a revoking of his license in the state of Texas. The result of the bout has also been changed to a no contest. Despite being widely panned by critics, the fight attracted approximately 2.5 million viewing households, breaking the Bellator record of 2.4 million, set by Kimbo vs Shamrock.

Boxing career

In August 2010, Slice announced his intention to become a professional boxer. He stated "I feel like a baby all over again. I'm thinking about this at night. I'm gonna be a problem in the heavyweight division. I'm going to be coming in with a bad demeanor. I want to see what it's like to break some ribs, break a jaw with one punch. This is a career move. I love fighting. I like to knock people the fuck out. I love engaging. Maybe some people think I'm crazy."

Roy Jones, Jr. had said he would like to fight Slice, but that Slice would likely need a number of boxing matches beforehand in order to gain experience and exposure in the sport.

Slice made his pro boxing debut on August 13, 2011. Slice fought in a four-round headlining attraction against 39-year-old James Wade (0-1) at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. He won the fight via KO at 0:10 in the first round.

On October 15, Slice returned to the boxing ring, defeating Tay Bledsoe (2-3) via KO in the first round. On December 30, he defeated Charles Hackmann (0-1) by unanimous decision, winning three out of four rounds.

Slice's next fight was in Australia on the Anthony Mundine vs Daniel Geale undercard on January 30, 2013. He defeated Shane Tilyard (6-6) by TKO in the second round.

Professional wrestling

Slice was to make his debut in professional wrestling on February 5, 2011, against former sumo wrestler Shinichi Suzukawa at the Inoki Genome Federation's "Genome 14" event in Fukuoka, Japan; he pulled out of the match due to getting injured during practice.

Other media coverage

A series called "Junk Yard Training" was released on yardbarker.com and youtube.com that featured La Dainian Tomlinson, running back for the San Diego Chargers, training in Kimbo's backyard. In 2009, Kimbo starred in an antivirus software advertisement called Caterpillar vs. Kimbo.

Slice was featured on The Iron Ring, a television series airing on BET that features MMA prospects. Slice was part of the selection process for the participants. He made his official acting debut when playing Bludge on Nickelodeon's holiday special, Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh.

Death

On June 6, 2016, Slice was admitted to a hospital near his home in Coral Springs, Florida. He died a short time later. Details of his death were unclear, and police were investigating. Scott Coker, CEO of Bellator MMA, confirmed the news in a statement: "We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family."

Personal life

Slice had six children, three boys and three girls. At the time of his death, he was engaged to his long-time girlfriend.