It was the biggest fight in "Ultimate Fighter" history. The one everyone would tune in to see. Kimbo Slice's coming out party against an elite level heavyweight. The culmination of months of furious promotion from Dana White and the UFC.
Then the fight happened.
What was billed as the the biggest fight in the show's 10 season history turned out to be a gigantic flop, or should I say, a belly flop. Roy Nelson did exactly what he said he was going to do, and what just about everyone expected him to do, by keeping it standing as long as he could before taking Kimbo down and dominating him. It's usually a nice touch when a fighter calls his shot in a fight (ala Frank Shamrock/Phil Baroni), but in the case of Nelson/Slice, it only served to highlight some massive problems.
The first, and most obvious, problem that was shown was the non-existent ground game of Kimbo Slice. As soon as Roy Nelson took him to the ground, I pretty much put away my scorecard because, barring an abomination of a stand up, the remainder of the round would be played out on the mat. There was a brief moment where Kimbo appeared to almost slip out from under his large gutted opponent, but that was quickly brought to a halt as he was reversed into mount, side control, and ultimately the dreaded "crucifix" position. With his arm trapped by the BJJ expert, Kimbo seemed resigned to ride out the round, taking forty-some unanswered punches before the bell. Round 2 was pretty much a fast-forward version of the first round. Kimbo tagged Nelson early with punches before attempting an ill-conceived flying knee, resulting in a takedown, Americana attempt, another crucifix and the fight ending TKO.
From what has been shown so far the season regarding Kimbo, its tough not to like the guy. He seems like a genuinely nice person with a desire to learn the game, despite his rough and tumble appearance and persona. However, he makes it next to impossible to get excited about him as fighter when you see a performance like the one against Nelson. Everyone in the world knows what he is trying to do in the cage, and can gameplan accordingly. For just about every fight in the foreseeable future, Kimbo will be dead in the water against just about any fighter will even the slightest ground game. If the UFC is going to milk the Kimbo Slice effectively, they are going to have to be very careful with who they match him up with when he does make a PPV card (don't kid yourself, this loss doesn't mean he won't be in the UFC). Off the top of my head, I can only think of 2 or 3 heavyweights that Kimbo could potentially have a fighting chance against (after checking the UFC roster, the number could drop to 1 or 2). Kimbo versus Houston Alexander on Spike TV anyone?
The second problem that was brought to my attention as a result of last night's fight was a problem with MMA in general. Since Herb Dean stepped in to stop the bout last night, MMA forums, blogs and news sites have exploded with hatred towards Dean for stopping the bout, and Roy Nelson for how he got the bout stopped. It appeared that while Kimbo was trapped in Nelson's crucifix, he wasn't taking any significant damage from the punches he was being hit with. However, the precedent in MMA is that if a fighter is not "intelligently defending" himself from punishment, the ref has to step in an stop the bout. Despite not actually being in the unified rules for MMA, it is generally accepted that this is the standard for how a stoppage should be judged. One could make the case that the fight should have been stopped in the first round based on the concept of "intelligent defense", because clearly Kimbo was unable to do so. What Herb Dean did correctly in the first round was determine that despite taking a multitude of shots, he was never in any danger. What changed in the second round, at least in my eyes, was the clock factor. With about 3 minutes remaining in the round, it was clear the Kimbo was not getting out from under Roy Nelson. His hips were flat on the mat and he was barely moving at all, leading Dean to stop the bout.
Was it a good stoppage? Under the circumstance, absolutely. Could the bout have continued? Again, absolutely. Should people be up in arms about it being a terrible stoppage because Nelson was simply pitter-pattering his way to victory? Well, yes and no. Fans should not be upset with what Nelson did, which was basically exploit an unwritten rule of the sport, or Herb Dean for stepping in on Kimbo's behalf. The real focal point should be the ambiguity of the rules justifying stoppages. This fight was strikingly similar to the second bout between Matt Hughes and BJ Penn in the way that it played out. The major difference is that it was very clear that Penn was unable to defend himself while trapped by Hughes, as well as taking heavy, and effective, unanswered shots to the face. If you need a model for how to handle a situation like Kimbo/Nelson, look no further than that fight.
Before calling a halt to a fight, the ref needs to judge not only if the man taking shots is defending himself, but exactly how much damage is being delivered by the fighter on offense. Obviously it can be difficult to judge just how much trouble a fighter is in, but experienced professional referees should be able to properly assess the situation and act accordingly. Otherwise, you will have a situation where a fighter can, as Nelson seemed to imply earlier in the episode, simply slap his opponent in the face fifty times in a row and the ref will have to stop the fight based on "intelligent defense".
My final problem is more of personal problem than anything else. I've always tried not to be that guy who simply bashes Dana White because it's the fun thing to do. The truth is, I've got great respect for the man and what he has done for the sport. The man found a niche on a small cable station and turned a fledgling sport, into a increasingly mainstream sport; mostly thanks to "The Ultimate Fighter". What bothers me, or bother me last night at least, was his reaction to Nelson's victory. During the very public mini-war between the UFC and promoter Gary Shaw's EliteXC company, Dana constantly berated Shaw for his promotion of Kimbo Slice and how he reacted like a child to his stunning loss to Seth Petruzelli. Now, with Kimbo dropping a bout under the UFC banner, how does Dana react? He belittles Nelson's performance in victory and props up what very little Kimbo showed in defeat. In his post fight comments, Dana told the cameras that the punches Nelson was hitting Kimbo with were what he "lets his daughters hit him with". No, Nelson wasn't overpowering with his showing, but he did display the ground skills that earned him his black belt and made him a champion in the IFL. With those comments, Dana sounds like a whiny fanboy who just watched his main draw for TUF 10 get dominated on the ground after flashing about :30 seconds of stand up ability. Hmm, where I have seen/heard something like that before....
Oh yeah, when Shaw's son (the guy next to Hulk Hogan) acted the same way when Kimbo got stopped in EliteXC.
I don't think Dana White has a problem with Roy Nelson per se, I just get the overwhelming feeling that he was fired up about the man he went out on a limb to bring in to the UFC laying a complete egg in his debut. Although, his venomous words towards chubby heavyweights has become a bit of a trademark for the UFC's president. Just search "Dana White" and "Fedor Emelianenko" at the same time, you'll see what I mean.
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