kimbo chose to be a thug instead of living a normal life. if he would of chose to apply himself in school, we would be seeing him on tv every sunday. . he had a full ride to university of miami but had a low gpa. when he failed out, he tried out for the dolphins but couldnt make first team so gave up all together. warren sapp, one of the best defensive players in recent times, said kimbo was one of the most talented porspects he had ever seen. kimbo had the oppurtunity to make something of himself but choose to be a thug. and the fact he gave bas the proverbial middle finger doesnt help him much. kimbo needs to stop acting this whole hood rat act. he could of been something but choose not to. besides, he is just there to increase the ratings.

untfighter265- that was easily the best post that I've ever seen you make on this forum board. Karma Bump!

Fair enough, I don't judge him for his earlier choices, he chose short term money over long term security. I think he is showing all his haters up at the moment by not reacting to what people say about him and what he did to bas was train slack and bas kicked him out, not exactly the proverbial middle finger.

You defending him against unfair criticism??

moored26 wrote:
Fair enough, I don't judge him for his earlier choices, he chose short term money over long term security. I think he is showing all his haters up at the moment by not reacting to what people say about him and what he did to bas was train slack and bas kicked him out, not exactly the proverbial middle finger.

I'd just like to point out that just because a criminal decides not to be a criminal anymore doesn't exactly excuse the crimes that they committed. We're quick to forget the image that Kimbo carries with him coming in as little more than a validated street-fighter. Some of us have been working very diligently for YEARS (more than a decade) to create the image of MMA as a legitimate sport and its fighters as true athletes. I take it pretty hard when a glorified street-fighter comes to this sport and tarnishes the reputation that I've worked out to help promote simply so he can be used as a marketing ploy. Kimbo is a prime example of the freak-show that Dana is using to draw views (right along with Brock Lesnar). I understand that he has a business to run, but I think it's bad for MMA as a whole. What does it say to future athletes? "Go beat up some people in some backyards, and if the videos are popular enough on YouTube then you can get into the UFC!"

Furthermore, I think my background in MMA is pretty well established, and I think that Tabwyo's is as well. I find it interesting that two of the guys who are VERY involved in promoting this sport are also the same two that are openly against the likes of Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice. Now I'm not faulting anyone in this forum for who they choose to support and/or their decision of whether or not to compete; but to say that we are unfairly attacking these guys might be a little bit of a stretch for me to go along with.

Sorry if that sounded like a rant, as it wasn't meant to be- I just hate watching the Kimbo Slice types getting huge breaks at the expense of the sport.

How has Kimbo tarnished the sport? Is it because of his style? and the fact he made his name fighting on the streets. I will give you a criminal, Melvin Guillard, doing drugs, should he also be shunned by you guys or is it because he is more talented that it is alright in this case.

Kimbo has come from a street fighting background, helio gracie was a street fighter, carlos gracie was a street fighter, they made money from fighting guys from other disciplines. But because they were doing it nicer, submitting guys instead of knocking them out its ok. They were criminals if you look at it your way and they are heroes to most MMA fighters including myself. I am by no way comparing Kimbo to the Gracies, but it fits the criteria you set down as a criminal. They also had videos of themselves beating guys in fights, they would let people see them and would have people challenge them from all around the world. Are they bad for the sport? Why is it so different? There are many criminals in MMA today but Kimbo is wrong because he is most famous.

As for the pop at what I said on another thread, you said Brock was unskilled, disrespectful and didn't deserve his shot at the title, I disagreed, I think it is unfair to say he is unskilled because he is one of the best heavyweight collegiate wrestlers ever, his size is an advantage obviously and I set down my reasons before as to why I think you are wrong in this case. You may think what I say about Mir is unfair criticism, but because I don't have a fight record I cannot have as valued an opinion?

I think we need to forget our egos for a while, lets talk like MMA fans, lets not let the weight of what we have or have not done in the past come into the discussions, it should play no part, it is not relevant to the point.