Petruzelli takes a Slice out of Kimbo

Many people who have been waiting for Youtube sensation turned mixed martial artist, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson falter finally got their wish on Saturday.

The former street brawler who rose to fame through a series of viral videos finally experienced the first hiccup in his short and controversial MMA career.

Slice was TKO'd by "The Ultimate Fighter" season-two contestant Seth Petruzelli in only 14 seconds. The loss was a devastating one for the inexperienced Slice, who has been headlining EliteXC cards despite the fact that he has only four professional fights to his credit.

I've had mixed feelings about Slice's MMA career and must confess that I am not disappointed to see him lose. He had turned into an enormous hype machine that was built more on style than substance, and EliteXC has exploited his internet fame from day one.

My biggest beef with Slice has been his reputation. I've talked with many people who think that Kimbo could knockout any living person based solely on some backyard fights they've seen on the internet.

These people tend to ignore the fact he is 34 years-old, has only been training MMA for about a year-and-a-half and has never truly been tested. His supporters like to point to the devastating knockouts of Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott, as well as his submission victory over former heavyweight boxing champ Ray Mercer. Nobody mentions that Mercer was 46 years-old, with little to no training when it comes to ground fighting when they fought or that Abbott, who even in his prime was little more than a street fighter like Kimbo, had lost seven of his previous eight fights heading into his fight with Slice and had won one fight since 1998. Cantrell has a 10-11 pro record and his loss to Slice was his fifth defeat in a row.

Then there is the James Thompson fight--the fight I thought would hush all those lauding Kimbo as the greatest heavyweight of all-time. Slice defeated Thompson in the third round of their scrap in controversial fashion. Nevermind that Thompson was winning the fight on all judges' scorecards or that he at one point landed something like 30 unanswered strikes to a prone Slice. The biggest revelation to come out of that fight was the fact that Slice was unable to KO Thompson. Now, officially he did receive the TKO victory, but many believed the fight was stopped early. The fact that Slice was unable to put "The Colossus" to sleep was unforgivable. After all, Thompson has been knocked out an astonishing eight times in 23 fights. The man is notorious for having a glass jaw and the great brawler could not knock him out.

The Thompson fight also exposed Kimbo's non-existent ground game. Thompson was taking Slice down with lumbering takedowns for which Kimbo had no defense. If he couldn't defend the takedown against Thomspon, what's going to happen to him if he ever fights someone with even an average ground game?

After bashing Kimbo for the previous three paragraphs, I will give him some props. He does possess that "you've gotta see it" factor. I, like many others, have watched his fights on the internet and the dude can beat the poo out of people. I have seen all of his fights because, I must admit, I'm interested in seeing him fight. It's probably naive to expect people to grade Kimbo on his merit and not his hype, but he is a spectacle that makes you want to see him knock someone's teeth out. And, win or lose, I'll still tune in.

It's interesting to see where Petruzelli goes from here. He wore out his status as a prospect after compiling a 0-2 record in the UFC, and a win over Slice does not make "The Silverback" a contender. But his management has to love this win.

Petruzelli, regardless of whether he wins another fight, is a promotable figure that can always be billed as the guy that beat Kimbo Slice. Even if he flares out on the national stage, his name will be big enough to headline smaller shows for the rest of his career.

The big question though, is where do Kimbo and Petruzelli go from here? Slice looks like he's been knocked down a peg, and it will be interesting to see how EliteXC markets him from now on. I think his next fight will be against Ken Shamrock, his original opponent for this card, but after that I don't know what the organization will do with him. He's obviously still a crowd-drawing name, but to retain that luster he's going to have to win. It's going to be difficult for EliteXC to find beatable opponents for him that they can sell. Sure, they could go out and get some no-name and throw him to the wolves; people will watch Slice regardless of who he's facing, but to really get the people watching, it's going to have to be a name people recognize.

Petruzelli's situation is even more complicated. I don't think the Kimbo win gives him enough fame to headline a card, but he's definitely main-card material. Does this victory turn him into a contender? I don't know, but I would have to say probably not. Another issue is Petruzelli's weight class. He has competed at heavyweight in the past, but he's a natural 205er. His original fight was to be held at light heavyweight, but the Slice fight was worth it for him to move up. I've read rumors that he could fight EliteXC light-heavyweight champ Rafael Feijao next, and that fight would certainly be marketable.

If I were EliteXC I would pit Slice against Shamrock next and beyond that maybe they can convince Justin Eilers to move back to heavyweight or perhaps they'll give him a crack at Jon Murphy, it's difficult to tell. As for Petruzelli, I think he will probably get a fight against someone he can easily beat, again, maybe Eilers, and then let him have a go at Feijao.