Brown reflects on his time with Kimbo Slice
Mike Brown joined the Luke Thomas show on Sirius XM Radio and talked about his time with Kimbo Slice and his thoughts about the man he was.
American Top Team coach Mike Brown had a special relationship with heavyweight Kimbo Slice and recently reflected on his passing and his place in the history of MMA.
Brown joined the Luke Thomas show on Sirius XM Radio and talked about his time with Kimbo and his thoughts about the man he was:
You and Brad Pickett are your own odd couple, but the real odd couple is you and Slice. It seemed like it really worked. Why did you guys work so well together?
I think he trusted me and he had faith in me. That’s the biggest thing. He knew I wasn’t going to bulls–t him. He knew that I knew what I was talking about. We were going to work together and try to get better.
Slice was not the best heavyweight ever, but he is an important part of MMA, particularly in the U.S. When you think about his contribution to MMA, what strikes you?
It’s funny. Like you said, he wasn’t maybe the best heavyweight in the world, but he never ever claimed to be. That’s one thing, he was so humble. You never hear him talk about how good he is. He was just willing to fight anybody.
A lot of people would knock at him because everybody – maybe some jealousy, I think – people would want what he had because he was so successful. He drew so many big numbers, so many people wanted to fight him. But he never talked bad about anybody even though so many people would talk negative about him. I thought that was really great how he always stayed humble in that way.
Did he ever struggle with the criticism, with experienced fighters who didn’t understand things like card placement?
I’ve never seen him struggle, no. Not at all. The reason he was top of the bill is because he’s such a big draw. Everyone wanted to see him fight. That’s just the reality.
This is the truth about Slice. When he first appeared, I didn’t know what to make of him. However, even if you were a skeptic – and in 2007 or 2008, I was – he just won people over.
Yes, and I think it’s because he was so humble and he wasn’t afraid to fight. With minimal training, he was legit fights.
Think about when he fought Ray Mercer. The guy has, what, maybe ten backyard street fights and then he fights Ray Mercer in a MMA fight, the guy who was former heavyweight champion of the world in boxing for his first fight and wins? That’s pretty crazy.
Then beating guys like Houston Alexander and James Thompson, these guys trained for a long time at top gyms. Kimbo hadn’t trained very long when he beat those guys.
