The Kimbo Dilemma
On Saturday night, Kimbo made his official UFC debut. Despite not winning a fight on the show and being trashed…
On Saturday night, Kimbo made his official UFC debut. Despite not winning a fight on the show and being trashed by Dana White a countless number of times, Kimbo was featured on the event poster in place of the two fighters that made it to the finale. His fight was far more promoted than any other fight on the card, and during the show you could tell what the real main event was.
Something’s different about this time though. EliteXC promoted him as a world beater. They wanted those 6.1 million viewers to believe that Kimbo was the baddest man on the planet and could fly. Maybe not the last part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought about going in that direction. The UFC is taking a different approach. They know Kimbo isn’t the best heavyweight fighter in the world; they know he’ll never be that (though they may not admit it now). What Kimbo is is a man fighting for acceptance, whether comes from the fans, media, or his peers. He is a work in progress; a man just trying to become a legitimate MMA fighter.
I purposely went into detail about how Kimbo’s first four opponents weren’t guys that should be fighting “the best striker on the planet.” The thing is, they weren’t fighting that guy. They were fighting a rookie trying to get some experience. Look the records of all the fighters in the UFC, a lot of them will have fights against fighters you’ve never heard of that have bad records.
Take Matt Hughes for instance. As well all know, Hughes is the greatest welterweight in the history of the sport. Back in college, he was an All-American wrestler for Eastern Illinois University. That’s a great background to have for MMA and certainly better credentials than Kimbo had in striking when he entered MMA. Matt’s first opponent was Erick Snyder, whom he fought twice. Mr. Snyder finished his career with a 2-8 professional MMA record. Look at these records:
Craig Quick – 0-1
Joe Guist – 0-2
Maynard Marcum – 2-2
Daniel Vianna – 2-2-1
Marcelo Aguiar – 2-3-1
Tom Schmitz – 3-3
Joe Stern – 4-4
Clearly, none of them are world beaters. They probably shouldn’t have fought a guy like Hughes with an established, good wrestling base. However, even the best prospects get some warm up fights. They need to get acclimated to the sport of mixed martial arts in a way you can’t in the gym.
Kimbo wasn’t even a good prospect. By the time he started MMA, Kimbo was over 30, had no ground skills, and his stand-up was average at best. Even today, there’s virtually no chance he becomes a top heavyweight.
Kimbo needs to gain experience, doesn’t have a lot of potential, and is still learning the sport, but he’s one of the most popular fighters in MMA because of his YouTube fights. That is the Kimbo Problem. Any organization he signs with is going to come under fire by fans because they promote him more than better, younger fighters with more potential. But the reason they promote him more because he draws more money.
It’s not Kimbo’s fault that he’s popular. You can’t blame him for trying to chase the American Dream and feed his family. He’s giving MMA his best shot, that’s all you can really ask for. Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson, and Fedor Emelianenko are all among the most popular fighters in the sport. They’re also the best (or were the best) fighters in the world. Kimbo is certainly among the most popular fighters in MMA, but he’s an outcast in that category because he’s the only MMA mega-star that isn’t very good and never was. He’s a unique fighter that presents a very unique problem.
MMA fans may not like it, but they’re going to have to make peace with it. Kimbo will continue to be heavily promoted while not fighting near top level competition. Just hope they stick with the ‘still learning’ angle.
