ESPN The Magazine

T-Bone · 04-30-2008, 11:50 AM

Kimbo sells. EliteXC benefits!

Somewhere a loudmouth bald man is pissed off.

Kimbo Slice to grace cover of ESPN The Magazine | MMAjunkie.com

Quote:

EliteXC heavyweight Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson will grace the cover of ESPN The Magazine next month to coincide with the organization's May 31 network television debut.

Ferguson, who faces James Thompson in the main event of EliteXC's debut "Saturday Night Fights" event on CBS, will become only the second mixed-martial-arts fighter to appear on the magazine's cover.

Then-UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, who was featured on the May 7, 2007 cover, was the first.

Ferguson owns just a 2-0 career record, but his former profession as an underground street fighter who found stardom on YouTube and other video-sharing sites propelled him to instant fame in MMA. After a quick victory over (then) 46-year-old former boxer Ray Mercer in an exhibition bout, Ferguson accepted an offer from Gary Shaw and signed a contract with EliteXC in October 2007.

Ferguson has since posted two quick victories -- a 19-second stoppage of Bo Cantrell and a 43-second knockout of David "Tank" Abbott -- and recently signed a contract extension with the organization.

On May 31, he headlines "EliteXC: PRIMETIME," the first-ever MMA event to air live on major U.S. network television. The event takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The photo shoot for the magazine cover took place this past Thursday in Thousand Oaks, Calif. A behind-the-scenes video of the shoot can be found above.

opsy · 04-30-2008, 12:50 PM

I respect him now as a real fighter, but he will forever be that dreadful link between street fighting and mma which plaques the majority's view of the sport. More media attention just confirms many people's beliefs.

T-Bone · 04-30-2008, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opsy

I respect him now as a real fighter, but he will forever be that dreadful link between street fighting and mma which plaques the majority's view of the sport. More media attention just confirms many people's beliefs.

I hear ya. I just hope the article talks about how seriously he is training and wants to improve in the world of MMA.

People are going to think what they wanna think no matter what though.

Drewplata · 04-30-2008, 01:29 PM

I'll be there on the 31st. I am interested to see how he is received. I will report.

KungFuGrip · 04-30-2008, 01:59 PM

Well at least it's not Sports Illustrated.

giguer · 04-30-2008, 08:01 PM

For sure he do the transition between street fight and mma. But the dude want to be good in mma. So he train hard.

Grrr · 05-02-2008, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bone

I hear ya. I just hope the article talks about how seriously he is training and wants to improve in the world of MMA.

People are going to think what they wanna think no matter what though.

It's the message he's been drumming in all his interviews so far. Good luck to him.