Kimbo Slice proved that fans still want to watch him fight.
Even though Slice took a rest from fighting for five years, his comeback fight against Ken Shamrock got the highest ratings in the history of Bellator. On top of it all, Slice managed to win the fight over his contender after managing to get back up from the ground. When Slice appeared in The MMA Hour recently, he went on and talked about his plans on fighting, what he did to win over Shamrock, and addressed the issue that the fight might have been fixed.
Slice shared his thoughts about coming back to the cage after a brief hiatus from fighting.
“It felt good. You kinda miss it. You know what to expect from it. You just build up a confidence level know because all those years you f–king learned to love the sport. What I took for granted back then, I kinda embrace now, which is the ground game. I added more into a workout rather than just standing up, f–king someone holding pads and going through that ritual. I can do that with my eyes closed. I can do that in my sleep. What’s still a little new is that ground. With everything, you still can learn different s–t from it. No matter how much you train in it, you still find yourself learning something different,” he said.
During the fight, Slice almost tapped out when Shamrock nearly choked him out of the fight. He went on explaining how he managed to wriggle out of the choke and win the fight.
“You kinda know where you’re at, so you don’t tap. It’s like, worst case, you just wake the f–k up and that’s it. No matter what happens, don’t bring yourself to tap. Considering that was happening in the back of my mind, I was just listening to my corners scream and yell, remembering the ritual: go to your back, go from there. Just remembering those steps. I was able to pull that s–t off,” he recalled.
Slice also expressed his happiness when he witnessed how fans welcomed him back in the mixed martial arts industry, what he felt about his popularity, and his reaction when he found out how much success the fight with Shamrock garnered.
“The s–t was awesome. I gotta a lot fans out there that love to see me fight. That’s one thing you can’t change, you can’t stop. I’m going to put asses in seats. Those numbers are going to be there. I’m going to fight and they know when you’re coming to watch a Kimbo Slice fight – no matter who the f–k his opponent is – that’s gonna be a fight. Somebody’s getting knocked the f–k out. Something’s happening in that fight, in that match with Kimbo and whoever. That alone is going to stick with me until my days are done,” Slice said.
Here’s what Slice had to say about his popularity:
“People relate to me. I relate to them. Our come up is the same. I don’t think that I’m a superstar celebrity you can’t f–king touch. You see me on TV, so that’s celebrity status. I’m fighting in professional sports and also celebrity status. But you also see me in your local stores, you see me on the streets, you see me doing the same s–t you’re doing with your family and your kids. To see that alone is why they can relate to me, for that reason right there is why, I guess, a lot of fans and the average person can relate. Because I’m a real motherf–ker just like them. I gotta grind just like they gotta grind. I get up and get my s–t going in the morning just like they do, put my pants on one leg at a time. I don’t think I’m all that. I don’t think I’m better than the next man. But if it’s a one-on-one fight and we gotta fight, I’m bang your ass up, you can believe that.”
On the idea of his MMA fight with Shamrock being fixed, he simply said,
“I find it humorous, to be honest with you.”