The Ultimate Fighter 10 Press Conference with Kimbo Slice

TUF 10 contestant Kimbo Slice discusses his upcoming fight with Roy "Big Country" Nelson and his MMA career

The UFC has been receiving record audiences for this season’s Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, in large part due to former YouTube street fighter sensation Kimbo Slice. Slice is sucking up the attention and the endorsement money that comes with it. It wasn’t long ago UFC President Dana White had nothing good to say about Slice. That of course was when Slice was competing for another promotion. Now, White has a press conference specific to Slice for his 1st TUF fight. White may be more hypocritical than any other President in American sports but he is no dummy; he saw the dollar signs and as he often does, put away his prejudice and brought Slice to The Ultimate Fighter. He even introduced Slice separate from the other cast members. Does Slice’s experience or record deserve such special treatment? One year ago White would have introduced Slice in a different manner which would be significantly edited even for cable television. This is the same Dana White who was infuriated by Slice’s hype while in EliteXC; stating it was undeserved and gave the sport a black eye. How would one describe the black eye from UFC’s Kimbo hype machine? Regardless of how good or bad Slice looks on the show; you can guarantee Slice will be on the card riding the UFC ship down to Memphis.

The call was designed to discuss Slice’s battle against Roy Nelson. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the media questions were centered on meaningless rhetoric, which is typical from most of the sports media. Roy Nelson was brought up only a few times, instead YouTube and street fighting was the focus. One media member even mentioned someone finally carrying the torch for street fighters. What? The real story is Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson. Keep in mind, no matter the spin job, Kimbo Slice lost to an average fighter in Seth Petruzelli and is a limited and inexperienced mixed-martial artist. Kimbo’s skills are not that of a main event fighter or even a main card fighter in the UFC.

Kimbo Slice will face experienced heavyweight Roy "Big Country" Nelson (pictured) on Wednesday night's 3rd episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10

Notes from the Kimbo Slice Press Conference:

• When asked if this is how he wanted it, facing a tough fighter out of the gate, Kimbo replied yes. Kimbo stated its cool.
• When asked if there was someone he wanted to face in the house. Kimbo replied he had no time for that shit. He just wanted to fight when his name is called.
• Kimbo stated he plans to be in his 1st camp. He will train with American Top Team. He said he may train with Greg Jackson in the future as well.
• When asked what he knew about Roy Nelson prior to the show Kimbo stated - I saw his fights in the IFL against Ben Rothwell and Andrei Arlovski.
• Kimbo commented on job security due to the ratings thus far on TUF- They are businessmen, they know what’s up.
• Asked about his thoughts on the reported retirement of Rampage Jackson, Kimbo replied - he will not walk away from the UFC. Kimbo stated he hasn’t talked to him but thinks he is putting is career on hold. He said he would have done the same thing with the opportunity for that type of movie. Kimbo stated he has a lot of respect for Rampage.
• When asked if he joined The Ultimate Fighter to improve his public perception or just to compete in the UFC, Kimbo replied who didn’t care about public perception and was just concerned with putting food on the table for his family.
• Kimbo commented on his relationship with UFC President Dana White - It’s not like we sit down and drink tea and eat toast. He is a businessman and I’m a fighter.
• When asked what we could expect in his fight with Roy Nelson, Kimbo stated he was proud of his performance and has nothing to cry about.
• When told Seth Petruzelli stated Kimbo turned down re-match offers, Kimbo became very angry stated where did you hear that? That isn’t true. Damn right I will run with him again anywhere. I don’t like liars. It’s not about revenge, it’s not personal it’s just BS. He is lying.

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Will the hype falter or will Kimbo actually train with a team and stick to it? Only time will tell.