Kimbo Slice hasn't yet proven that he can make a successful transition from street fighting to mixed martial arts, but by accepting a spot on the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, he has given himself the opportunity. And Kimbo says he's learned a lot about how much harder it is to fight in the Octagon than to fight in the street.
"A person like me, my style ... with these guys as skillful as they are, knowing all these different dimensions of fighting, a person of my caliber, yeah, I'd probably just get smashed," Kimbo says in a promotional video with Spike.com. "In order to be on a professional level, you've got to train as a professional. ... The Ultimate Fighter is as big as it gets. What I was doing wasn't Ultimate Fighting, it was just street fighting. You've got to be a kickboxer. A Thai boxer. A wrestler, jiu jitsu. You've got to know how to defend sprawls and have a feel for different submissions coming. It's a science behind that."
I don't expect Kimbo to win the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, and I don't think he's ever going to be able to beat the top fighters in the UFC. But I do admire the fact that he accepted the challenge, and I think his presence on the show is going to make Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter a lot more interesting. Kimbo may not have the talent of a great athlete, but he does have the charisma of a star. And on a reality TV show, that counts for a lot.
Here's the other part of Kimbo's Spike interview: