by MMAjunkie.com Staff [mmajunkie-staff] on Apr 01, 2008 at 12:22 pm in - News -
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-5), arguably MMA's biggest star just as the sport began its march toward the mainstream, is appalled by Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (2-0) and says a checkered past of beating up a "bunch of guys on the street" is the only reason for his popularity.
Liddell talked about EliteXC's prized heavyweight in a recent interview with our friend Mark Gilbert of The Sun.
According to Liddell, Ferguson is training and learning MMA, but he "hasn't done anything" to earn the praise he receives.
"Kimbo's one of those guys who doesn't have any ground game," Liddell told The Sun. "He's training and he's learning but he's been built up as such a big star, and that's the thing that bothers me.
"People talk about him like he's the next great thing when he really hasn't done anything. He's been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street."
Ferguson's initial fame came from underground fight videos posted on YouTube and other video-sharing websites. Based in Miami, the 34-year-old almost always dominated his opponents in the bare-knuckle fights. (Ferguson, though, was eventually stopped by Boston police officer Sean Gannon, who was later signed by the UFC with a mere 1-0 professional record.)
"I could make some impressive knockout videos too if you let me walk outside and just punch people and knock them out -- "hey you, come fight!" Liddell told The Sun. "F*** we can make a highlight reel tomorrow and go round beating people up and talking about it. We could just go up to people and start dropping them. Wow!"
Liddell is currently slated to face Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 85, an event that takes place June 7 in London. After winning seven consecutive fights, Liddell suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career, losing his belt to Quinton Jackson in the process. He rebounded for a victory over Wanderlei Silva in December.
Ferguson, meanwhile, is slated to headline the first EliteXC-CBS event on May 31. The organization hasn't announced an opponent, but James Thompson appears to be the leading candidate.
hmmmmmmm......the iceman just hit the "kimbo" thing right on the head. I agree with everything he said(maybe for the first time i ever agreed with chuck)
Chuck earned some a lot more respect from me for these qoutes......would like to see chuck KTFO of kimbo.
If my boy James "the collosus" Thompson does face Kimbo on CBS,I really hope he exposes him.
I love Bas Rutten, and i gotta commend kimbo for surrounding himself with him, and taking our beloved sport serious, but he is very overrated, and has yet to beat anybody noteworthy. not only that his last two fights almost seemed like works. so hopefully Kimbo gets a rude awakening soon
Liddell does have a point, but he sounds like a major league HATER! Chuck hasn't been a big draw in awhile and his brawl and run style hasn't served him well. That's why when Rampage whipped that ass he fell off so easy. Boring kickboxer. When Jardine beat him, he looked like he was ready to retire. He fought Silva and fought NOT to lose. Chuck is a big knockout away from being a has been.
He probably should be talking up a Kimbo! Kimbo brings a degree of excitement to this sport. Why not embrace him. Chuck has been acting like a spoiled brat since he got his ass whipped!
Hell, we know Kimbo can't beat a top tier fighter. He's not experienced enough. A big ground fighter will tap him out! We all know that.
So hopefully Chuck see's Kimbo as a "Tiger Woods" of MMA. He brought alot of attention to the sport.
What a bunch of losers. Chuck can't state his opinion when answering a question in an interview, but anonymous dick heads on the internet can say whatever they want. Brock would take Kimbo down, and pound the shit out of him.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-5), arguably MMA's biggest star just as the sport began its march toward the mainstream, is appalled by Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (2-0) and says a checkered past of beating up a "bunch of guys on the street" is the only reason for his popularity.