Dana White knew Kimbo was fake all along and that's why he cut him after another terrible loss. I don't know his fans are so shocked. He is 2-3 in last 5 fights, ZERO Knockouts, and 2 of wins were GIFTS. (Thompson early stoppage, Houston Alexander a LHW human punching bag).
Reality TV Magic tried to paint this image that Kimbo was this humble, likeable guy that wanted to learn. Real MMA fans and Dana White knew this was BS all along.
Kimbo's first MMA trainer, Bas Rutten, was the first person to call out Kimbo. Bas said he was lazy (poor cardio) and too cocky to learn anything. Kimbo was already doing MMA 3 years before TUF. All of a sudden, he enters TUF and now he's just learning to sprawl? WTF did he train before? Obviously, not the ground game because he still looked lost on his back against Mitrione.
Quote from Bas about Kimbo's lack of training
“I misjudged him, he turned into a whole different person. I told him a few weeks ago, I had a sit down with him. I told him that he was an asshole and that I have zero respect (for him] and I cant train people that I have no respect for. Can’t ever…He just turned into a different guy, he didn’t need to do the things that I told him to do. He wasn’t going to go to the ground, you know? The day before the [Petruzelli] fight, I told him I wanted to go over heel hooks and escapes, and he said “Nah, its not going to go to the ground…I said ‘Ha, I like that attitude – but what if it does go to the ground?’ but he said ‘Its not going to go’. So I said OK, but don’t let me tell you ‘I told you so’ if he snaps your fuckin’ leg in half. He said ‘I don’t know if that’s a good thing for you to be telling me mentally, before a fight’! I said ‘I don’t think its a good thing for you not to be doing what I tell you, before the fight…If they don’t do what I say, they are out. I am there for the best interests of the fighters, I want them to win. If they don’t accept that, bye bye.”
It was actually pretty disgusting how they handled him on that whole show. So much focus on him, apparently giving him special privledges, making it seem like he was gonna come back even after he got eliminated.
Dana knew what he was doing... He got all the Kimbo "fans" to watch UFC a few times, get them hooked on the show and let them see what REAL Pro MMA fighters look like by seeing the other fights on the cards..and get rid of Kimbo when he lost.
He knew Kimbo isn't on Pro Fighter Level.. he knew all Kimbo fought were regular untrained out of shape guys in back yards...
PatrickFreitas - ^not to defend Gary Shaw, but he did the exact same thing. nobody at EliteXC actually believed Kimbo was a real MMA fighter. well, maybe Jared did.
Of course not. MMA is an entertainment business. Whatever brings in the fans and money..
Of course Dana knew this all along. Anyone with 1/2 a brain could see this as well. Dana did what Dana does best; Selling the sport out. Anything for money is his motto. lmao @ putting C-level talent in the worlds best MMA org. You'll never see this done in any other legit sport.
I'm just glad nobody has to hear about this irrational Kimbo-hate anymore unless these threads are going to follow him to anywhere he fights. It's over, you bitched, he's gone. Move on.
ABE FROMAN - I'm just glad nobody has to hear about this irrational Kimbo-hate anymore unless these threads are going to follow him to anywhere he fights. It's over, you bitched, he's gone. Move on.
Irrational?
How so? The dude had a youtube video and became an MMA star because of that? He had a weak skill set, zero ground, a terrible gas tank, suspect chin, even more suspect wins, and put on crappy fights. Yet the hate is irrational?
well, to be fair...even Dana gave him credit for the fact that his presence boosted the viewership of TUF up to a new level of success....so if Kimbo made Dana money...and vice versa...the cost of advertising on TUF went up thanks to Kimbo. And the Kimbo hate is irrational...at least in the UFC...he hasn't been treated unfairly at all...any fighter that brings their own fan base to the UFC gets a few perks.
clattymine - How so? The dude had a youtube video and became an MMA star because of that? He had a weak skill set, zero ground, a terrible gas tank, suspect chin, even more suspect wins, and put on crappy fights. Yet the hate is irrational?
Because it's like a true hate and the guy has really done nothing to deserve it. He did his best and he lost, I've seen worse fights than Kimbo's and they were put on by pros, let's not discuss a couple of the recent UFC's. It just doesn't seem like people are willing to write him off as a bad fighter, they just have this venom about a guy who has never bragged or come off disrespectful in public. It's like kicking a guy when he's down for no reason. I don't really get it.
clattymine - How so? The dude had a youtube video and became an MMA star because of that? He had a weak skill set, zero ground, a terrible gas tank, suspect chin, even more suspect wins, and put on crappy fights. Yet the hate is irrational?
Because it's like a true hate and the guy has really done nothing to deserve it. He did his best and he lost, I've seen worse fights than Kimbo's and they were put on by pros, let's not discuss a couple of the recent UFC's. It just doesn't seem like people are willing to write him off as a bad fighter, they just have this venom about a guy who has never bragged or come off disrespectful in public. It's like kicking a guy when he's down for no reason. I don't really get it.
Kind of true. I am not the biggest Kimbo fan, but the guy has done little else but come off with a decent attitude both on the show and elsewhere in regard to the sport. I also disagree with the premise that he didn't improve, because if you ask me he hit a couple of nice takedowns in his last two fights. However, that being said, he is clearly not interested in being an elite-level fighter. I'm not judging by suggesting that, but it seems to me that he's just been along for the ride and honestly, who could blame him? His story is an interesting one. I think he just wanted to gain some credibility, take it as far as it could go, and that's it.
That hate is from all the media and the huge amounts of ignorant fans saying that he's a great fighter. Then add the fact that Kimbo hasn't improved since he started doing MMA. He wasn't trying his best. If he did he would have more than 1 round of cardio after doing 4 years of MMA.
He is like the Paris Hilton of MMA. He has accomplished nothing and got all this undeserved media attention.
Dana White is right. There are better, harder working guys out there that deserve the spotlight.