“This how a nigga eat!” When Kimbo
Slice, the monster who’s been pummeling poor souls into the south
Florida pavement these past few years, roars out these words with his
hands still dripping his latest victim’s blood, only one thought comes
to mind. “I sure don’t want to be his next meal”. Kimbo has taken the
fighting world by storm as he started out fighting any one who would
put up 10 G’s and had a backyard to brawl in. Now he has moved up to
professional fights by joining forces with the UFC where he defeated
Tank Abbott in a mere 43 seconds recently. We all know  Kimbo and have
seen his work via various Youtube clips and even now  Pay Per View
events but where did he come from and how did he get this way?

Kimbo was born Kevin Ferguson and was born and raised in Miami. He said
he was a bad kid but kept a clean record. Ferguson also says he has
never been to prison despite having what most would call a “prison
physique” . If you’ve never seen Kimbo just imagine what Rick Ross
would look like on steroids and with rabies. Yeah it’s rough. Kimbo,
unsurprisingly, was an athlete early on in his life playing for Miami
Palmetto High School. His football career didn’t extend past high
school however and he dropped out of The University of Miami after a
year and a half of attending.  Soon he found himself doing bodyguard
work for a Miami based porn company whose owners saw a way to  market
the big man. By 2005 they began setting up back yard fights for Kimbo
with the purse gradually growing until it hit the $10,000 mark.

A Kimbo backyard fight is a vicious sight. There will be blood. There
will be grown men being brought to their knees by the pain of another
grown man pummeling them with everything he’s got. When it would all be
done Kimbo would look right into the camera and let us know why the
other man had to get it so rough, “This how a nigga eat!” Looking for
further explanation? Don’t. Soon though the demand for Kimbo was so
great that back yard fights would not do it. The professional world was
the only place left for Kimbo to go.

Kimbo’s first sanctioned MMA fight was against former
champ Ray Mercer in Atlantic City, June 23 2007. Many thought that
under the skills of a real trained fighter Kimbo would crumble. Kimbo
choked Mercer out not even 2 minutes into the fight solidifying himself
as a real threat in the professional fight world. The real event
however happened after the fight as Kimbo called out Tank Abbott in
post fight interview to which Abbott accepted. Due to many delays that
fight didn’t happen until Feb. 16 2008. Once again with everyone
doubting him, Kimbo knocked out his opponent 43 seconds into the fight.

So why do we love Kimbo Slice so much? I think the obvious answer is Americans love violence. Raw, uncut, violence. Kimbo
gives us that so eagerly and hungrily. With his popularity now higher
than ever Kimbo plans to continue to fight professionally along with
other endeavors, one being a selection judge on BET’s new fighting show
“The Iron Ring”. His next fight has not yet been scheduled but when it
is I am confident that nothing or no one will stop Kimbo from eating.