A Little Slice of Bullshit

It's good to see the new glamour sport, MMA, is going the route of boxing. Boxing, of course, is a mega-money business that ruined itself with promoters and organizers colluding to ensure certain marketable names got big fights. We never knew who the grand bad-ass was, as the best fighters never met unless there was a big prize. The potentials never got tested lest an unknown, hand-picked bum put their golden boy on his ass. And so, the glorious days of boxing came to an end and fans watched dejectedly as "judges" handed obvious losses to the supposed contenders on their way to meeting in prime time, pay-per-view matches made in heaven (or in the minds of seedy promoters and greedy television execs).

MMA was the savior of brutal sport fans everywhere. The days of watching tapes of people like Ken Shamrock were over as the variations on ultimate fighting exploded across the television landscape. Fans were overjoyed. This was the real deal.

Enter Kimbo Slice....and right back out again. Fourteen seconds of glorious action. Kimbo, the baddest man alive, felled by a journeyman 30 pounds lighter and 2 inches shorter. By a man, Seth Petruzelli, that was such a nonentity in the sport, he was scheduled to be on the non-televised undercard until 44-year old Ken Shamrock (who hadn't won himself in four years) was scratched after cutting his eye in training Saturday.

Made for TV, but maybe not for MMA. Just don't suggest that to Kimbo or his crew, who got paid an undisclosed bonus for accepting the new "challenge" so late in the game. You can't blame them for taking the money.

Only in America!