![]() It's hard to imagine Slice's trademark look - or his combination of bald head, braided hair on the sides and mini ponytail in the back - would have worked for anyone else. While no one would mistake comparing the abilities of the two, they shared that unavoidable element of raw transparency as to who they really were. Slice's backyard fights brought a certain element of fear through the screen that's hard to explain and hasn't been seen since the days of Mike Tyson. He found work in strip clubs and eventually as a bodyguard in the adult film industry.Įverything about him felt alarmingly real. It's a testament to the reason why we couldn't take our eyes off him from the beginning: Slice was a legit tough guy who was born to be a fighter, and despite some of the bizarre moments that followed, he never stopped being true to that identity.īorn in the Bahamas in 1974, Slice battled poverty in Miami and was later homeless in his adult life after an injury brought an end to his college football dreams. Given his backstory, Slice's MMA run is nothing short of remarkable, progressing from backyards to the UFC in record time despite the fact that he didn't pick up the sport until his mid-30s. ![]() Years before Billy Corben's documentary "Dawg Fight" shined a light on the culture of Miami street fighting, the character of Kimbo Slice provided an unforgettable introduction.Ī little more than a decade later, following a meteoric rise as a professional fighter (running the gamut from sideshow to legit, and back again), Slice died on Monday in South Florida at the age of 42. In fact, for many, there was a competing element to the emotions at play, alternating between excitement, fear and shame. The fights, staged for cash throughout backyards and empty parking lots in Miami, produced unforgettable emotions for each viewer. ![]() Slice, born Kevin Ferguson, forced random tough guys with names like "Dreads" and "Chico" into submission with the loud popping of his bare hands. — - The exact time and place may differ from person to person, but the portal in which Kimbo Slice first became part of our collective consciousness was likely the same: YouTube, roughly a decade ago, prompted by a friend's instruction to type "backyard street fight" into the fledgling video site's search engine.
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