If they can put Brock Lesnar in the octagon then why not Kimbo? I saw the fight where he lost but he has been training with Bas Rutten. Plus Kimbo is fiery and competitive enough to at least make it interesting. Truthfully I just wanna see someone who can last more than a few punches against him, or at least a round.
Kimbo is a beast and has the drawing power to attract fans due to his YouTube fame, but still hasn't proven himself to fight at the elite level. When Kimbo lost to Sean Ganon he was a street fighter with limited skills and no ground game. He's definitely improved much since then. He's been training with "El Guapo" and sacrificed the beer and the babes to focus on professional fighting. While Kimbo has improved much, I think he still needs a few more notches under his belt for the UFC to take him seriously. I think UFC signed Brock "The Next Big Thing" Lesner because he has a collegiate wrestling background, and like Kimbo has a following. I believe he was in the WWF from 2002-2004. Many fighters with a wrestling background have made a smooth transition to MMA ie (Matt Hughes, Josh Koschek, Dan Severn) Lesnar's collegiate wrestling stats: "Lesnar finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion with a record of 106-5 overall in four years of college" (Wiki). The wrestling gives him some street-cred. (BTW, he should of power-bombed Frank Mir!)
Kimbo vs Mark "The Super Samoan" Hunt <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHAouKKHYIU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHAouKKHYIU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
That fight wasn't impressive at all. For godssake Hidehiko Yoshida roughed up Tank and choked him out several years ago. Tank's washed up and just looking for some money to pay for that next beer. Put Kimbo in the ring w/ Lesnar and let those roid-raged freaks destroy one another. Now THAT would be entertaining.
I'd still like to see Kimbo vs some legit talent. There's a lot to be said for a mean KO punch, which he has.
His power on the KO punch reminds me a little of Gary Goodrich. Of course, Goodrich could do some things with his legs as well, and his ground game wasn't bad. But I'd say Kimbo is quicker.
lol... if you're trying to place Kimbo's progress by using a fight against Tank Abbott as the barometer, you're not going to figure anything out. Tank was washed up years ago. He never trains for any fights and the joke around MMA circles now is any promoter that wants a bit of a draw will pull Tank out of the local bar, beer still in hand, and Tank will accept for the money. He collects his paycheck and moves on. The guy has lost something like 9 of his last 10 fights before the Kimbo fight, I think.
