Kimbo Slice, the street fighter turned Youtube sensation, turned Elite XC heavyweight contender, turned victim of Seth Petruzelli’s jab, now turned Ultimate Fighter, recently discussed his experience on The Ultimate Fighter and how the whole deal came about with ESPN Radio 1100. Here are some of the highlights from the interview.
“I am here to be an Ultimate Fighter. I was street certified, now it’s time to be Ultimate Fighting certified. I gotta thank Dana for letting me prove myself.”
Speaking on how the offer came to be, Kimbo added, “It was up to the brains, my managers took care of everything. They talked to the UFC and set the whole thing up.
“When I first heard of it I was a little excited, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m the only guy in here with a bulls eye on my back.
“Being in the house, it’s kinda like jail, except these guys now how to fight. It’s different. At any given time you gotta fight, you gotta sit and wait. I sit in one spot, in a blue room, or a green room for hours, it kinda [expletive] with you.”
When asked about his relationship with former trainer Bas Rutten, Kimbo said, “Bas was more of a mental support. He put me in the mind frame of being in the cage, dealing with a ref, using gloves and everything that comes with the sport.”
Kimbo added, “I’m still at Elite MMA. But I only had a couple weeks to work on some things before I came into the house.”
Kimbo was later asked what it was like after the shocking loss to Seth Petruzelli, to which he said “It was a reality check after the loss. Now it’s about knowing where not to make the same mistake again. This sport is 100% mental, and 70% physical. Nobody comes in at 100% physically. I was kinda messed up mentally with the way everything went down before the last fight.
“I took a little time off, while the organization (Elite XC) dealt with what they had to deal with.”
Kimbo also commented on his experience in the house so far, “It’s a learning process. I met Rampage, I met Rashad. I just hope to learn something from it. I’m away from my family, my kids, so I just hope to learn something good in a positive way. Everyone respects each other to a certain extent.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Kimbo seems to have entered this new challenge with a positive and humble approach. But will it pay off in the cage? Find out when season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter premieres September 16th on Spike.
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