'Slice' Hits Open Market
“Kimbo Slice” is officially a free agent.
Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, was released from the Pro Elite organization on May 13, according to an SEC filing.
Ferguson’s manager and longtime friend, Mike Imber, also confirmed to Sherdog.com Tuesday that his client could not come to a new fight deal with Strikeforce, who obtained an option to purchase the bearded Internet phenomenon’s contract from Pro Elite last February.
Ferguson (3-1) fought three times for Pro Elite under its EliteXC banner. Two of those bouts were main-event attractions featured on CBS and are the No. 1 and No. 3 most-watched fights in U.S. history, topping off at 7.3 million viewers.
Slice’s contract was thought to have been one of 42 fight agreements purchased by the Strikeforce promotion as part of a $3 million select assets acquisition deal with the ailing Pro Elite. The fighter acquisitions were a part of a 3-year, 16-event-per-year deal that the San Jose-based promotion struck with Showtime. The deal also leaves the door open for four live events to air on CBS, which owns the premium pay channel.
“We had an option to exercise Kimbo’s contract from Pro Elite,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “Basically out of all those fighters we took, he was the only one that we didn’t grab –- it was an option to take [Slice’s contract.] With that option, there was an expiration date on it.”
Coker said negotiations were held over the last three months through a third party he “felt had a better relationship” with Ferguson and his management, and that he never met with Slice and Imber face-to-face.
“In the very beginning, we tried to have dialogue with them about trying to make the deal a little more realistic and we just couldn’t work it out. At the end of the day, if we would have worked it out, we would have exercised the option,” said Coker.
Imber, who went to high school with Ferguson, said that Strikeforce offered Slice a pay scale less than what was stipulated in his EliteXC contract.
Ferguson received $175,000 for his 43-second knockout of David “Tank” Abbott at EliteXC “Street Certified” in February 2008. His pay jumped to $500,000 for his 14-second loss last October at the hands of Seth Petruzelli, a light heavyweight who was pulled up from the undercard after Ken Shamrock was deemed medically ineligible to fight that same day.
“They wanted us to fight for less,” said Imber. “I wouldn’t say dramatically [less], but there were just a lot of moving parts in the contract. Once you start moving one, they all kind of got moved around. It just didn’t work out, I guess.”
Both sides expressed interest in negotiating again in the future.
“I still think that we’ll continue the dialogue and at some point, if he really wants to fight in MMA, then we’ll let him fight for us. Why not?” said Coker. “He was an Internet phenomenon that went mainstream on CBS and Showtime and the support he was given last year really propelled his popularity. Why not put him back in the mix? We just need to talk about a different arrangement, that’s all.”
Coker said he wasn’t heavily pressured by Showtime or CBS to seal a deal with the first fighter to ever appear on the cover of ESPN the Magazine.
“The name came up in the beginning, but there was a bit of a backlash on the bit of the event with the Seth Petruzelli fight, said Coker. “They saw the positive and they also saw the downside. Kimbo’s a great athlete, but [Pro Elite] threw him in a ‘baptism by fire.’”
Imber said Slice’s options remain wide open. Gary Shaw, who promoted Slice under the EliteXC moniker at one time, made overtures for the backyard brawling icon last week, announcing that Slice would make his pro boxing debut under his promotion.
Imber said no deals –- boxing, MMA or otherwise –- have been finalized. Imber added that he wasn’t certain if the 34-year-old fighter would enter a boxing ring or an MMA cage/ring next.
“I can’t give you any updates right now, but when I do you’re going to be very impressed and shocked,” said Imber. “I can tell you his MMA career is far from over. We have a bunch of other options –- Japan and others. Now that we're actually free to explore them, we’re doing it.”
With his undeniable notoriety and mass-market appeal, Ferguson could become an unlikely, but not out-of-the-question candidate for “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series on Spike TV, which is rumored to be casting heavyweights for its upcoming season. Imber wasn’t hesitant to address that possibility though.
“That’s not an option right now,” he said.
