The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A fight that was more than six years in the making didn’t last a round as Bahamian born Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson rebounded from a strangle hold that could have singled the end, by landing a solid right to knock out a bloodied legendary Ken Shamrock for a well-deserved victory.

The much anticipated mixed martial arts fight at the Scottrade Center in St Louis and carried live on Spike TV lasted just two minutes and 22 seconds in the first round.

Fighting in the main event of the card dubbed: “Unfinished Business,” the 51-year-old Shamrock came out the aggressor as he trapped the 41-year-old Ferguson on the ropes into the cage.

After the two fighters got into the middle of the ring, they separated and the 204.4-pound Shamrock, known as “the world’s most dangerous man,” rushed in for a takedown. As the 232-pound Ferguson turned on his back, Shamrock caught him in a neck choke hold.

While it appeared to be a tightly gripped hold, it was underneath the chin and when the six-foot Shamrock eased up, 6-2 Ferguson was able to break free and the two fighters got back to their feet as they tried to catch their breath. That seemed to have been the break that Ferguson needed as he wobbled Shamrock with a left. After missing a couple more shots, Ferguson then landed a right that stunned Shamrock sending him face first into the ropes and then on the ground.

As Ferguson tried to get in a few more blows with Shamrock on his back on the canvas, referee John McCarthy stepped in and called it off. He felt Shamrock was too dazed to continue.

After the fight, Shamrock, who was left with a cut on both his left and right eye, immediately hugged and congratulated Ferguson even though he had predicted that he would break Ferguson’s legs.

Slice admitted that despite getting into the jam and although it appeared as if he was out of it, “I never thought about tapping because there was no way that I was going to lose the fight.”

With the victory, Ferguson improved to 5-2, while the loss dropped Shamrock to 28-16-2.

The two were originally scheduled to face each other at EliteXC “Heat” on October 4, 2008, but Shamrock was forced to pull out of the fight at the last minute after he suffered an accidental cut during his warm up. Slice eventually took on Seth Petruzelli and got stopped in 14 seconds in the first round.

Ferguson would return to action two years later, losing in a second round technical knockout to Matt Mitrione. That same year, Shamrock had his last fight when he suffered a first round TKO to Mike Burke at King of the Cage “Platinum.”

Ferguson was born in Step Street, Fox Hill, but he moved to Miami, Florida with his family when he was a boy. After he attended both Bethune Cookman University and the University of Miami, Ferguson tried out for the Miami Dolphins football team in 1997, but was cut. He then got into street fights and after cutting one of his opponents under his right eye, he was given the nickname Slice, which was added to his childhood name of Kimbo.

Taking a break from the martial arts where he had compiled a 5-1 record, Ferguson ventured in pro boxing in 2010 and he posted a 7-0 record up to 2013 before it was announced on January 16, 2015 that Bellator MMA had signed him to a multi-fight deal that started with the much anticipated showdown with Shamrock.