It will either be water cooler talk on Monday morning or just another lost gamble by a network on the growing sport that is mixed martial arts.
On Saturday night, CBS is betting enough of the millions who helped make Kimbo Slice an internet sensation will tune in as the network debuts "Elite XC Saturday Night Fights" in prime time.
Five bouts will be shown, starting at 8 p.m. Among the undercard bouts are a female match, featuring "Crush" from American Gladiators, and a middleweight title bout between Robbie Lawyer and Scott Smith. But the main event features the biggest name in cage fighting -- Slice.
If you don't know Slice, you've probably seen him. He's currently growling at you on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. Pop over to YouTube and you can't miss him. Just type in Kimbo Slice and dozens of his videos pop up, including some that have been viewed nearly 5 million times.
Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, is 33-year-old, 6-foot, 2-inch, 250-pound, beard-wearing, clean-shaven-head, gold-teeth-sporting mountain of fury. Slice was once a football star in Miami, Fla., who eventually wound up homeless. Now he's trying to make the transition from porn industry bodyguard to MMA champion.
He's kind of like Clubber Lang come to life, but Slice is bigger and badder than Mr. T ever hoped to be.
Slice earned his reputation on the streets, clobbering opponent after opponent. He lost just once -- in a disputed finish -- to a Boston police officer. Saturday's fight will be his fourth as an MMA pro. He'll fight some poor guy named James "The Colossus" Thompson, who is a legitimate MMA pro even though he once lost a match to Butterbean.
The biggest question facing Slice isn't if he can beat Thompson. Can he legitimize MMA and make the sport into something Madison Avenue (the advertisers) and broadcasters covet?
The sport was at the same spot a year ago, getting mainstream attention from the likes of ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated. The sport didn't quite cross over into the mainstream. ESPN's cover boy, Chuck Liddell, lost his bout at the next Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event.
That's not to say it's anywhere close to being dead. There are a faction of fans that will watch whatever MMA action is on. Just try to stop in on Krieger's or Buffalo Wild Wings on a night a UFC card is on. Those places are jam packed with fans of the sport.
Still, it's seen as a fringe sport, kind of like an X games for boxing. The hard-core fans will always be there. Attracting the casual fan is what Elite XC and CBS are hoping to do with Saturday's card.
Though Slice is panned by a lot of the UFC's stars as being nothing more than a circus act, the sport needs Slice to win on Saturday night. Not only do they need him to win, they need him to crush Thompson. He needs to do something worthy of not only being on ESPN's SportsCenter, but the CBS Nightly News as well.
If Slice loses, the sport will lose, too. If Slice wins -- and wins big -- the sport could be ready to go down a new path toward the mainstream.
-- dobrien@whig.com/221-3365
