Slice vs Thompson

[Lord Gaul]

Well another stoppage that is debatable, but he was hitting him flush. He landed about 3 big shots in a row before teh stoppage, but I would have waited for one more big shot I think. Thompson pushed him and gave him a good look, but Thompson did have enough in the tank to finish him when he got in control.

Good fight and good win for Kimbo. He needed to get some rounds.

[xavion]

When I saw it live I thought it was a sh* stoppage. When they showed the replay, I can see why the ref stopped it as it seemed like JT was out on his feet (I still think it was slightly premature, but not a total BS stop).

I think Kimbo proved some points AND was exposed tonight. He showed that he's not clueless on the ground, but he's clearly no wizard there. His cardio is suspect too.

JT looked good and he definitely didn't come to lose. No way that fight was worked, EXC wouldn't have worked it like that! ;p

[We're Back]

You guys are taking it way too easy on the ref and EliteXC.

How can you ignore when the ref stood them up less than 10 seconds after JT got side-mount. Next, they could have easily called the fight when Kimbo was sitting lifeless getting elbowed for 2 minutes straight. In their coup de grace they call the fight on a 2 sloppy ass punches from Kimbo which were no different from the same crap he landed earlier in round 1.

This fight proved 2 things:
1)EliteXC will go as far as they humanly can to make sure their favorite sons win.
2) Kimbo is a horrible excuse for a fighter

[xavion]

You guys are taking it way too easy on the ref and EliteXC.

How can you ignore when the ref stood them up less than 10 seconds after JT got side-mount.


Yeah, that was a fast standup, but shady standups happen in ALL orgs when the favored fighter is a stand-up guy.


Next, they could have easily called the fight when Kimbo was sitting lifeless getting elbowed for 2 minutes straight. In their coup de grace they call the fight on a 2 sloppy ass punches from Kimbo which were no different from the same crap he landed earlier in round 1.


I think you're overstating JT and talking down Kimbo here. JT had dominant position in round 2 but his GnP was pretty weak and did not warrant a stoppage.

Sloppy ass punches? A sloppy punch can't be powerful? Guess I'd better tell Chuck Liddell. When I saw the stoppage live I thought it was terrible but on the replay it looked like JT was out on his feet at the end. The ref probably could have let it go one more punch... which may have resulted in JT being face down on the mat.

[origamidoug]

I agree with xavion. The standup in the first was quick, but James really wasn't doing anything with his positioning or striking. At the end of the second, Miragliotta gave James the chance since he was trying to trap the arm and throwing some decent elbows....I thought it was going to get stood up, but James was working so the the ref let him go.

The stoppage was definitely correct. I was rooting for James but he was done, and not because of the ear. He was out on his feet, you could see it in his eyes. In about ten seconds he was going to go crashing to the ground, and I'd rather see the stoppage than someone get seriously hurt.

That said, Kimbo was majorly exposed tonight. Thompson's standup is pretty terrible and yet he was able to tag Kimbo with a few shots. His wrestling didn't look very good either and yet he was able to score several takedowns AND maintain position. Give Kimbo another year and he might be able to sprawl and defend on his feet a bit better, but any fighter who's C+ class or better could tool him right now.

[timmothy84]

2) Kimbo is a horrible excuse for a fighter
I am not flaming you but how can you say Kimbo is a horrible excuse for a fighter? Kimbo doesn't claim to be the best. He has said it time and time again that he is still learning the game. He went in and beat a bigger, younger, stronger, more experienced fighter tonight. He showed that he deserved to be in the cage. No he isn’t going to beat high caliber fighters in the next year or two, but he showed a lot of potential I thought. I personally picked JT to beat Kimbo tonight, but hey Kimbo showed me up lol.

[origamidoug]

Next, they could have easily called the fight when Kimbo was sitting lifeless getting elbowed for 2 minutes straight. In their coup de grace they call the fight on a 2 sloppy ass punches from Kimbo which were no different from the same crap he landed earlier in round 1.


Wow, I hadn't read this post completely when I posted earlier but this is just insane. Those elbows James was landing on Kimbo were doing zero damage compared to what Kimbo landed to finish the fight. Kimbo knew he was in a bad position and didn't know for shit how to get out of it, but he wasn't getting hurt so he rode it out until the end of the round. That's worlds away from James getting his head turned sideways twice (watch the replay man!) and his eyes going loopy right before it was stopped. James. Was. Done.

[timmothy84]

I think Kimbos punching looks pretty dam good. I know James doesn't have the best of chin but every shot Kimbo landed looked devasting. I think Kimbo's stand up looks great punching wise. If he learned the spraw better and maybe work on his GNP some more, he could be a good fighter. He is already exciting, because he pulls the trigger and gets after it.

[Titan]

I wonder who they'll put Kimbo up against now that his groundgame has proven to be a weakness, and his punches didn't put away the weak-chinned Thompson, like I thought they would.

I don't know much about cauliflower ears that big, but I do know wrestling with swollen ears hurt. Even if they hurt after being drained, I just don't understand what possessed Thompson to come there with an ear like that -- fluid was weighing the whole thing down.

[Bangalter]

Well Kimbo had massive problems with Thompson who is a C-class fighter, and it SURE looked like he tapped from the guillotine choke in the first round!

Kimbo could have finished it earlier on the feet if he had pushed Thompson away when he had head control standing. Looked sorta like he wanted to show his ground game...

EDIT: Ok I watched a few times, it's a thumbs up.

[MZN]

Apart from Kimbo being exposed and stuff, he delivered together with Thompson! He made for an exciting and competitive fight as I saw it.

I also don't have much trouble with the stoppage after seeing the slomo's...

[likma]

Apart from Kimbo being exposed and stuff, he delivered together with Thompson! He made for an exciting and competitive fight as I saw it.

I also don't have much trouble with the stoppage after seeing the slomo's...Agree, except for the stoppage. I think referee should have give more chance to get back to Thompson, Kimbo got his own in end of 2nd round.

[( o Y o )]

James took more clean shots in round 2 before taking Kimbo down and elbowing him for 2 minutes. The stoppage was BS IMHO. Total crap.

[Paul T]

Well Kimbo had massive problems with Thompson who is a C-class fighter, and it SURE looked like he tapped from the guillotine choke in the first round!

Kimbo could have finished it earlier on the feet if he had pushed Thompson away when he had head control standing. Looked sorta like he wanted to show his ground game...

EDIT: Ok I watched a few times, it's a thumbs up.

I thought it looked like he tapped as well.

It sounded liek the commentators said something about
letting everyone know he was 'okay', but it looked like a tap
and THompson started talking to the ref right afterwards.

[Shooto Panama]

Fight was monkey crap.

Rules are rules: "a fighter becomes dominant to the point where the opponent is unable to intelligently defend himself from attacks"

Kimbo was resting there like a whale in the beach for two minutes with JT raining elbows over him and everything we got back is the referee yelling at JT "Common guys, you gotta move?

what about the first round? fishy standup because there was nothing going on?

I hate to call fights fixed but damn.....

[Paul T]

looks like they may be setting it up for Rogers to be Kimbo's next opponent....
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dd-kimbo060108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Sozaburo]

Some GIF's (http://forum.nhbfinland.fi/index.php?t=msg&th=1815&start=0&rid=0&S=31731adb6e1870658b9e0efc25ea1621) from Kimbo-Thompson fight.

[Gomi Shoji]

I was surprised at Kimbo's lack of punching power. He had a lot of clean shots at JT but couldn't put him away.
Although, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he probably extended a lot of energy/strength in reversing JT on the ground in Rd 1 that took away some of his power. He is definitely strong as an ox. I thought JT was going to get the cruxifix and pound away, but nope.

[Kevin Nash]

kimbo lost that fight! He tapped out to the choke. He is a pathetic excuse for a "main event" and clearly would get destroyed by _ANY_ UFC heavyweight (and most 205lbs fighter as well) plus I would bet my life he'd love to Colin Robinson, Colin Sexton, Dan Severn and about 12 other names I could rattle off right now...

[migs]

Sorry to be negative but that fight SUCKED!!

Kimbo lost his shine last night. There'll ve no more Kimbo v "top 10 fighter" talk EVER.

You can't get far in MMA with no wrestling, no JJ, and minimal gas...his stand up is still pretty mean but he looks like he has only been to a few wrestling seminars. Bas needs to adjust some things or bring in some new people for him.

[Sozaburo]

I don't have any reason to defend Kimbo but since he's getting smashed I just have to say that after the fight he looked like he got pwend and knew it and said he has still long way to go. I don't read much interviews and stuff so I don't know if he usually acts like a dick but after the fight he made it quite clear that he's not king of the world.

[RedHawk]

I saw the fight. Was a good back and forth fight. Here are some of my observations:


1. James should not fight anymore. He has what alot of older boxers get after taking too many punches. Every punch that connects rings his bell. Time for him to hang them up.

2. Agree with Titan on the cali ear. Thomson's ear was narly looking, even before the fight started.

3. I think the ref stopped the fight mostly because JT was rocked and the last punch Kimbo landed, broke open JT's ear and it drained all over the place. It surely looked alot worse than it was. The ref probably had no idea where the blood came from. All he saw was JT staggering around and them BOOM, blood all over his face.

4. I thought i saw Kimbo tap during the 2nd round. When JT was elbowing the fuck out of him. You guys can say what you want, but I KNOW those elbows where doing damage. He dropped at least 20-30 unanswered elbows/punches and had Kimbo in trouble.

5. I tend to agree that the company seems to be protecting Kimbo. The standup in rnd 1 was more than just odd. JT had just got him down and was working and all the sudden, time to get up. I was like, WTF?

They didn't stop the fight when JT was pounding Kimbo and Kimbo could do NOTHING to stop any of it. Just lay there and take 30 elbows to the face/head. Over 2 mins of beating and no stoppage.


6. It seemed that almost every time JT would take Kimbo down, Kimbo would grab JT around the neck (guil choke) and JT would spike the top of his own head on the mat. I'll bet that hurt. :)

[Kevin Nash]

Kimbo has maintained he has a long way to go and fair play to him. However, similar to when Fraudly Harrison was main eventing BBC Boxing shows, the general public watching NBC will automatically think Kimbo and the rest of that crap is the best MMA has to offer. Having now seen the "best" of MMA, including all the great stuff Shaw has brought over from boxing like virtual fixed fights, mismatches, dodgy refs etc, those fans won't watch MMA again.

Gary Shaw is a fat fake. He needs to leave MMA right now.

[heckyl]

everyone needs to shut the fuck up about him tapping because you can CLEARLY see he didnt tap anything. his hand came up and waved like he was GOING to tap, but he didnt actually tap. those talking shit about it, please rewatch the fight, and the 234213412324 gifs going around showing him NOT tap, and proceed to shut the hell up about it. everything else being said is justified. but he didnt fuckin tap to that choke. its clear as the bright blue sky.

[machsaku]

^ word

[Kusemono]

It was my first time seeing kimbo fight, I thought looked pretty good against a bigger more experienced fighter whoever thought he was ready for any top guys was stupid he only had 2 pro fights before this one.He def needs to get with some strong wrestlers and jits guys his standup looks alright boxing wise good power. I hadnt seen thompson since pride how long has he looked so flat sunk in face deflated muscles looked like he's missed a few juice cycles.

[xavion]

I hadnt seen thompson since pride how long has he looked so flat sunk in face deflated muscles looked like he's missed a few juice cycles.

He's looked that way since he's started appearing in the US :lol:

[Lord Gaul]

Man I didn't even think the tap thing was an issue. I mean he was talking to the ref and looked fine the whole time. The ref was right there and could tell the difference so that wasn't an issue for me.

I was thinking that Kimbo took a lot of shots at the end on the 2nd, but those punches had nothing on them and the elbows were just as week. He just didn't riegn any of them as much as he set them on Kimbo's head. Plus he never threw them with the tip, but more with the forarm, doing nothing at the speed he threw them. I thought it was a good test and win for Kimbo and it was what I thought.

Oh and as for the Kimbo is being protected thing, the guy has 3 fights. He is a seller though and Gina is a seller. They have to get wins consistently till new stars emerge. If they don't the league will fail and right now it is doing well. So if that what it takes to sell then sell.

[Kevin Nash]

"Get wins"???? That is the kinds crap that leads to Joe Calzaghe having 10 year title reign with only 3 real challengers...

[Shooto Panama]

I was thinking that Kimbo took a lot of shots at the end on the 2nd, but those punches had nothing on them and the elbows were just as week. He just didn't riegn any of them as much as he set them on Kimbo's head. Plus he never threw them with the tip, but more with the forarm, doing nothing at the speed he threw them. I thought it was a good test and win for Kimbo and it was what I thought.

The point of the argument is not how much power were behind JT ground & pound but rules are rules: you need to defend yourselves at all time and improve position.

Kimbo was just there getting elbows all over the place. He didn`t try to cover because he was trapped with a crucifix and trapped against the cage. He didn`t try to improve position neither get out of there.

Its not the referee decision to assume if those elbows are coming down with the tip or the forearm, neither the referee needs to analyze how much power are behind the strikes or wonder if those are really hurting Kimbo. the referee job is to give a warning and stop the fight if X fighter can`t defend himself and clearly Kimbo wasn`t doing that in that position.

[Kenshin]

That was a good fight :)

[flem1]

"Get wins"???? That is the kinds crap that leads to Joe Calzaghe having 10 year title reign with only 3 real challengers...

What's with the boxing hate? Joe Calzaghe may have a not-so-great win ledger compared to other champs but he dominates almost all of the fighters he fought. He beat the crap out of a prime Jeff Lacy, survived a 1st round scare versus Bhop then proceeded to dominate him.

[flem1]

Having now seen the "best" of MMA, including all the great stuff Shaw has brought over from boxing like virtual fixed fights, mismatches, dodgy refs etc, those fans won't watch MMA again.

Gary Shaw is a fat fake. He needs to leave MMA right now.

I agree that he needs to leave MMA but calling him a fat fake is uncalled for. He may have had sketchy boxing matches under his promotion but he is capable of also putting on great matches like the Vaquez-Marquez trilogy, Nonito Donaire-Vic Darchinyan, the recent HBO Boxing After Dark card, Chad Dawson-Glenn Johnson, etc.

[Titan]

The point of the argument is not how much power were behind JT ground & pound but rules are rules: you need to defend yourselves at all time and improve position.

Kimbo was just there getting elbows all over the place. He didn`t try to cover because he was trapped with a crucifix and trapped against the cage. He didn`t try to improve position neither get out of there.

Its not the referee decision to assume if those elbows are coming down with the tip or the forearm, neither the referee needs to analyze how much power are behind the strikes or wonder if those are really hurting Kimbo. the referee job is to give a warning and stop the fight if X fighter can`t defend himself and clearly Kimbo wasn`t doing that in that position.

Exactly. It's for the fighter's safety. If Kimbo had become blind or whatever by one of those elbows, everybody would be complaining about the referee not stopping the fight when Kimbo clearly couldn't defend himself.

[Toffa]

James took more clean shots in round 2 before taking Kimbo down and elbowing him for 2 minutes. The stoppage was BS IMHO. Total crap.

I completely agree.

Say what you what about Thompson's punches but those elbows were not weak. They had some force behind them and it doesnt take much force at all for elbows to do damage.

I asked myself whether I would have stopped the fight from those elbows and its close, but if I am going to stop a fight after a fighter takes 3 unanswered shots who has survived similar exchanges in earlier rounds you need to stop Kimbo from taking 2 minutes of elbows. Absolutely no consistency.

[The Hug Dog]

Bad stoppage. This 'win' for Kimbo did him more harm than good.

[xavion]

Kimbo was just there getting elbows all over the place. He didn`t try to cover because he was trapped with a crucifix and trapped against the cage. He didn`t try to improve position neither get out of there.



This fight deserves some mockery, but this line is just not true. Kimbo frees his arm from the crucifix a few times in the GnP sequence. Yes, JT kept putting the arm back in the crucifix but freeing up his arm is clearly an attempt to improve position.

There are legitimate reasons to bash this fight, no need for people to invent extra stuff or exaggerate (the claims he tapped, etc).

[Gomi Shoji]

This was posted by Rhadi Fergurson on the JudoForum:

"That was definitely a REASON to never watch Elite XC again.

The Kimbo fight, by definition, should have clearly been stopped in the second round.

Stopping the fight in the 3rd round was ridiculous. James had already come back from something similar in the 2nd. And you don't stop a fight from a bleeding ear, what you do it call the doctor in to look at it. That was 100 percent bullsmith. A bleeding ear doesn't impair vision, theres no risk of anything. I really enjoyed when someone asked Frank Shamrock who was winning the fight and he said that he didn't know.

James was CLEARLY winning and he won both round, the first and the second. That fight was so biased that I'm pissed. It would have done more for their organization and added cred to it if they would have allowed Kimbo to just lose, but carrying him like that for everyone to plainly see was freaking TERRIBLE.

And I'm saying this and I'm a KIMBO FAN! "

And his response regarding if he was related to Kimbo:

"Unfortunately, even though Kimbo and I are "supposedly" related, it seems like my cousins are his cousins but in public he doesn't accept that fact that he and I are cousins - this seems like a management led directive to me.. We talk on the phone, exchange texts, but he will not and has not come to train with me after NUMEROUS OFFERS to help him. My MMA takedown instruction is impeccable, you can ask anyone at ATT or Team Lloyd Irvin. Unfortunately Kimbo is getting some bad advice which was clearly evident in that fight. No conditioning and NO takedown skills or defense."

[Chewbaca Joe]

He really should train with Rhadi. At least a little.

Could you please provide a link for this "JudoForum"? I just started at Seattle Dojo a couple weeks ago. A little reading up is always good.

[Gomi Shoji]

He really should train with Rhadi. At least a little.

Could you please provide a link for this "JudoForum"? I just started at Seattle Dojo a couple weeks ago. A little reading up is always good.

Here you go. I'm not a judo player but I enjoy trolling around there. Plenty of helpful folks post there. The History section is cool if you interested in the history of judo and some stories from the Kodokan.

http://www.judoinfo.com/