Kimbo wanted to devour Alexander but had to stay patient

Clark Kent

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12-07-2009 11:15 AM:

Kimbo Slice has heard a lot of the trash talk. He's not a mixed martial artist. He's a phony. He's got no chin. So the legendary Miami streetfighter was hungry to prove himself and get his first UFC win. In fact, he was starving. Kimbo cut weight for the first time ever and admitted during the week that it was rough. When he finally had chance to eat, Friday night after the weigh-in, he order room service, twice! A small of lack of discipline. He had no such issues on during the fight showing the composure of a veteran MMA fighter in his debut against Houston Alexander. Kimbo won a unanimous decision on Saturday but many viewers walked away thinking what the heck happened to the killer from the streets?

Alexander ran for most of the first round. He circled to his right throughout the fight and only engaged when he threw some leg kicks. Kimbo wasn't about to attack like a street thug:

"He didn't frustrate me. I was kind of more like, 'let's bang,'" Kimbo told the media at the TUF 10 Finale postfight press conference. Slice really had to hold back when Alexander bloodied his lip. "I was ready to bang then. I was like 'ah [expletive], damn you made me bleed, now you gotta thump.'"

Slice stayed patient, scored some takedowns in the second and won the majority of exchanges when they did trade on the feet. It wasn't anything like days in Miami where his attack was relentless and he could even be seen putting out his chin and letting the opponent crack him (1:50 mark - VIDEO).

"That was hard. I was really thinking street. Someone told me before bite down hard and fight smart. It's hard, I'm not going to lie. It's not an easy thing, because I first was a streetfighter. [On the streets], I just went in there based on my instincts. Watching the guy's movement and countering."

Kimbo has learned MMA is a far cry from a streetfight:

"At this level of the game, you have to be almost like genius-type smart. You have all these dimensions you have to bottle in one. You gotta know when to counter when to not hit and not engage."

Kudos to Kimbo for cutting the weight as well. He didn't do it the easy way. He simply dieted and didn't employ dehydration like the majority of fighters do. He overdid it dropping to 212 (catch weight was 215) but showed a decent gas tank until around the 13-minute mark of the fight.

It's funny to think of Kimbo as a counterstiker but he really is. Go back and watch his streetfights on YouTube and much of what he did what wait for opponent to leave an opening.



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