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Kimbo Slice (-130) vs. Matt Mitrione (+110)

by Stan Leung
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May 10th, 2010 7 GMT
Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione
UFC Betting Pick: Matt Mitrione (+110)

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Heavyweight bout: Kimbo Slice (-130) vs. Matt Mitrione (+110)

Neither of these fighters should be in the UFC. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (4-1) is in the UFC because he puts seats in the crowd and he gets more pay per view buys. Matt Mitrione (1-0) is decent up and coming fighter but still a little green when it comes to mixed martial arts.

He is only fighting in the UFC because he was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. In all reality, he is about 2 years away from really being in the UFC if he keeps on improvement.

Matt Mitrione is a natural athlete and has the better upside when it comes to fighting. He is a former NFL player, where he played for the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings and currently trains out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for Roufusport with Duke Roufus.

Duke Roufus is a legend in the striking world and one of the most recognizable striking coaches in North America, and is considered to be one of the top trainers of Muay Thai Kickboxing outside of Thailand. He had trained with some of the best MMA fighters and has the ability to make people into better strikers.

At 36 years old, Kimbo has a lot to catch up on. Yes he has great strikes and is very powerful but he is very set in his ways. Kimbo trains at a good camp at American Top Team but there is no way his ground game will be effective in this fight. He has not learned enough to be comfortable and relaxed on the ground. Mitrione is not going to take him to the ground and Kimbo does not want to go to the ground. This fight will be a stand up battle.

Even thought Kimbo is at ATT he is not training like he should. He comes to practice late, he doesn’t listen to coaches and he has his posse and crew with him at all times. There was the rumor that Kimbo Slice went to his car for a pistol when he was arm-barred by a training partner at American Top Team.

Though just rumors fellow fighter Justin Wren was quoted as saying


"I heard a story where he went down to ATT to train and he got arm-barred. Kimbo doesn't like to tap so he didn't tap and the guy hurt his arm. So he came back in there with a gun! Cops were called and everyone went nuts. He felt the guy was really trying to hurt him, so he said 'If someone is going to try and hurt me, that is how I make money for my family.' He went and got a gun and they stopped him at the door."  - Justin Wren


Kimbo Slice says he wants to get better but he is basically calling the shots and that is interfering with growing his MMA game. Kimbo use to be under Bas Rutten. The two had a falling out and the two have been openly sparing through the press. In June 2009, Rutten told Fighters Only that Slice had "turned into a whole different person... I told him that he was an asshole." Rutten's comments were based on his belief that Slice was no longer listening to his instructions.


Yes we have all seen the Kimbo high light reels on Youtube but that was against thugs and did not include kicks wrestling, grappling or takedowns. In essence Kimbo has been built up fighting bums on the street. This is mixed martial arts and not a backyard brawl like he is use to fighting.

This will be a stand up fight and Mitrione training with a world class kickboxer is the worst fight for Kimbo. When Kimbo strikes all he has is head movement. He thinks by moving his head like a pendulum he will not get hit. Head movement is important but Mitrione has been training in kickboxing and no matter how he moves his head Mitrione will kick his legs out.

Kimbo has an impressive body but he has chicken legs. He will not be able to check any kicks and if Mitrione hits him with 3 or 4 legs kicks Kimbo will fall to the ground since he does not know how to defend a kick. I am positive Duke Roufus is teaching Mitrione the lower leg kick.

Since Mitrione is a former NFL player and was a linebacker and defensive tackle he has incredible strength in the clinch and up against the octagon. If this fight goes up to the octagon walls Mitrione will have the power to pin Kimbo and land the strikes along the fence. Mitrione just has more power and can control Kimbo from punching in the clinch.

Bottom Line: Mitrione has a weird punch but once he lands it will hurt Kimbo who I suspect has a weak chin. He will set up his strikes with legs kicks that will punish Kimbo. Once Kimbo feels a number of leg kicks he will drop his hands to defend the. That is where Mitrione’s over hand right will come over the top and hit Kimbo. He won’t know what hit him and he will get knocked out.

Mitrione has the longer reach (81 inches to 77 inches), is a taller fighter (6 foot 4 to 6 foot 2) and is the heavier fighter (255 pounds to 232 pounds). In the end he is younger and has more upside compared to Kimbo.

Sports betting wise, I would think both fighters betting lines would be around the same. But since Kimbo has the marketing and is a better known fighter. The odds should be -110 for both fighters but since Kimbo has the popularity he gets soft betting lines. I would bet a lot of money on Mitrione since he has the kicks and size.

I hope it only takes 2 fights before we see Kimbo out of the UFC and super sizing fries because that’s where he belongs. All Mitrione has to do is survive the first round. Once he does he will be able to pick apart Kimbo who has cardio and endurance problems.

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