The 411 MMA Top 5 12.14.09: Week Twenty-Four– Desired Kimbo Slice Opponents

Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.14.2009

From Frank Mir and Anderson Silva to Fedor Emelianenko and of course Seth Petruzelli, the 411 MMA writers rank the top fighters they want to see face Kimbo Slice! Check out the full column to see which opponents made the lists and why!



Welcome:
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5! What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people's list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It's highly non-official and final, like WAMMA.


This week's topic is…



DESIRED KIMBO SLICE OPPONENTS!


Daniel Bonnizzio

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Cheick Kongo - Not the most grappling-savvy man on the planet, Cheick has the second-best technical striking in the heavyweights of MMA that I can think of (second to AA's ridiculous boxing). If these two big guys ever met in the cage Cheick would tear Kimbo a new one with ease.


5. Dan Henderson - Kimbo has said a drop to light heavyweight is not out of the question and Dan said the only time he'd be willing to fight 185 in the near future is against Anderson Silva. Why not have these two match up at 205? Dan has some great wrestling to his name and has a chin made of vibronium. Kimbo's boxing wouldn't be able to crack it, let alone hit it, and just like Bisping I expect Kimbo to take the canvas nap after eating a huge Hendo Hook.

4. Brock Lesnar - Brock's wrestling is second to none in the UFC heavyweight division right now. If he wanted to take Kimbo down, he's going down. Brock has huge hands and they are heavy. If he lands that one Hail Mary on the feet then Kimbo is done, and if he decides to make a repeat performance of UFC 100 and turns Kimbo's face into next week's ground chuck he is going to do that.

3. Randy Couture - If this fight happened at heavyweight I might be less inclined to root for Randy but at 205 Randy would be a monster. He'd get a hold of Kimbo, beat him down in the clinch and just break Kimbo's will to fight, then take Kimbo down and unload with a body-body-head combo until Kimbo has to give up. Randy's perfect gameplans combined with his Olympic-level wrestling and improved striking allow him to dictate how fights go, and he'd use it here to tell Kimbo insert face in my fist.

2. Anderson Silva - Why the hell not? Everyone seems to be clamoring for Kimbo vs. a Striker, well, how about against the guy whose picture is next to the word striker in the dictionary? Silva's mix of knees, punches, elbows, shins, and whatever else he calls limbs all coming at you from every direction with pinpoint accuracy and power is enough to make a grown man cry, and with Kimbo's 'chin' and his zombie-like head movement this would be easy picking for Silva.

1. Fedor Emelianenko - This would be less of a fight and more of a slaughter. Kimbo has no ground game whatsoever (he only looked good against Houston who has a negative ground game). Fedor is a sambo and judo champion, along with having some heavy hands and the world's sickest ground and pound. It would be a display of how quickly someone could get taken down and beaten out until the fight is stopped, and if Kimbo somehow manages to survive Fedor's onslaught then there is always the sick nasty submission Fedor pops out of nowhere.

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Samer Kadi

5. Matt Mitrione - Everyone was hoping to see TUF 10's biggest heel get his ass handed to him by Marcus Jones. That didn't happen and Mitrione ended up knocking Big Baby out. Throw him in there against Kimbo Slice in a guaranteed slugfest.

4. Ken Shamrock - Yeah yeah, I know. But the fact is, they need to protect Kimbo, and any decent to good light heavyweight/heavyweight would beat him. Bring back Ken Shamrock, make sure he doesn't cut himself, and make the fight happen.

3. Tito Ortiz - This should happen after they give Kimbo some carefully chosen opponents, as Tito would totally dominate him. That being said, I would watch. Ortiz's mouth can sell a fight and Kimbo's weird charisma brings viewers in somehow. This match up is guaranteed money.

2. Seth Petruzelli - In my opinion, the UFC would be totally stupid if they drop the ball on this one. It is such a no brainer. They need to sign Petruzelli, hype him up as the Kimbo slayer, make the rematch happen. Remember how many people tuned in to watch their first encounter. They all saw Kimbo get knocked out in 14 seconds, and they'd want to see the rematch.

1. Chuck Liddell - Absolute slaughter, yes, but guaranteed money. Sure Kimbo has no business being in the same cage with Chuck, but at this stage of his career, Chuck will only feature in money match ups (hence Liddell-Ortiz III). The buyrates could be huge for this one, especially if Kimbo happens to be coming off a win.

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Jonathan Solomon

5. Ken Shamrock - It's the only fight involving Ken that I want to see. So why the hell not? Shamrock has been out of action for over a year and who knows if he has been training. We know Kimbo has been working to improve his game, so this would be perhaps an equal fight.

4. Matt Mitrione - They may have more comparable MMA skills and both can hit hard. Mitrione may even have the edge with the power as he's clearly knocked people out in MMA before. Slice had the Tank Abbott fight but does anyone take that seriously? Plus, Kimbo could get rid of all that sand by knocking Mitrione out and sending him to the mat.

3. Seth Petruzelli - This is obvious box office money, but does anyone really want to see it? Kimbo would not stampede his way towards another knockout, which would probably mean another slow and plodding confrontation.

2. Rolles Gracie - The masses may not know who Rolles is, but Kimbo versus GRACIE would be great. Rolles is Rolls Gracie's son and is a 2nd degree black belt in BJJ. He's making his UFC debut next year (at 31-years old) and if he's successful, pair him up with the former street fighter.

1. Chuck Liddell - I recall last year when asked about the Kimbo Slice phenomenon (before his EXC defeat), Chuck had some choice words about Slice. Kimbo Slice fighting Chuck Liddell would be another fight that could sell. Put it on Spike TV and it would break records. Put it on PPV and it's a money maker. In a video from the spring of 2008, Kimbo responded to Chuck:

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Larry Csonka

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Brett Rogers - The fight would have likely happened in EliteXC, and Rogers wanted to kill Kimbo, so that could be interesting.

Frank Shamrock - I like Frank, Frank knows how to promote a fight, and I would actually throw some money down to see that fight.

Matt Mitrione - I dislike meathead, and would like to see Kimbo destroy him.


5. Mirko Cro Cop - As much as we might hate to admit it, Mirko is on the downside of his career. I take nothing away from his career, but that the fact. SO why not put him in interesting matches while we can? Both guys won't want to go to the ground, and with Kimbo wanting to bang, there is the chance for him to KO Mirko, or for Mirko to get one more highlight reel KO kick. Plus, if Kimbo could actually win, his stock would rise.

4. Chuck Liddell - Chuck has made it clear in the past that he wants to beat down Kimbo in the past, and is still a draw. This could be a match that is MANY BUYS on PPV, and another war on the feet, which Chuck could win. Plus, if Kimbo could actually win, his stock would rise. Yes, I get repetitive.

3. Seth Petruzelli - In Kimbo's short MMA career, Seth Petruzelli holds the only official win against him (remember, the TUF loss to Bog Country doesn't count). Everyone that loses wants to avenge their loss at some point, and I am sure Kimbo would like to knock the pink out of Seth's hair.

2. Frank Mir - Frank Mir is simply a great man. He knows how to promote a fight, he is getting in insane shape and he may even be getting better. He would kill Kimbo, but the build to the fight would be excellent.

1. Fedor Emelianenko - Yes, Fedor the destroyer would crush Kimbo Slice. But the reason I want to see the fight is for that one on a billion chance that Kimbo wins, just so I could see the world cry.

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Jeremy Lambert

5. Seth Petruzelli - I just want to see the rematch because of how quick and shocking the first fight was. Kimbo appears to be a more patient fighter than he was back in October 08 and likely wouldn't rush in like last time. Petruzelli isn't a great fighter but he's pretty much made his name off Kimbo and I'd like to see Kimbo get a chance to avenge his only counted loss.

4. Cain Velasquez - No other Heavyweight pushes the pace that Cain Velasquez does. Did you see Kimbo after the Houston Alexander and James Thompson fights? He looked ready to pass out and die. And he won those fights. I want to see someone just wear out Kimbo for 15 minutes and see how Kimbo looks at the end of it.

3. BJ Penn - BJ Penn is crazy enough to move up to Heavyweight and Dana White once went on record and said, "BJ Penn would beat Kimbo Slice." Well I want to see if that's true. Who am I kidding. It would be true. I still want to see it though just because Penn is so entertaining to watch.

2. Frank Mir - Just for the build up alone. I know Mir would dominate him on the ground but the build to this fight would be tremendous. Mir made a lot of fans care about his fight with Cheick Kongo when no one cared at first. Just think what he could do to sell a fight against Kimbo.

1. Anderson Silva - I'm a fan of "one sided massacre" fights and it doesn't get more one sided than this. Kimbo's striking is his strength but it's not like he has great striking. He just has some power in his right hand. Silva on the other hand has the best striking in MMA. This could be a combination of Silva vs. Leben and Silva vs. Griffin. And I'm all for it.

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Dan Plunkett

5. Travis Fulton - I just feel like Travis Fulton should fight every heavyweight in MMA. If he fought Kimbo, he'd be pretty damn close to achieving that.

4. Sean Gannon - The only man to beat Kimbo in a street fight. Following the victory, Gannon went to the UFC and got destroyed by Branden Lee Hinkle. Now Kimbo is in the UFC and needs opponents that aren't on a much higher level than him but make compelling fights. This rematch would be a compelling one. Gannon hasn't stopped training, and if they did it in his hometown of Boston it would do a nice gate.

3. Matt Mitrione - Mitrione was a TUF 10 cast mate of Kimbo's, and scored a KO victory at the finale. These two are pretty close in terms of skill and it would likely be a stand-up battle. Mitrione is bigger than Slice and probably has more punching power, so it's an interesting test for Kimbo. Not to mention, Mitrione came off as the biggest bad guy of the season, while Kimbo was well received.

2. Mirko Cro Cop - For this to happen, Kimbo would have to win 2-3 fights in a row and Cro Cop would have to continue his recent string of unimpressive performance while keeping his job. So it's not very likely to happen. But in the future this could be a great test for Kimbo.

1. Seth Petruzelli - The rematch of the fight that killed a promotion. This time, both guys would have time to prepare to fight each other. Kimbo has improved, but can he avenge his loss to Seth? The fight will sell itself.

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AND 411's MOST DESIRED KIMBO SLICE OPPONENTS ARE…



5. Frank Mir – 8pts.




4. Anderson Silva – 9pts.




3. Fedor Emelianenko – 10pts.




2. Chuck Liddell – 12pts.




1. Seth Petruzelli – 16pts.

Come back next week for another edition of the MMA Top 5~!

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