Kimbo Slice(d)

It was very early on in the life of this blog when I made the case that Kimbo had started his decline as a fighter.

Roy Nelson obviously agrees.

I've noticed, in the time that I've been paying attention to MMA, that a pattern often asserts itself in the careers of the bigger fighters: a scrappy start with occasional losses blossoms into a string of dominating wins that takes the fighter to (or very near) the top of the profession; yet after a point, a flood of losses in which the fighter looks weirdly off his game--fights usually ended by a single, not always impressive blow to the head--finally shuffles that fighter out of the upper echelons of the sport (or out of competition entirely).

I watched it happen to Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Ken Shamrock...you get the idea. (Granting that my main focus has always been on the universe of the UFC.)

I don't believe anything in Kimbo's career has qualified as distinguished. Still, for much of it he at least had his reputation as a mean dude on his side. It's gonna be harder to rock the fearsome facade after performances like this. (I mean, it's rare enough that I see someone get caught in a crucifix, but twice in two rounds? Really, dude? Didn't you remember how much it sucked when it happened the first time, like, four minutes prior?)

Here's hoping, for the sake of his future prosperity, that he has a good radio voice...