Was the Kimbo Slice Fight Set Up?

Was the highly anticipated Kimbo Slice fight on EliteXC, set up? Some critics think so, others just say that Kimbo has been exposed for exactly what he is - a man with little to no martial arts talent and too much publicity. Nobody can say for sure quite what happened inside the cage on Saturday, October 4 on live television and in front of tens of thousands of fans in Sunrise, Florida; but there is one thing that everyone who witnessed it can agree on. The event was a huge disgrace to the world of mixed martial arts and especially to the program EliteXC, which was already suffering from poor ratings. And this is the exact thing that leads some to believe that all of this was nothing more than a stunt in an effort to boost ratings and keep their show on the air.

The event was a circus from the start. To begin with, instead of featuring the highly publicized and highly anticipated match between internet sensation Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock, the announcement was made that Slice would instead fight the relatively unknown Seth Petruzelli. This apparently resulted from an injury suffered by Shamrock during a training session. But really, who gets injured so severely during training that they can't even compete in the match that they've been training for in the first place - this sounded fishy from the start.

Several fights were featured in this live airing of EliteXC, and most were actually very entertaining, competivite match-ups. Unfortunately, however, this trend would not carry over to the main event of Kimbo Slice versus Seth Petruzelli.

Within 14 seconds, it was all over. Seth Petruzelli, the massive underdog had taken down the previously undefeated giant in Kimbo Slice with a quick barrage of fists. But the first punch, the one that split open Slice's eye was the one that put the big man on the ground. It also happened to be one that he stepped right in to, and then promptly fell to all fours.

And although Petruzelli was landing some quality punches on Kimbo Slice, in my opinion the referee stepped in far too early. Kimbo gave his hometown audience only a brief speech before cutting short his post fight interview and quickly leaving the arena. And the end the record stands Kimbo Slice, three wins and one loss, and Seth Petruzelli, ten wins and four losses.

At this point it is unclear whether or not EliteXC will continue to air their mixed martial arts program. It is also unclear when Kimbo Slice will fight again, or if he even will. The only thing that is known is that Seth Petruzelli has become a household name in the world of mixed martial arts overnight and with only a few swings of his fists.