Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson
left Tuesday for his fight with Ken Shamrock in Sunrise, Fla. at EliteXC’s “Heat”
this Saturday night on CBS.
Mentor Bas Rutten will meet
up with Kimbo in Florida to assist coach Randy Khatami in the final
preparations for the fight. On Monday, Kimbo had his last hard training session
at Rutten and Khatami’s gym, Elite MMA, and said goodbye to the myriad of
training partners who’ve helped prepare for Oct. 4.
In a video interview
with MMAWeekly.com, Kimbo is mum about the “secrets” he’s worked on to
prepare for Shamrock, but says he now knows his cardio is where it should be.
“I’ve learned that I have the
wind, and the ability to go five five-minute rounds, ten five-minute rounds,”
he said. “Our training camp this period has stepped up a notch. I’m prepared.”
Kimbo’s last performance,
against James Thompson at EliteXC’s “Saturday Night Fights” in May, fueled
skeptics who said the “internet sensation” didn’t have the gas for three
rounds. In response, he and his trainers not only pushed him more physically,
but mentally as well. Coach Khatami believes the secret to getting Kimbo into
top shape is through his mind.
“It’s not physical,” Khatami
says. “He’s a physical specimen. He’s athletic, he’s strong, he’s
quick. It’s all about mental: ‘is he there mentally?’ and he’s there mentally
now.”
Khatami says he and Rutten
wanted Thompson to test Kimbo that night on May 31. Thompson, and now
Shamrock, are pieces in a bigger picture of taking
Kimbo from backyard to the arena, from Internet hype to bonafide fighter.
Kimbo says the experience has
been humbling, and he’s ready for another test.
“I daydream about the fights,
man,” he says. “This (expletive) is in my head. I see it over and over and over
again. I don’t think about sex, I don’t think about smokin’, I don’t think
about drinking. I think about the guy I’m fighting, I think about my opponent.
That’s all I think about.”
Arena stardom has also placed
a target firmly on his back. It’s a job hazard for someone who’s skipped the
traditional path of fighter development, coming mostly from fighters who have
toiled in obscurity before getting their shot. In that, Kimbo thinks he brings
out the best in his opponents. But it doesn’t make him an easy mark.
“Anyone that’s fighting me,
they’re going to train their ass off, because they’re fighting me,” he says. “They
wanna be the one to say that they beat Kimbo.
“When some (expletive) do
come on my back I’m gonna get it off. That’s something I’m not used to. I’m not
used to being on the ground, not used to being in positions, I ain’t used to
that (expletive).”
For Kimbo, fighting is the
fulfillment of a lifelong dream. To be sure, he didn’t take the front door
approach, but he feels his rise is part of destiny.
“I think I’ve found my
personal legend,” he says. “This is something I thought about from childhood.
To become an adult, whether it was starting off fighting as a young adult to
make some change, or to fight as a kid, my personal legend is something I
always felt in my heart.”
Kimbo has one piece of advice
for Shamrock about their meeting on Saturday.
“Come into this cage and
fight like a lion, rather than die like a pussy,” he finishes.
ELITEXC VIDEO
INTERVIEW WITH KIMBO SLICE
ELITEXC VIDEO
INTERVIEW WITH GINA CARANO
