(Glass Jaws = Quick KO’s)

It doesn’t appear to be a rumor anymore. The May 31st KO victim for Kimbo Slice will be — God help us — James “The Colossus” Thompson and his glass jaw. The fight will be the main event for the first CBS/EliteXC Saturday Night Fights show, which is set to go down in Newark, NJ. All this comes from “Carson’s Corner”, an MMA radio show hosted by Bob Carson. The show’s team claims to have received confirmation from higher ups at ProElite, though their names were not given.

Ken Shamrock was once mentioned as an opponent for Kimbo, but at Ken’s current level of, um, ability, would that have been any better? Ken would have wanted to take it to the mat, but if Robert Berry doesn’t let that happen, Kimbo certainly doesn’t. So with Thompson looking like a sure thing, Kimbo’s ground game will still be called into question even after the fight because “Colossus” isn’t exactly known for much on the ground other than falling hard to it after being KTFO.

Just to be fair, let’s try and make a case for Thompson. The fighter is 14-8 overall. He was 6-1 when he went over to PRIDE and lost immediately against Aleksander Emelianenko. He then bounced around between PRIDE and other organizations, amassing a 12-2 record by the turn of 2006. Then things got ugly. A May 2006 fight against Kazuyuki Fujita ended in a loss that would send Thompson on a 2-6 skid with 5 of those losses coming via TKO or KO. His last two fights — both losses — ended in him going to sleep thanks to Neil Grove (in 10 seconds) and Brett Rogers.

Let’s look at his positives. He’s not yet 30-years-old, is a big dude at 6’5″ and 260+, and can throw a punch. Out of his wins, only one is via decision (Dan Severn). He has four submissions — two of those being Bo Cantrell-like submissions on strikes. The other two submissions were chokes and both came within his first three pro fights. He’s taller than Kimbo, has the reach advantage, and weighs more. He’s from England, but is that a positive or a negative? Reportedly, he will be training in BJJ to prepare for this fight, but does he have enough time to properly implement it into his attack?

Kimbo has taken down guys bigger than him in a striking match — and yes I am referring to his street fights. Even though we’ve never seen an ounce of ground game from him, he does train with Bas Rutten. Still, this one will stay upright until Kimbo lands a few to the glass jaw. One can only hope that Thompson has either found the hunger for an MMA career again, or he just doesn’t want to be embarrassed with yet another KO — and on national TV — that he can at least find a way to make it past round one. At this point, that’s all we can ask.

As an afterthought, can you think of any top guys available out there who could match-up with Kimbo in a striking match? A certain recently-released UFC vet comes to mind: Tim Sylvia. His contract with Adrenaline MMA is non-exclusive. He’s battled top-tier talent and knows how to throw and go the distance. Not exactly a grappling specialist, he’s lasted on the mat before. It wouldn’t be something to prove for Sylvia, but it would be a helluva’ payday.

But I’m just an ideas man. Do with it what you will.

(Props MMAMania)