Speaking of things that happened last night that were laughably predictable, Kimbo Slice is still earning his bread as a professional boxer. Well, perhaps “earning” is the wrong word. Earning implies that he is making it by winning competitive matches against reasonably credible opponents. Really, $kala is just giving Kimbo his bread at this point. Or, if you’re cheesy enough to go there, Shaw is just feeding the guy.

I will say this much: At least last night’s fight wasn’t the (potentially-worked) shitstorm that was his last fight against Brian Green. After watching Kimbo get saved by the bell against a fitness instructor making his professional boxing debut on one day’s notice followed by his aforementioned bout with Brian Green, Shaw was taking absolutely no chances when searching for an opponent this time around.

(Props: David T. Cho)

Being an MMA fan ain’t easy sometimes. Hyped-up fights turn out to be snorefests, scandals damage the sport’s legitimacy, incredible parlay bets get wrecked by incompetent judging, forcing us to explain to our kids once again that Santa Claus most have lost our address this year. On today’s CagePotato Roundtable, we’re discussing the fights and moments that made us want to give up on MMA entirely and follow [*shudder*] baseball for a while. Let us know your own lowest fan-moment in the comments section, and if you have a topic for a future Roundtable column, send it it to tips@cagepotato.com.

Seth Falvo

It’s crazy how life goes full circle: When I was ten years old, Doug Flutie was my favorite NFL player. I begged my dad to buy me Flutie Flakes for breakfast, so that I too could grow up and be a successful, albeit undersized quarterback for a small market football team. My dad refused, which explains why I’m now a writer (You’re welcome, Andrew Luck). After all, I was too young to remember the real Doug Flutie, the Heisman Trophy winning Boston College quarterback who helped make the USFL somewhat relevant. Flutie may have still been a talented quarterback — especially for his age — but he had clearly lost a step by the time I started watching football.

Thirteen years later I was on the phone with my dad, talking about one of the most lopsided fights he had ever seen. I spent the entire conversation trying to convince him that the small, pudgy guy he just watched get destroyed by a no-name oddity was at one point the most dangerous fighter on the planet. As you may have guessed, I’m specifically referring to Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva. But really, Fedor’s entire Strikeforce run can be summed up the exact same way. Perhaps Fedor was too old, perhaps the heavyweight division had simply caught up to him, or perhaps it was a combination of the two. But one thing is clear: By the time that Fedor made his way to Strikeforce, he was no longer the untouchable fighter that he had once been.

Even in his lone victory, a second round knockout against Brett Rogers, he was arguably losing the fight before connecting with the fight ending right hand. And Brett Rogers is no Apollo Creed; he’s barely a pimple on the ass of Vodka Drunkenski. He’s a gatekeeper in every sense of the word — just legitimate enough for EliteXC to have kept him away from a “prime” Kimbo Slice, but not legitimate enough to pose any threat of beating a true contender. We had all the warning signs that Fedor was going to be a bust signing after this fight, yet we chose to ignore them because hey, he won, right?

(Mickey O’Neil would not stand for this shit.)

As with anything featuring Kimbo Slice nowadays, the video of his “suspicious” fourth round KO of Brian Green last weekend has blown up thanks to a mix of controversy and street certified swagger (but mainly controversy), receiving over one million hits in just a few days (that’s good, right?). As many of you noticed when we originally reported on the fight, Slice’s last second knockout seemed a little too convenient to stomach. The punch didn’t seem to have much behind it, and Green’s reaction seemed like it was a poor bit of acting. Like Nicolas Cage in The Wicker Man remake poor.

When it comes down to it, no one but those involved can truly know whether the fight was fixed or not, but we all know the Internet has never needed a shred of evidence to start lobbing accusations at a public figure. For nearly five days, Green has had to endure the relentless mockery of keyboard warriors nationwide, and anyone from Dana White to well, myself, can attest to the lengths that a pissed off troll with a computer in his hands will go.

Brian Green, however, has enough of this shit. According to him, everyone just needs to step the hell back, because he ain’t no flopper. Matter of fact, Green says, if everyone wants validation, a rematch will certainly satisfy the naysayers.

We could be wrong, but it appears that Green, fueled by his own mix of disdain and Jagermeister, typed the following message for the entire world (ie. Facebook) to see at some point Wednesday night:

(Chill dawg, the video’s after the jump.)

The trail of bodies left in the wake of street-certified pugilist Kimbo Slice led us to Springfield, Missouri, last night, where the fighter formerly known as Kevin Ferguson looked to extend his professional boxing career to a perfect 4-0. Slice, you may recall, was originally slated to face Mike Glenn, but Camp Kimbo pulled out of the bout after not receiving any training footage of the 0-0 boxer. Fortunately for us all, they found an undersized opponent with no pro-boxing experience to fill in at the last-minute.

Brian Green, who competes in MMA as a Middleweight, weighed in some 22lbs lighter than Slice according to the scales at WalMart. In light of Green’s considerable MMA background and Kimbo’s relative inexperience in the world of Marquess of Queensberry, this bout actually ended up being far more competitive than Icy Mike would have preferred.

Video of the come-from-behind knockout, and some words and stuff, after the jump.

(Props: crazycnote13)

After Kimbo Slice‘s scheduled boxing match against Mike Glenn fell through when Glenn didn’t send him the fight-footage he required — a rather unique thing for a fighter to have in his contract, but whatever — promoter Wes Slay has found a replacement opponent to throw them bungalows against the Miami Pound Machine tomorrow night. Slice will now be facing off against Brian Green, a middleweight MMA fighter with a record of 27-17. All of Green’s 27 victories have come by stoppage, with 22 by submission, which is completely irrelevant since this will be a boxing match. From what I can tell, Green doesn’t have any pro boxing experience, certainly not against guys who outweigh him by 40-50 pounds.

The match will go down Saturday evening at the “Fight Night Returns” MMA/boxing card at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Missouri. Assuming you have better things to do than watch the press-conference video above, we’ll break down the highlights for you:

0:08-0:12: I guarantee you that the white-haired old lady was only there for the free coffee at Reliable Chevrolet, and probably jumped out of her seat when Kimbo emerged from the back.

1:57-2:28: According to Slay, Brian Green is “one of the top, elite MMA fighters in all the world,” with a “winning record against fighters currently in the UFC.” Okay, this is kind of funny. Slay is technically correct, in that Green is 1-0 against active UFC fighters, with a 2006 armbar win over Nik Lentz. Against fighters who used to be in the UFC, he’s a somewhat-less-impressive 0-8, with losses to Brock Larson, Chad Reiner, Joe Vedepo, Paul Georgieff, Crafton Wallace, Rob Kimmons, Rory Markham, and Nick Thompson.

(U mad?)

If you bought a ticket to see Kimbo Slice attempt to extend his professional boxing record to 4-0 with a win over Mike Glenn on March 24, you might want to get yourself a refund — that is unless you want to watch him fight a lesser opponent instead.

CagePotato.com has learned from a source close to Glenn who contacted us Tuesday afternoon that Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, has bowed out of the bout. According to the source the former UFC fighter allegedly told the promoter that he would still participate in the event if they found him another opponent, but explicitly stated that he did not want to fight Glenn.

(When Stephan Bonnar says he will do anything to get his hands on some Mad Dog, he means ANYTHING.) 

Though Chael Sonnen claims to be “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” the title could very well go to long time UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. The man can turn an ice spill into comedy gold. He will put any referee with a last name sounding like Maserati on the spot without a seconds notice. And God forbid you try and diss him during one of his stand up routines. When he turns his hat backwards, it gives him a feeling of super strength that would make Lincoln Hawk piss his pants. Simply put, the man is a DMT tripping, BJJ grappling, spin kick throwing force that rarely fails to entertain when placed in front of a camera.

With the first ever live season of The Ultimate Fighter kicking off tonight, Rogan sat down and shared some of his favorite moments in the show’s history. Go figure, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar‘s war at the TUF 1 Finale was the first thing to be discussed. Here’s what he had to say:

The first season was the first time reality television was integrated with such an exciting and intense growing sport, and it came together in the most beautiful and poetic way possible with the finals … The estimations were that there were as many as eight million people watching this fight. That’s unfathomable! People are at home, and they were calling their friends up, and they’re like, ‘Dude! You’ve gotta watch this. There is a crazy fight going on and these two white guys are beating the fuck out of each other!’ And that was the birth of modern mixed martial arts. That was the fight that put it on the map.

Join us after the jump for the full video.

When SPIKE TV announced that it had hired onetime backyard brawler-turned UFC fighter Kimbo Slice to host the first instalment of its The Ultimate Fighter recap show, which will air opposite FX’s new live incarnation of the show, it looked like they may have briefly gotten the upper hand in the battle against their ex partners at Zuffa.

Leave it to Dana White and Co. to one-up the competition by trying to fuck them worse than they’ve ever been fucked before.

Somehow (okay, it was probably dollar signs and decimal points) FX convinced the gold grill-wearing Ultimate Fighter alumnus to cut a promo for TUF Live, convincing viewers to watch the new series, — a somewhat odd request, considering it runs at the same time as Kimbo’s “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” premiere. In his defense, he could have filmed the spot before SPIKE hired him, but you would think he would have mentioned it to them beforehand to avoid looking like a fool, you know, more than he did bobbing all over shadowboxing while doing the promo.

(Kimbo performing a dramatic retelling of the Samuel L. Jackson narrated “Go the Fuck to Sleep” by way of Tay Bledsoe.)

Youtube Sensation/UFC vet/pornstar confidant Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will be looking to improve his professional boxing record to 4-0 come March 24th, when he welcomes former MMA fighter Mike Glenn to the boxing world at the O’Reilly Center in Springfield, Missouri in a card dubbed Fight Night Returns.

Since being ousted from the UFC following a second round TKO loss to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 and subsequently calling it a day on his MMA career, Slice has scored three straight victories inside the boxing ring, the first two of which came via brutal one punch knockout inside the first round. It appeared as if the future Spike TV host was destined for WBA dominance, until he ran into personal fitness trainer and boxing newbee Charles Hackmann. Although Hackmann came into the bout on just a day’s notice, he managed to make it the distance with Kimbo and nearly finished him in the second round. The win, to say the least, was not impressive.

(Jenna Haze: Pound-for-pound G.O.A.T.)

Yes, friends and neighbors, there’s a fighter on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter who has done porn — and not the normal kind, either. Since it’s a slow news week, this TUF 15 sub-plot has blown up to monumental proportions on MMA forums, but let’s put this in perspective: Dakota Cochrane isn’t the first MMA fighter to pick up some extra cash by appearing in adult films, and he probably won’t be the last. Send the kids out of the room, and follow us on a journey through the porn/MMA continuum…

(“Does it matter that I’m no longer an MMA fighter? I can still analyticate what went down on the show, can’t I?”)

SPIKE TV announced today that it has hired UFC washout, and arguably the promotion’s biggest fringe draw next to Brock Lesnar, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, to host its new weekly Friday night TUF repeat show, “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagePotato)

The three-hour premiere episode will air March 9, which, not coincidentally is opposite  episode 1 of FX’s The Ultimate Fighter Live, at 9:00 pm ET on SPIKE, and will feature Slice’s recollections from his six weeks in the fighter house.

Kimbo, looking like Rick Ross with slightly better cardio

You know, I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this happen before.

While you were busy watching UFC 141, Kimbo Slice looked to improve his professional boxing record to 3-0 at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. So far in his boxing career, the Shaws have been feeding Kimbo cans with losing records, and Kimbo has been capitalizing in devastating fashion. Friday night, however, Kimbo Slice was given his toughest test in his young boxing career in Charles Hackmann, a fitness instructor making his professional boxing debut after taking the bout on just one day’s notice.

It’s almost like the guy was brought in to lose *snickers*, yet he held his own against the former UFC fighter (sigh), almost pulling off the upset in the second round. The action wasn’t as fast-paced as Cruz vs. Johnson, yet you wouldn’t know it by how badly both fighters gassed in the third and fourth rounds. When it was all said and done, Kimbo improved to 3-0, yet had major holes in his game exposed.

Video, courtesy of Iron forges Iron, after the jump.

(‘Gamebred’ uglies up KJ Noons at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum. Photo via ESPN.)

By Jonathan Shrager

Jorge Masvidal‘s MMA career has taken him to Russia, Japan, Costa Rica, and the Playboy Mansion — not bad for a guy who got his start in bare-knuckle fights in his native Miami. Now riding back-to-back victories over Billy Evangelista and KJ Noons under the Strikeforce banner, Masvidal has been honored with a lightweight title shot against Gilbert Melendez at the promotion’s upcoming card on December 17th in San Diego. We got in touch with Masvidal recently to learn more about his streetfighting pedigree, his unconventional fighter’s lifestyle, and why “The Mansion” isn’t as exciting as you’d think. Enjoy…

CAGEPOTATO.COM: I wanted to start off by discussing your streetfighting past. Was it those underground brawls that made you consider the sport of MMA as a profession?

JORGE MASVIDAL: No. Before I did the streetfighting I knew I wanted to do MMA. I knew I wanted to get paid. I didn’t want to be a streetfighting king or nothing. I wanted to fight the best in the world and get paid for my talent. I knew since I was a kid at the age of 13 or 14 that I wanted to fight. I wanted to box, but I was also in love with wrestling. I wish I could have done both, but I realized I could only be competitive in one of them. Then MMA came along and I knew that was the one. At the time I was streetfighting, there wasn’t really an amateur MMA scene. I did that when I was about 18 or 19. They asked me to do it and I was like ‘why not?’

Having been involved in something so raw as backyard brawling, you must experience relatively little fear stepping into the regulated industry of MMA?

Oh yeah, big time. In MMA, I don’t got to worry about getting stabbed, or nobody shooting at me if I beat them up. That’s a big positive. In a streetfight, anything can happen at any random moment. If someone gets upset in the crowd, or you’ve caused somebody to lose money, they can pull a knife or a gun on you. You always get an adrenaline-rush when you step into an MMA cage, but it’s nothing like the concerns you have when streetfighting, when you’re worried about avoiding weapons.

Oh, great, vengeful God (or Zorp), please let this happen. If you can allow Razor Ramone to be assisted off his wheelchair, only to be repeatedly kicked and hit with steel chairs in front of an audience of less than 500 people, then surely you can allow this to happen. In a recent interview with MMAfighting.com, none other than Art Jimmerson, the man behind the most embarrassing loss in UFC History, challenged the former Youtube sensation, MoneyTalks star, UFC fighter, and 2-0 boxer Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson to a boxing match, stating:

(You can make fun of your opponent’s voice, and you can trash his fighting style. But mock a man’s sideburns, and you’re asking for the worst beating of your life.)

Start sharpening your razors, folks: We’re just eight days away from the official start of Movember! To help get you in the moustache-growing spirit, we’ve put together a photo gallery of our favorite facial hair arrangements in MMA history, which you can check out after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)

Marcus Villegas from FightHub TV caught up with Gary Shaw at last weekend’s Chad Dawson vs. Bernard Hopkins event and the former EliteXC president revealed that he attempted to sign Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to his promotion back in 2007 prior to the former PRIDE fighter signing with the UFC.

“I know Rampage,” Shaw revealed. “I tried to sign him when I was with EliteXC.”

Shaw said that he would be interested in working with the former UFC light heavyweight champ if he is serious about moving over to boxing once his UFC contract expires.

(Yes, that’s Kimbo Slice at the 0:30 and 0:48 marks, painted up like Kamala the Ugandan Giant. Good to see that Bob Sapp hasn’t taken all the “Barbarian Warrior” roles from hard-working fighter-actors. Props: FilmDrunk.)

This week’s featured stories…

- Carlos Condit: Disappointed but Understanding Regarding UFC 137 Changes (LowKick)
“As a professional fighter, it is my job to be prepared for any and all circumstances, positive and negative, that come my way during training and the actual fight. Georges is a great competitor and I know that he will want to return to 100 percent health as soon as possible so that this fight can be rescheduled.”

- Why “Superfights” Are a Bad Idea (BleacherReport/MMA)
“While the term superfight sounds great on paper and the matchups make the fans salivate, they just don’t make much sense other than for a short-term gain.”

- Interview With UFC 137′s Roy Nelson as He Prepares for Mirko Filipovic (MMA Mania)
“I feel standing, like I think I’ve stood up with some of the best heavyweights in the world. I stood up with Junior [dos Santos] so like, I think I might regress for this fight and go back to my roots, go back to my first five or six wins were all submissions. Maybe I’ll regress in the chain of being an MMA fighter.”

- Interview With Dan “Punkass” Caldwell From the Tapout Crew at NYCC 2011 on Comics, Toys, Kenny Florian, & Jones vs. Machida (The Fight Nerd)
“I think Kenny [Florian] is a really exciting fighter in his past matches, he just needs to fight the right people…me personally, I think the 155 lb. division looks a little more inviting again. I think he should go back to 155 and try his hand there. Some of those guys would match up better with his style.”

(The knockout comes so quickly, they’ve replayed it for you a dozen times at the end. Video: YouTube/TheHypoparody)

Former UFC fighter (sigh) Kimbo Slice threw his second punch as a professional boxer last night, and with it he secured his second victory. I’ll say this for the bearded one: he’s efficient. For those thinking that Slice has the “sweet science” figured out, I would contend that his management and promoters are the ones wearing the lab coats. Their formula? Take one-part YouTube legend, mix with one part Glass Joe, agitate for 20 seconds, and call it a night.

Kimbo’s first opponent, James Wade, was an impressive 0-1 when he fell to a single bread-bomb in just 17 seconds. Last night, Slice was paired against the more formidable Tay Bledsoe, who stepped into the ring two wins under his belt. Sure, he’d also been knocked out thrice, in the three bouts leading up to the Kimbo fight, with two of those losses coming in under two minutes, but who’s counting? Slice dropped Bledsoe cold with an overhand right just 1:52 into the bout.

The hand speed, the footwork, are we looking at Sugar Ray Slice?

(To add more intrigue, winner should get to shave the loser’s head and beard. They can call the show, “Someone’s fro has to go.”)

It looks like former backyard brawlers-turned-MMA-fighters and Team Kimbo teammates Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Dhafir “Dada 5000″ Harris are going to put dough before bros when they step in the cage opposite one another in Florida in January 2012.

According to a report by our friend The Fight Nerd, Dada 5000, who is 2-0 against a pair of opponents with a combined 1-8 record,  broke the news of the yet-to-be-signed fight that is penciled in for January 12 under the World Fighting Organization (creative, huh?) banner during a recent appearance on the Rodolfo Roman Show. He also said that the bout will be a five-round heavyweight title fight, which is curious considering the WFO already has a heavyweight champ, by the name of Marcio Cruz.

Harris says that one possible venue for the show is Universal Studios in Orlando, which makes sense since both he and Ferguson came up through the backyard fighting circuit in the Sunshine State. Another possible location that has been discussed he says is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but the promotion might have to run that by a couple Italian brothers who own a casino in the city first.

Check out some videos of Dada in action after the jump.

(Meredith DiVita, the 10th hottest MMA chick of 2010, is back with a new Knoxx Gear photo shoot. For more pics of Meredith, check out her public Facebook page and KNOXXlifestyle.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- BJ Penn: The UFC Forced Me to Say Things About Nick Diaz (MMA Mania)

- Jason “Mayhem” Miller Explains Alleged Assault on Sister (5thRound)

- The Truth About Fighters and Sponsors (MMA Fighting)

- Strikeforce Ratings Way Down for ‘Barnett vs. Kharitonov’ (MMA Payout)

- Roger Ebert Reviews New MMA Movie, “Warrior” (TheFightNerd)

- Rich Franklin Done for 2011 With Torn Shoulder Labrum (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Photo Report: Alexander Shlemenko Training With Michael Bisping for Bellator 50 (LowKick)

- Rampage Jackson Wants His UFC/PRIDE Unified Light Heavyweight Belt Back (MMA Convert)

- Power Ranking Every Upcoming UFC Event (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Well at Least Kimbo Slice Has No Problem Attracting the Opposite Sex (MiddleEasy)

- Kurt Angle Explains Why Imitating Fedor Is Impossible (FightOpinion)

- Strikeforce Heavyweight Semifinals Recap With ‘Big’ John McCarthy and Lloyd Irvin (NBC Sports MMA)

(The “MMA Hairstyles” shirt in athetic gray. Click here for a full-size version of the t-shirt design on its own.)

In collaboration with artist/illustrator Derek Eads, we’re proud to announce the latest semi-official t-shirt design from CagePotato.com. The “MMA Hairstyles” shirt features the iconic silhouettes of 20 MMA stars — or more accurately, 17 actual stars plus three fighters who have made infamous follicular statements. How quickly can you identify them all?

You can purchase this masterpiece for the fair price of $22 at Society6.com in your choice of eight different colors, five different sizes, and two different genders. (Prove your loyalty to the Potato Nation and buy all 80 variations!)

For more of Derek Eads’s pop-cultural work, visit his official site, and check out some of his other art prints including Cage’s Hair Filmography, Murrays, and Samuel L. Jackson “Hollywood’s Target Practice.”

(Video courtesy of BallerStatus)

You would think that given the embarrassing loss he was handed by Randy Couture and the fact that he’s now set to fight Ken Shamrock in his return MMA bout, that James Toney would keep the names of UFC champions outta his mush mouth.

Apparently “Lights Out” done lost his mind on top of his language skills and is now calling out Rampage. James, Dana isn’t going to pay you a million again to throw a handful of jabs and flop around like a fish on your back until you tap out. The experiment is over just like the Kimbo experiment and just like the *sniff* PRIDE experiment. Deal with it.

(Props: S0S0BOXING via BloodyElbow)

Kimbo Slice‘s pro-boxing debut last night in Oklahoma ended in highlight-reel fashion, as the former bare-knuckle YouTube brawler/MMA fighter turned out James Wade‘s lights with a crushing right uppercut, sending him through the bottom rope just 10 seconds into the match. Check out the video above for two different angles of the finish; as you can see, it took a long time for Wade to regain his senses.

Ariel Helwani passes along the word that Kimbo’s next match is scheduled for October 15th, possibly on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson. Can Kevin Ferguson really be an injection into boxing’s heavyweight division?

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CageJunkies)

When fighters walk away from the sport, rarely do we see them gravitate towards the other side of the interview microphone, but the decision to do just that was a good one for “Chainsaw” Charles McCarthy. After stepping away from the sport in 2008, the former TUF 4 contestant announced that, in spite of his retirement he would be turning his focus to his American Top Team affiliated gym in Boyton Beach, Florida and would still be involved in MMA.

We haven’t heard from the 10-5 UFC veteran, who was at the wrong of a highlight-reel spinning back kick KO by David Loiseau much since then, but he recently joined up with a relatively new MMA website called “CageJunkies” (original, huh?) and has proven that he’s an adept reporter.

(James Toney, shown above with one boxing glove, one MMA glove, and an artist’s depiction of what he might look like if he lost 85 pounds.)

By Jared “DangadaDang” Jones

During its rise to popularity, Mixed Martial Arts has become known for the incredible physical conditioning, talent, and (depending whose side you’re on) heart of its athletes. It is a sport built on dedication; simply put, no amount of pink gloves and flirting with overweight TUF alums will make you an MMA fighter.

But as with any sport’s increase in mass appeal, MMA has seen its share of hacks, wannabes, scallywags and jabronis attempting to grab 15 more minutes of fame through a career in “that Ultimate Fighting stuff.” In light of James Toney’s continuing efforts to shake the MMA world with the use of side check kicks, I give you the five worst instances of C-to-D-list celebrities giving MMA the old community-college try.

5. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson

The phrase “meteoric rise” comes to mind — one minute you were watching Kimbo smoke blunts in the background of semi-public orgies and the next he was being touted as the most formidable opponent to take Brock Lesnar’s crown. Mr. Ferguson landed on our radars through a series of brutal street fight videos in which he fought guys named “Afro Puff,” “Byrd,” “Chico,” and “Mayor McCheese.” These internet videos went viral so ferociously that the now-defunct EliteXC built him up to be their marquee star by feeding him other hopeless big lugs like “Bo” and “Tank.”

Kimbo was given his first “legitimate” opponent in James Thompson as the headlining bout of EliteXC: Primetime in May 2008. Despite possibly tapping to a guillotine in the first round and being on the receiving end of over 1,000 elbows in the second, Kimbo was able to pull off a rare standing-TKO of Thompson late in the third. (Good lookin’ out, Dan.)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ConorHeun)

Remember the grisly photo we posted of Conor Heun’s broken arm he suffered in his win over Magno Almeida? Well, it turns out Conor’s elbow was merely dislocated by one of the numerous armbars Almeida caught him in and is now back to normal, but according to “Hurricane,” he wouldn’t have tapped even if his arm snapped.

Yeah, if you’re looking for warm fuzzies, you can stop reading now. These two aren’t on the list. (Pic: MMAConvert.com)

Being a father must be one of the most thankless jobs on Earth. I say this not as a dad, but as a son who can only imagine what I put my father through. Sure, there are probably some happy times, like watching your son get his first hit on the baseball court, but largely it’s a never ending torrent of putting up with your son’s immature bullshit, and for that you get thought of one day a year at which time you’re rewarded with an ugly ass tie and a “Free Oil Change” coupon for the truck your son smashed up.

On this special occasion, take a few minutes to grab your old man, have a seat, and enjoy some good old fashioned shadenfreude with some of our sport’s less celebrated father-son moments. You may laugh, you may cry, but hopefully you’ll both realize that things could be a lot worse. Who knows, after a beer or two you may even decide to celebrate your strengthened bond by taking a class together.

To all the dads out there, keep fighting the good fight.

(The “Ace”: Coming soon from Trash Talkin’ Kids.)

Thanks so much to everybody who sent in submissions for last week’s Trash Talkin’ Kids t-shirt design contest. We were overwhelmed by the number — and sheer stupidity! — of your designs, and we honestly had a blast going through them. With the help of our friends at Trash Talkin’ Kids, we picked out eight finalists based on humor, creativity, and effort. To see all of the submissions, head over to facebook.com/trashtalkinkids, where they’ve uploaded the finalists plus a bunch more entries that didn’t quite make the cut.

And now we need your votes to make this thing official. Please check out the Elite 8 after the jump, and vote for your favorite in the poll at the bottom of the page. The two highest-voted designs will both be receiving actual TTK shirts. Winners will be announced Thursday. Aaaaaand go!

(Yes, at this point they are in fact just fucking with us.)

Man, it’s like the Shaw family doesn’t even check with each other anymore before they go to the media and just start saying stuff. Remember it was less than two weeks ago that Gary Shaw told us that his longtime crush object Kimbo Slice would probably not be entering the world of boxing after finding out “how hard it is to be a boxer.” Well, on Tuesday, not 15 days later, Jared Shaw – Shaw Trek the Next Generation, if you will – made an appearance on MMA Weekly radio and immediately started issuing “open challenges” on behalf of one Kevin Ferguson, professional boxer.

Specifically, Shaw invited NFL player Ray Edwards to meet Slice in a boxing match. Edwards, a defensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, will make his own professional boxing debut this Friday at a casino in the Gopher State, against an as-yet unnamed opponent. So that sounds just super. Shaw’s comments and some of Edwards’ own ridiculousness are after the jump …

(Chuck Liddell poses with ‘Taboo’, co-host of Our Time.)

We have no idea how most of these encounters came about — but we’re sure they were all fairly awkward. Here are 21 of our favorite photos of MMA fighters rubbing shoulders with reality show stars, B-list actors, and aging rock royalty. Ah, the perks of fame…

(Cain Velasquez: The meat in a douche sandwich.)