Top Heavyweight Fighters (AKA Guys Kimbo Needs to Beat to Prove Himself)

KIIIIIIIIMBO!

Here's a Yardbarker photo of Slice ringside at the Cung Le/Frank Shamrock fight. I can't figure out if he has gold teeth or if they simply haven't been cleaned since 1983.

NO WAY! i almost lost my milk with your closing statement "cleaned since 1983. " lmao!

RotoEvil i agree with you!!!

What about Randy and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira?

Well, I specifically chose guys who are fighting on the upcoming Affliction card in July for a few reasons. First of all, the UFC gets plenty of publicity already and I have an underground/ independent/ underdog mentality. So I'd rather write about non-UFC fighters. And since the Heavyweights I picked are not in the UFC and neither is Kimbo, a matchup down the road may be possible.

I realize that Randy got out of his UFC contract, but he's explicitly stated that the only fight that makes sense for him at this point is a rumble with Fedor. I hope it happens, but If Randy loses that fight, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him retire. I respect both he and Nogueira, but Nog is pretty old as well and his body has taken a beating over the years. I also don't think Kimbo's promoters would ever let him fight Nog since the guy is so dangerous on the ground.

But yeah, both guys are definite top 10 heavyweights right now...

kimbo don't let these haters get you down bro there going to feel like fools when there so called mma stars get knocked out they seem to underestimate the meanest of the street and watch a lil to much television remember they think hulk hogan and rocky are real. mark my words when mma lets the real hood in there sport it's gonna be all over.

I really don't think I'm a Kimbo hater. The "haters" are not acknowledging him as a legit heavyweight prospect. I disagree. I said he's an "intriguing specimen with a ton of potential" and I believe in his potential because Bas Rutten is training him and Bas is the man.

But Kimbo is not at an elite level yet and I think he'll agree that a win over James Thompson doesn't mean much. I know that he wants to prove to HIMSELF (eff what myself or others think) that he belongs in the discussion of top heavyweights, but I'm also sure that he knows he must beat a top heavyweight first before he gets that recognition.

So I'm no hater. I'm rooting for him to succeed, but I also want to see him prove himself first!

For some reason they want to use this guy as the poster boy for MMA. I don't get it. He's big and strong, but has yet to show off some MMA skils. It will be intresting to see what he can do against a well rounded fighter. He's only dealt with has beens and no bodies.

Well to be fair he did get a submission in his first fight. James Thompson is going to get beat pretty bad, but his size is very good, and has a lot of different styles... muay thai, ju-jitsu, and wrestling. We will see what happens. I hope this is a good fight, but I think we will see Kimbo's cardio, and a little ground game from him. If not it will be a KO quick. I cant wait for this weekend!!! WEC and ELITE XC! Urijah Faber vs Jens Pulver and Kimbo vs James Thompson. Then some good undercard fights...

I agree. Let's see how he does when he actually fights somebody legitimate.

I think its crap that you take a guy with 20 "street fights" and 3 MMA sanctioned fights and want to put him in the ring with guys who have 20+ MMA sanctioned fights and most over 5 years expericence in mixed martial arts training. I personally think Kimbo is not that great of a MMA fighter...and probally never will achevie the level of sucess as many others but 2 years of training and a diet of mediocre fighters to hone his skills and he will probally compete with the upper level fighters in MMA....might not win but will beat them down enough that the only way you will beat him is catching him in a submission and even then with the training he is now getting that will be alot harder to do.....By the way...If this is the way the world is going...lets put my 10 year old up against Brandon Webb or Joba Chamberlin and if he fouls a ball off put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame......just a different point of view....peace out...

Agreed with m2wideload. Right now, Kimbo has no shot with any of the listed above.

I completely disagree with your assessment of Nogueira. He's the seond best HW in the history of MMA behind only Fedor. His record is 31-4 with 2 losses bein to Fedor, a split decision loss to Barnett which Nogueira avenged just 3 months later and a split decision loss to Dan Hendorson in RINGS which was a very poor decision (Henderson's an amazing fighter but he lost that fight) and Nogueira avenged that loss as well.
Nogueira has never been finished in a fight and other than his 2 losses to Fedor, his other 2 losses were both by split decision.
And I must also add, Nogueira's boxing is World Class, the only peolpe in MMA with better boxing than Nogueira are Anderson Silva and Nogueira's younger brother Rogerio who is the 2006 Brazilian boxing champion, South American Games champion and 2007 Pan American Games Bronze medalist.
The Nogueira's train with the Cuban National Boxing Team (which is Cuba's Olympic team) and Nog is co owner of Black House along with Anderson Silva.
Nogueira is clearly the #2 HW inthe world and Josh Barnett is clearly the #3 HW in the world.