Kimbo Slice became a famous name in sports in one of the most unpredictable, yet totally fitting ways for the 21st century: He was one of the original viral YouTube stars.
A former high school football player who played at Miami and even tried out with the Dolphins, Kimbo Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson, became a bouncer at a strip club and later a bodyguard in South Florida. While working for the adult entertainment company “Reality Kings,” he started doing backyard brawls in 2003. But it wasn’t until YouTube was invented in Feb. 2005 that Kimbo truly blew up. His fights were uploaded to YouTube and helped make him famous.
Kimbo went from backyard brawls in 2003 to fighting for a legit promotion company (EliteXC) in 2007, and on national TV on CBS in 2008.
For those unfamiliar with his path to fame, or for those who want to relive his greatness, we have compiled some of his greatest fights.
This backyard fight against “Big Dee” Byrd is what led to him receiving his “Slice” nickname. You can see the way he sliced open his opponent’s eye:
That is perhaps known as Kimbo’s most famous street fight.
Let’s take a look at the rest.
In this video he records two knockdowns – beating Afropuff and Big Mac:
Here he bloodies a guy named Adryan:
Against The Bouncer:
Kimbo vs. Dreads:
Here he bloodies Chico:
And the one stain on Kimbo’s street fighting legacy – his loss to Boston cop Sean Gannon:
More must-reads: