Morning Report: Jorge Masvidal thinks Kimbo Slice would have been ‘2-time heavyweight champion’ if he’d trained MMA earlier

Jorge Masvidal has competed for MMA titles at the highest level, and he’s confident Kimbo Slice could have done the same.

In fact, had Slice started his MMA training earlier, Masvidal believes his fellow Miami fighting legend would have been a champion twice over.

Masvidal recently appeared on the JAXXON podcast, where he opened by discussing the late Slice, born Kevin Ferguson, who died in 2016. At his peak, Slice was one of the most famous fighters in North America, a reputation that he built as a street fighter in Florida well before joining the UFC in 2009.

It wasn’t until Slice was 35 years old that he made his octagon debut following a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 10. Masvidal pictured a scenario where Slice pursued MMA 20 years earlier, a path that could have led to heavyweight gold.

“He was a cool dude,” Masvidal said. “So f*cking humble. It just bothers me that he started MMA so late, because that guy was so talented. If he would have started, like, 14, 15, 16 years old, forget about it. This guy would have been a two-time heavyweight champion. He would have been a serious f*cking problem.

“He started training like, at 35, 36 years old for the UFC.”

Slice went on to compete eight times in MMA, compiling a 5-2 record (including a 1-1 mark in the UFC) with a memorable no-contest against Dada 5000 (originally a TKO for Slice that was later overturned due to Slice failing a pre-fight drug test) in 2016 that would be the final fight of Slice’s life and the last one to date for Dada.

Despite the mixed results, Slice’s outings were regularly considered appointment viewing. He headlined the first MMA event on American network television when he fought James Thompson at a 2008 EliteXC event, his TUF bout in 2009 opposite Roy Nelson drew over five million viewers, and he drew another two million viewers to Bellator when he fought Dada.

Masvidal reflected on what made Slice special when JAXXON podcast host Quinton Jackson—Slice’s coach on TUF 10—complained about his coaches on the reality show giving Slice over-complicated advice.

“Don’t take that wild edge from him because you he’d go from here to ‘wham!’ just clogging somebody,” Masvidal said. “Super athlete, but just started a little late.”

The relationship between Masvidal and Slice goes back to when Slice was on his way to becoming an internet sensation for his thrilling street fights. Masvidal was featured in one such clip, battling a protégé of Slice’s, and the two struck up a friendship afterwards.

When Masvidal went on to become a standout at the American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Fla., he was later joined by Slice, who even at his advanced age still showed promise.

“After that he came to American Top Team and I’m going to say he did his whole career off of there after The Ultimate Fighter,” Masvidal said. “All the way up to his last fight, he was with us. I wouldn’t roll with him, only in the beginning I think we wrestled a couple of times. We’d spar very lightly, just moving around… he was huge.

“Back then I was at 155, so it was too much of a weight difference. So he’d take care of me when we work out, but we’d just try to show each other things. I had numerous pro fights already, but he was a f*cking talent and a mean motherf*cker.”

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It’s sad to me that there are plenty of newer MMA fans that have no grasp of what a massive star Kimbo Slice was when he burst onto the scene. We’re talking mainstream coverage, like ESPN magazine cover boy years before he joined the UFC. People with no interest in fighting knew who Kimbo was. There will never be another.

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