Tank and Kimbo Throw Down
So Elite XC Street Certified on February 16, 2008 was yet again another event designed for those who know next to nothing about MMA. For a long time everyone has heard talk of a Kimbo Slice Vs. David “Tank” Abbott fight but most of us already knew the outcome without ever seeing the fight happen. Tank is old, out of shape and generally washed up. Suffice it to say the fight was a short one with Kimbo beating Tank like a child in “protective custody”.
Otherwise the night was filled with stand up battles just like this one such as Brett Rogers Vs. James Thompson where Rogers KO’d Thompson to start off the night. The Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto was possibly the most impressive KO of the night with Edwards landing a jumping knee while resisting a single leg takedown for the KO.
Scott Smith looked rather tentative in the first round of his fight against Kyle Noke allowing Noke to land jab after jab with very little counter punching. As round two started however they engage in an exchange where smith hands a hard right hand which knocks out Noke.
The Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez which was the last fight leading up to the Tank and Kimbo battle was a boring one. Ricco is one of these guys that I feel is an amazing ground specialist but has not really taken MMA seriously in many years. Overall the fight was a disappointment. Rodriguez looked rather sloppy the whole fight and couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm. The fight ended with Silva taking a split decision which was the right call.
Not much ground game happened that night as I really think the card was designed for those fans who don’t understand or like the ground. In the Ricco/Antonio fight their was some sloppy takedowns and 1 or two submission attempts but overall the event was what I expected. They used an over the hill fighter to promote a match no true MMA fan really cared about.
Why has MMA came to this? Is it a side effect of the growth in popularity and the sport going mainstream?
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