Kimbo Slice ESPN the Magazine

ESPN and the mainstream sports media love Kimbo Slice. This is ESPN's second feature on him and let's just face it Kimbo Slice is just a great story, period. And we here at Watch Kalib Run can give you a sneak peek into what is in ESPN's cover story.

His sports future was destroyed with Hurricane Andrew. After a month of homelessness he fell into pornography as a bouncer. Followed by internet stardom for bare knuckle brawls. Now that he has entered the mainstream, Kimbo Slice is easily one of the top five ambassadors for the sport. Slice's mainstream cred is so legit that Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom said, "Manny Ramirez was born to swing a bat. Peyton Manning was born to throw a football. And Kimbo Slice was born to kick ass."

ESPN's feature is more a biography of Kimbo's life. While not addressing the many merits MMA as a sport, it does delve into the many critiques of Kimbo as an MMA fighter. Such as fighting washed up Tank Abbot or fighting 'cans' those statements coupled with negative quotes from Dana White and Tito Ortiz as well as others.

The most poignant part of the piece is the accurate observation that Slice's story is a mirror image of the rise of MMA. "Up from the gutter. Secretly popular. Misunderstood. Violent. Criticized. Dangerous. Fun. Cool. Bloody. Viral. And now, finally, mainstream" (ESPN, Dan Le Batard).

I can't think of any better way to describe both the sport and one of it's biggest stars. While there are many haters of Kimbo, overall the exposure and popularity he can garner for MMA as a whole outweighs any argument for him not to be considered seriously. If the good times keep rolling for EliteXC Kimbo will win on My 31st and the first televised MMA star will be born.