On this day in 2015, the late Kimbo Slice entered the cage for the penultimate time.
Slice, who became an internet sensation as a viral street fighter, enjoyed a short but memorable mixed martial arts career.
Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, Slice went from backyard brawler to MMA star instantly after debuting under the EliteXC banner in 2007. That was after Slice choked out Olympic boxer Ray Mercer as an amateur.
After going 3-0, Slice suffered a 14-second knockout loss to Seth Petruzelli before the promotion’s financial collapse paved the way for him to arrive on MMA’s biggest stage.
Having boosted his stardom on The Ultimate Fighter, Slice went 1-1 across two UFC fights. After his UFC release, the fan favorite went undefeated through seven pro boxing bouts, but his time in MMA was not yet over.
Kimbo Slice mounted a comeback to stop Ken Shamrock in 2015 Bellator fight
Five years after his last UFC appearance, Slice returned to MMA in Bellator. He headlined Bellator 138 against a legend of the sport, Ken Shamrock, in a matchup that was originally slated to happen in 2008.
Like Slice, the MMA pioneer was also five years removed from his previous fight, and he was aged 51 at the time. Despite that, though, the former UFC superfight champion had Slice in trouble.
Less than two minutes into their fight, Shamrock took Slice down and applied a rear-naked choke. The former internet sensation struggled to survive and looked seconds away from tapping.
But the tap never came, despite well over 30 seconds in the choke hold. And when he slipped free, Slice made Shamrock pay for the missed opportunity by letting his renowned power close the show on the feet.
Ken Shamrock claimed he let Kimbo Slice out because he had tapped
The result wasn’t without controversy, though.
In addition to some accusing Shamrock of taking a dive against Slice, the MMA legend claimed that he released the choke at Bellator 138 because he had felt a tap.
That claim was rubbished by referee John McCarthy soon after, but Shamrock reiterated it as recently as his 2024 appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.
“I felt so good. I felt like I was going to destroy him,” Shamrock said. “I remember taking him down…it went exactly the way I thought it was going to.
“If you watch that fight, I slip in that choke…he reaches out and he does this (slightly taps twice). … The original Ken Shamrock, I’d have destroyed him and I’d have kept holding on until they pulled me off.
“But it was just something where I reached a point where I wanted more respect. I wanted to leave with respect. I wanted to have the courtesy of being able to choke him out, shake his hand…so I let go.
“I eased up on him because I felt like he tapped,” Shamrock added. “He was done. It was over…I felt him go limp. … All of a sudden, he pops up and I slide off.”
The former backyard brawler would compete once more in MMA, knocking out Dada 5000 at Bellator 149 before that result was overturned to a no contest due to a failed drug test.
Slice tragically died in his home state of Florida four months after that fight in June 2016.