Kimbo Slice on TUF

Sherdog announced yesterday that Kimbo Slice, aka Kevin Ferguson, will be on the tenth season of the Ultimate Fighter. This is the best possible thing that the UFC could have done.

Kimbo Slice and Strike Force broke off talks a few weeks ago apparently and the UFC wasted no time in picking him up and putting him in the TUF house which will have sixteen Heavyweight fighters next season and will be coached by Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson. Kimbo in the house is a great promotional move for the UFC. If he had been signed by the UFC and put on cards right away, they would get blasted by the fans on the underground. And what they would have to pay him, they would have to put him on the main cards. But by putting him in the TUF house, he will have to prove that he is worthy to fight in the UFC and if he does walk through the tournament and win the season and makes his way into the UFC, then he will have earned his place in the UFC and the nay-sayers will have to be silenced....for a while at least.

It goes without saying that The Ultimate Fighter has gotten very stale for a lot of people and that is shown by the fact that the numbers, while still strong, are not as good as they were the first couple of seasons. Kimbo Slice is a colorful, well known personality that the casual fan will tune in to watch. They know him from his CBS shows and he is still holding down the first and third most watched live fights on television (against Thompson and Petruzelli). I've heard a few of the names rumored for this season of TUF and there are some pretty decent fighters that are scheduled to enter the house. Kimbo Slice will certainly have to work hard and beat some solid fighters if he wants to capture the Ultimate Fighter 10 title. I have not watched TUF weekly since the fourth season, since then I have only captured the odd episode each season. But with Kimbo Slice for color and some solid fighters apparently going to be in the house, I just might have to watch season 10 every single week.