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Monday Morning Reverie: Why Bother?

When Eric Esch (Pictures), better known around these parts as "Butterbean," first climbed out of the Toughman Contest and into a legitimate professional boxing ring, it was more carnival act than pugilistic mastery. Here was a down-home Southern man who resembled a massive egg in boxing trunks, yet he was nabbing mainstream headlines across the continental United States every time he fought.

Butterbean was spotted on enormous pay-per-view undercards featuring the likes of Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya, but he never fought more than four rounds (his 10-round snoozer loss to the antique Larry Holmes came much later in his career). Boxing diehards and stubborn columnists refused to acknowledge how important Butterbean was to the sport and scoffed at his too numerous highlight-reel knockout wins because they came against washed-up journeymen and automotive assembly line workers.

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Still, Butterbean's rise to stardom inside the world of professional boxing was as much a circus sideshow as it was legitimate pugilism. Though his star eventually faded out over time, he remains arguably boxing's most prominent and successful caricature of the Sweet Science.

Enter Kevin Ferguson (Pictures), better known around these parts as "Kimbo Slice."

Like Butterbean, Kimbo is known primarily by his nickname and can't be considered a legitimate threat to the upper echelon of his weight class in his sport. Be that as it may, Kimbo differs from Esch in that the Bean was never going to get a chance to slug his way toward a legitimate world title shot. Slice could.

Boxing versus mixed martial arts is the classic case of apples against oranges. While he two sports are eerily similar, they are worlds apart largely because of how contenders land title opportunities.

World-class judokas have been inserted into title contention almost as soon as they become professional MMA fighters in Japan based almost solely on amateur accomplishments and popularity. And had the bestial Bob Sapp (Pictures) been able to score a dramatic win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), he would have defeated Pride's champion in what was only his third professional MMA bout.

Ken Shamrock (Pictures) hadn't done much of anything but take years off of professional fighting and lose half of his fights when he returned. What did that get him? A UFC title shot against Tito Ortiz (Pictures). And in keeping with the UFC, if Brock Lesnar (Pictures) can nab a win or two over popular or remotely elite men, he'll probably face "Minotauro" in hopes of landing the UFC heavyweight crown.

Kimbo, as flawed a fighter as he may be, is one of the rare blokes in the sport who possesses that ultra-elusive "it" quality. He is this generation's Tank Abbott, and it was fitting that he scorched the original Huntington Beach Bad Boy on Saturday. Ferguson's EliteXC main event stoppage of one of the most visible fighters in MMA history clearly put him more firmly on the map.

It was a classic case of hyped-up tough guy taking out an ancient former star, and now the Kimbo publicity engine has been fitted with a super charger. There's no telling where his popularity will get him. He'll easily bank much more money than 95 percent of the combatants in the sport, virtually all of which are 10 times the all-around fighter that Kimbo is.

But regardless of the fact that Ferguson-Abbott was more of a circus sideshow that capped off an entertaining legitimate night of MMA on Showtime, the street fighter from Florida is the real deal, though for the wrong reasons.

Most hardcore MMA purists' stomachs churn at the notion of a swarming street toughie with little to no ground knowledge eliciting such excitement and intrigue. Fans of such veterans as Nate Marquardt, Jeremy Horn (Pictures) and Anderson Silva assuredly roll their eyes in disgust over a battle between an over-the-hill Abbott and some dude with no authentic credibility outside of his YouTube version of Bum Fights.

As horrendous as it is for purists the world over, the reality is that Slice will be nabbing the headlines for quite some time. First we had Abbott, next was Sapp and now we have Ferguson.

There's no doubt that he'll be scorched the minute he climbs into a cage to wage war with someone the ilk of Randy Couture (Pictures), Tim Sylvia (Pictures) or Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures). Once he is exposed as nothing more than a street fighter with little to no business of even thinking about fighting the best of the best at heavyweight, his meteoric rise will fizzle out like every shooting star in the night sky.

However, unlike Butterbean, Kimbo will probably land a title shot as long as he keeps winning. He is massive, punches very hard and is tenacious in the gym. Kimbo also believes he can become a genuine world champion in MMA and readily admits that he has much to learn.

The answer to the question of why bother is simple: money.

Kimbo will generate tons of money and exposure for himself and for whomever he chooses to fight for -- in this case, EliteXC. With his popularity, the real question should be: Why wouldn't they bother?

It is a difficult pill to swallow sometimes, the thought of Butterbean or Tank Abbott or Kimbo Slice somehow becoming one of the best and having a legitimate belt around his waist. But one thing is for sure: Kimbo has a much better chance of scoring a monumental upset than either Abbott or Esch.

I don't see it ever happening, to be honest. And as farcical as his "fight" with Tank was, it certainly is enjoyable to watch Kimbo's professional fighting career unfold before our very eyes.

Misc. Debris
I'm anxious to see exactly what will become of UFC co-founder Bob Meyrowitz's new MMA organization. It sounds like a long shot that his YAMMA Pit Fighting will be anything more than a one- or two-show event. But with it trying to bring MMA back to its roots with as little regulations as the promotion can get away with, it'll be interesting to see what materializes. Then again, have you watched some of the old UFCs lately? Sheesh. …

In keeping with new organizations popping up at every turn, how great is it that Pride is basically being resurrected? The new Dream organization will hopefully pick up right where Pride left off and rekindle the classic rivalry between UFC and Pride. Hopefully, though, the company doesn't hemorrhage money to the point where Zuffa buys it and then demolishes everything in sight. We've already seen that happen. …

It was good to see Yves Edwards (Pictures) score an explosive knockout of Edson Berto on the EliteXC card Saturday. Nothing against Berto whatsoever, but Edwards has always been one of my favorite fighters to interview and he's had an up-and-down career lately. Hopefully this win, his third in a row, will launch him back into title contention. It's difficult to find another fighter as classy as the Bahamian. …

Is it just me or did Tank Abbott look down at the canvas to find a soft spot to land after the final right hand clipped his noggin? I'm not saying he took a dive, but he clearly wanted to be anywhere but inside that EliteXC cage. …

It would be swell if Randy Couture (Pictures) and Zuffa could come to an agreement soon. I don't care if Couture fights inside the Octagon ever again; I just want him to fight, period. If it was up to me -- and I don't know every little detail of the lawsuit situation -- I'd have Couture swallow his pride and come back to the UFC. If he beats Nogueira to accentuate his status as the legit heavyweight champion, a fight with Fedor would be all but a lock. But as long he holds out and fights Zuffa tooth and nail, a Couture-Emelianenko showdown seems less likely with each passing sunset.

Hit me up at www.myspace.com/sherdogsloan
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