Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was more of a blessing than a curse, said CBS, who broadcasted the proverbial “rise and fall” of the Internet streetfighting legend in 2008.
Slice helmed three of the five most-watched live-broadcasted fights ever, which all happened on CBS, including his 14-second stumble against
Seth Petruzelli in October 2008.
The major network gears up for its second incarnation of “Saturday Nights Fights” with Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Rogers” on Nov. 7 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT sans Slice, but with the added viewing incentive of
Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top-ranked heavyweight.
“I don’t think we regret pumping up Kimbo,” said Kelly Kahl, executive vice president for primetime programming. “He was the draw that helped get people there. People were interested in him. The quality of his fighting we can debate, but you can’t debate the interest level that people had in him, that he helped get people to our fight. Through that, we helped expose people to
Jake Shields,
Robbie Lawler, and
Brett Rogers. He’s obviously still a draw. Look what ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is doing.”
Slice exited Strikeforce in July when the promotion opted not to activate the 35-year-old fighter’s previous contract with Pro Elite. Slice was picked up immediately by the UFC, who crafted the tenth season of its popular “The Ultimate Fighter” series on Spike TV around the intriguing novice fighter. Slice’s fight against
Roy Nelson banked the network 6.1 million viewers in September, its highest ratings ever for original programming.
In the wake of Slice, CBS’s Kahl said the addition of
Fedor Emelianenko was a welcome surprise.
“In terms of Fedor, was he a requirement (for CBS to re-air MMA)? No. Was it a happy coincidence that he was available? Yeah,” said Kahl. “When that was brought up, we thought what better way to get back with the number-one heavyweight in the world and one of the best MMA fighters ever.”
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