Sports Biz

Published: Monday, 8 Jun 2009 | 6:13 PM ET

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Dale H. Cotton (hingephoto.com)

The UFC prides itself on real fighting, but that doesn’t mean that the mixed martial arts organization isn’t in a constant search for characters.

That’s why UFC president Dana White buckled and gave Kimbo Slice a chance to associate himself with White’s organization as part of a deal that will put him on Season 10 of Spike’s Ultimate Fighter.

White has previously bashed Slice (real name: Kevin Ferguson), who's made his name through street fighting videos on YouTube, for not having a full complement of skills.

But instead of continuing to knock down Slice, who has been out of work since Elite XC went out of business, White made what I think was the necessary move by putting Slice on the show that develops UFC talent.

How big is Slice? Well, Elite XC was not a viable business, but I thought that if Kimbo Slice could continue to win - which he didn’t - he single-handedly could have kept the league alive.

Current champion Brock Lesnar, who used to wrestle in the WWE, is a great face for the UFC, but it’s undeniable that there’s no current fighter that has the makeup of Kimbo Slice.

Could there be a better name? Is there anything better than the disheveled black beard and the good teeth? And the back story of being homeless, of being a porn star security guard, of his Internet fights?

I agree that Kimbo Slice has to learn to fight and I understood White’s original objection to associating his premium brand with Slice and turning it into a circus act.

But White also knows that just because the UFC isn’t the WWE, doesn’t mean that that they can’t take advantage of a free agent who many feel at least looks like the ultimate barbarian.

Questions?  Comments? 

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