He was the king of the backyard. You remember the videos—grainy, shaky footage of a guy with a magnificent beard and gold teeth literally punching people out of their shoes in Miami heat. But when we talk about the Kimbo Slice MMA record, things get a little weirder. People either think he was a total fraud or a world-beater who just got a late start. Honestly? The truth is somewhere in the middle, buried under a professional record of 5-2 with one massive, messy "No Contest."
Kevin Ferguson, the man behind the Kimbo persona, wasn't just a YouTube curiosity. He was a massive experiment. Could a street fighter survive in the world of high-level grappling and tactical striking? If you just look at the 5-2 stat line, it looks decent. But that record is a wild ride of 14-second knockouts, exploding ears, and a drug test failure that basically erased his final victory from the books.
The Professional Breakdown: 5 Wins, 2 Losses, 1 NC
Let's just lay it out there. On paper, Kimbo Slice finished his professional career with five wins and two losses.
But if you’re a real fight fan, you know those numbers are deceiving. They don’t include his exhibition matches on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) or his amateur/exhibition wins that helped build the hype.
The EliteXC Era (2007–2008)
This is where the legend turned into a business. Kimbo started his pro career with a bang. He took out Bo Cantrell in 19 seconds. Then he flattened the legendary (but aging) Tank Abbott in 43 seconds. People were losing their minds.
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Then came the James Thompson fight at EliteXC: Primetime. It was 2008. It was the first time MMA was on major network TV (CBS). It was also gross. Kimbo landed a punch that literally caused Thompson's cauliflower ear to explode. He won by TKO in the third round, moving to 3-0.
Then the wheels fell off.
On October 4, 2008, at EliteXC: Heat, Kimbo was supposed to fight Ken Shamrock. Shamrock got a cut over his eye while warming up on the day of the fight. Seth Petruzelli, a light heavyweight who wasn't even supposed to be the main event, stepped in. He hit Kimbo with a "pinky" jab while backpedaling and knocked him out in 14 seconds. It was a disaster. The promotion folded shortly after.
The UFC Stint: Prove It or Lose It
Dana White famously said Kimbo wouldn't get into the UFC unless he went through the TUF house. Kimbo did it. He lost his exhibition match to Roy "Big Country" Nelson—a guy with a high fight IQ and a black belt in BJJ who basically just laid on him and punched his head until the ref stopped it.
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Even though he lost on the show, the UFC gave him a shot at the TUF 10 Finale.
- Win vs. Houston Alexander: This was Kimbo’s only fight that ever went to a decision. It was weird. Houston Alexander spent half the fight running away, and Kimbo actually showed some decent wrestling, even pulling off a huge slam.
- Loss vs. Matt Mitrione: At UFC 113, the "street fighter" experiment hit a wall. Mitrione was younger, faster, and used leg kicks to chop Kimbo down. Kimbo lost via TKO in the second round and was released from the promotion.
The Bellator Comeback and the "No Contest"
After a five-year break where he went 7-0 as a pro boxer, Kimbo returned to MMA in 2015. He signed with Bellator and faced Ken Shamrock in a fight that was seven years in the making.
It was almost over instantly. Shamrock got a rear-naked choke. It looked deep. Kimbo, through sheer grit, refused to tap, stood up, and knocked Shamrock out. That win brought his record to 5-2.
His last fight was against his former friend and rival Dhafir "Dada 5000" Harris at Bellator 149 in February 2016. It was... hard to watch. Both guys were gassed within minutes. Kimbo eventually won by TKO because Dada literally collapsed from exhaustion. However, Kimbo later tested positive for steroids (nandrolone) and an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. The Texas commission overturned the win to a No Contest.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Kimbo’s Record
A lot of people think Kimbo was just a brawler. If you look at his training, he was working with guys like Bas Rutten and American Top Team (ATT). He actually had a decent takedown defense (about 73% in the UFC). He wasn't just a guy swinging in a backyard; he was a guy who started training for a professional sport in his mid-30s. That’s incredibly hard to do.
If you count his "real" fights including the TUF exhibition and his 2007 exhibition win over Ray Mercer (where he actually won by guillotine choke!), the math changes. But in the eyes of the record books, he is 5-2 (1 NC).
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
To truly understand the Kimbo Slice MMA record, you have to look past the Sherdog page.
- Contextualize the wins: Most of Kimbo's wins came against fighters past their prime or specifically chosen for their style (sluggers).
- Acknowledge the draw: Kimbo was a ratings machine. His 5-2 record doesn't reflect that he was responsible for some of the highest-viewed MMA events in history.
- Study the "No Contest": That final result against Dada 5000 is a reminder of the physical toll the sport took on him. He passed away just months after that fight from heart failure.
If you're tracking the history of heavyweights, Kimbo’s record is a case study in "what if." What if he started at 22 instead of 33? We’ll never know, but his official record remains a fascinating, slightly chaotic piece of MMA lore.
To get the most accurate look at his impact, watch the James Thompson fight followed by the Houston Alexander decision. You'll see a fighter who was actually trying to learn the "martial arts" part of MMA, even when everyone just wanted to see him brawl.