It seems Kimbo Slice will fight Brett Rogers—some day…maybe.
Even though Elite XC didn't necessarily want to pair the two that soon, Slice wanted the fight badly. He's been aiming for a piece of Rogers ever since his post-fight press conference after beating James Thompson, when Rogers called him out. Slice is said to a) really not like the guy and want to beat on him and b) know that the Thompson fight didn't do much, if anything, to show MMA fans he's for real. So he wants a decent opponent.
Earlier this week, the Slice camp said Rogers—once a strong likelihood as the opponent—was 'off the table.' Elite XC VP Jared Shaw issued a statement that the two will 100 percent fight. But in the statement, he left the door open that it won't be on Oct. 4. Still, one source said this morning, "It definitely will not be Brett Rogers," he said.
Then, in an interview at 2:30 p.m. today, Shaw said, "Rogers is definitely not off the table. We are figuring out who it will be from among three fights. Rogers is one of them."
And the other two? Shaw won't say. When pressed, Shaw said Elite XC began with a list of eight possible opponents. Rogers was on there. So were Thompson, Sean Gannon, Ken Shamrock and other names he won't divulge. Though earlier this week he said Gannon had been crossed off, Shaw wouldn't make the same assurance this time around. "He may be on the list," Shaw said.
He acknowledged that any of those three could be on that final three-man list, along side Rogers. "There is no lead horse yet," he said. "The finish line will probably the end of this week, maybe early next week."
Waiting one more card for Kimbo/Rogers actually makes a lot of business sense. Why risk your top company asset with a risky opponent? Elite XC would have loved to pair up Slice with Gannon, his YouTube nemesis. Both Elite XC and the Slice camp believed that fight would be a big Kimbo win. But Gannon, a Boston cop, was essentially out of the running for a long time because execs felt he priced himself out of a one-shot deal against Kimbo.
Behind the scenes, there was also serious discussion about a rematch with Thompson. But Elite XC people believed Thompson needed to win a few fights before meriting a rematch.
Shamrock has been in the mix, too, and he might not be out of the running. Other free agents are still on the table, though those names being discussed have been hard to corral.
In short, we'll know very soon who Kimbo Slice will fight next. Probably.
