It appears that we’ll have at least a short wait before the main event. They’re showing clips from some of Kimbo’s street fighting videos and now running a profile of the man. Ranallo putting over Kimbo’s “it factor” which is exactly what we were saying following his beatdown of Ray Mercer. Shamrock putting over Thompson as not being scared of Kimbo, but that remains to be seen. Looks like we’re ready to start the main event festivities. Jimmy Lennon set to give the introductions of what *could* be a very important matchup to the future development of MMA. Kimbo could become an even bigger superstar than he already is–a number of the SavSci staffers have suggested that Kimbo could be the next Mike Tyson but obviously that requires him to keep winning in impressive fashion. Thompson in the cage now with almost no fanfare or reaction. Now here comes Kimbo and not surprisingly he gets a rock star like reaction. Slice wearing a Bahamian flag over his head (he was born there) along with a t-shirt from Huge.com. A big story in advance of this fight was CBS putting the kibosh on his sponsorship by the ‘Reality Kings’ porn site. Kimbo looks fearsome as usual and looks to be in great shape–as we’ve noted, he’s become incredibly cut since his fight against Ray Mercer.

Thompson is bigger, but not sure he’s got a sufficient edge in size to make a huge difference. Jimmy Lennon is set to introduce the fight. Contrary to what Shamrock said, Thompson might not exactly look scared but he doesn’t appear to be brimming with confidence either. Thompson has that ‘deer caught in headlights’ look–not sure if its focus or what. Now he’s waving his arms around and gesturing toward Kimbo. Good idea, James, make him mad. Not exactly a stratergy that many would suggest that he use. Kimbo has that insane glare of blank ferocity that has become his trademark. That ‘grown ass man’ beard alone should be intimidating Thompson. He and LeBron James have the best ‘grown ass man’ beards on the planet. OK, we’re set to go…

FIRST ROUND:

Bell rings and Thompson rushes over toward Kimbo. Kimbo coming in low. Thompson tries a takedown but it doesn’t work. Kimbo appears to have a guillotine choke and now Thompson is in Kimbo’s guard. He tries to get up and Kimbo tries for another choke and lands an elbow to the back of Thompson’s head but he doesn’t get called for it. Shamrock commending Kimbo on his ground control. Thompson pushes Kimbo up against the cage. Knees by Kimbo, Thompson trying for a guillotine while Kimbo responds with big knee strikes. Up against the cage again, underhooks by Thompson and now Kimbo pops out. Back in the middle and Kimbo looking for an opening for a big punch. He delivers but somewhat off balance. Kimbo with side control. Kimbo tries for a choke but Thompson’s sweaty bald head pops out. Thompson tires a kimura but can’t finish it. Kimbo rolls over and gets on top. Elbows by Kimbo. Sweet reversal by Kimbo and he’s trying to set up a kimura. Big punch by Kimbo as the round ends. Thompson’s round 10-9 and its got to be a moral victory to get through round 1.

ROUND 2:

Set to go with round 2, Kimbo looks more pissed than hurt. Thompson tries for a takedown but Kimbo retaliates with a bodyshot. Thompson eats a few punches, tries for a takedown but Kimbo sprawls out of it nicely. Thompson gets a takedown but Kimbo gets a reversal. Guillotine choke attempt by Kimbo, Thompson slides out. He’s got side control now and Kimbo trying to power out of it. Ref stands the two fighters up, now he lets his hands go and is starting to expose Thompson’s weak chin. Kimbo with a combination and unloading some big punches on Thompson. Thompson was hurt but managed to get out of it for a moment with a double leg–Ranallo throws out a DDT reference. He’s got Kimbo against the cage and going for the ground and pound but doesn’t appear to be hurting Kimbo much. Elbows by Thompson with a minute left in the round. Ref threatening to stand the fighters back up–barrage of elbows and fists by Thompson with 2o seconds left. He’s taking a beating against the cage–he’ll make it out of the round but hard to see what kind of condition he’s in. He’s looked better but he could have looked worse. Thompson round again, though the first round was close. 20-18 Thompson on my card.

ROUND THREE:

Obviously Kimbo needs to keep this standing. Thompson’s face looks brutal. Kimbo stalking Thompson hits him with a couple of big power punches. Right hand by Kimbo damn near rips Thompson’s ear off. Thompson out on his feet and it looks like his ear is hanging off a la Sebastian Lujan (Google it). Kimbo unleashes a barrage on Thompson who’s out on his feet. Credit to Thompson for standing up but he doesn’t know where he is. The ref jumps in and stops it, and Thompson punches at the ref either due to some bad sportsmanship or maybe he thought it was Kimbo. Kimbo was landing some bombs and if the ref hadn’t stopped it he would have ripped his ear off. The Kimbo haters will callit a premature stoppage–he was definitely tested, but it was a good stoppage with Thompson’s ear hanging by a thread and having eaten four or five uncontested power shots. Kimbo hugs JT.

KIMBO SLICE WINS BY TKO

Not the overwhelmingly decisive win Elite would have wanted for Kimbo but they have to be happy that both of their ‘meal tickets’–Gina Carano and Kimbo–are still undefeated. Thompson was surprisingly game and showed a better chin that he’s exhibited in PRIDE. Stoppage may have been *slightly* premature but the ref had been stopping the fights early all night–no doubt he, CBS and EliteXC wanted to avoid the potential ugliness of a serious injury caused by a late stoppage. In a way it could be the best thing to happen for Kimbo as it’ll just fuel the controversy regarding how good he is and/or could be and that’ll keep the grass roots ‘buzz’ going strong.

Don’t forget we’ll be back tomorrow night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific for the WEC card headlined by Jens Pulver vs. Urijah Faber.