Popular mixed martial arts fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson has died. He was 42.
Slice was stricken at his South Florida home and taken Monday afternoon to the Northwest Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, a spokeswoman for the Coral Springs, Fla., Police told Yahoo Sports on Monday. He later died.
Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed Slice’s death in a statement:
“We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family. One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that trancended the sport.”
“Outside the cage, he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo’s friends, fans, and teammates.”
Sgt. Carla Kmiotek of the Coral Springs police told Yahoo Sports no foul play is suspected. She said the department dispatched a team of officers to Slice’s home because he is a public figure in order to control whatever crowd might gather.
“At 8 p.m. (ET) we received a call from TMZ,” Kmiotek said. “Our communications department confirmed with Northwest Medical that he is there. We did not receive a police or EMS call from the residence. There is no foul play suspected and there is no investigation. It is being handled as a medical incident.
Slice burst into prominence a little more than a decade ago, when videos of his infamous street fights were viewed millions of times on YouTube. He initially signed with Elite XC and drew huge ratings for his fights on CBS.
In 2009, he signed a deal with the UFC to appear on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He was eliminated by Roy Nelson in the opening round, but appeared on the season finale and defeated Houston Alexander. He fought once more in the UFC and was knocked out in the second round of UFC 113 by Matt Mitrione.
Slice fought his last two fights in Bellator and drew huge television ratings for each. He defeated Ken Shamrock at Bellator 138 on June 19, 2015, and Dhafir Harris, aka Dada 5000 at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19. However, Slice tested positive for an anabolic steroid following that fight and the victory was turned to a no contest.
He had been scheduled to rematch James Thompson at Bellator 158 in London on July 16. Slice was 5-2-1 as a professional mixed martial artist. He also had seven pro boxing matches and was 7-0 with six knockouts.
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- Martial Arts
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