Spike TV will air a one-hour special paying tribute to Kimbo “Kevin Ferguson” Slice who passed away on Monday. The special will air prior to Bellator’s quarterly tentpole event, Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
Slice passed away on Monday, June 6th. He was 42 years old. According to a report, Slice passed away of heart failure and was in need of a heart transplant. Notably, Slice was scheduled to fight next month in London, England.
Slice went from YouTube sensation for his street fight videos to an MMA ratings magnet in EliteXC then on SpikeTV as he appeared on TUF and then in Bellator.
Payout Perspective:
Whether it was Slice’s look, his reputation or his fighting style, he was “must see” TV. While you may attribute the heat between Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson on the show, the season of TUF peaked when Slice was on the show. Despite losing on the show to Roy Nelson, it was one of the higher rated shows for the series. His TUF Finale 10 fight against Houston Alexander on Spike TV peaked at 5.2M viewers and the card drew 3.7M viewers. Although he was a shell of his former shelf, he produced top ratings for Bellator and SpikeTV in his last two fights.
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