Kimbo Slice mulling over offers; MMA and boxing on table

[Boanerges]

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (4-2) is at home in Miami and will soon decide what his fighting future holds.

Slice's manager, Mike Imber, today told MMAjunkie.com that the heavyweight fighter is taking time off before he takes the next step in his career.

"He has a lot of offers and opportunities on the table, so it's up to him," Imber said via text message.

Slice was released by the UFC after his second career loss to fellow "The Ultimate Fighter 10" veteran Matt Mitrione at UFC 113, which was held May 8 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

"I've got nothing but respect for Kimbo," UFC president Dana White told reporters after announcing his decision to cut the YouTube star. "I like him as a person. He carried himself really well."

But he added Slice didn't have what it took to cut it in the octagon.

Imber said he was "not sure" whether Slice was surprised by the release but expressed gratitude toward the UFC.

"Those guys gave Kimbo an incredible opportunity and (we) can't thank them enough for that," Imber said. "Who knows what the future will bring with them?"

The UFC sent a shockwave around the MMA community when it signed Slice out of left field to appear on "TUF 10." White had previously called him a "freakshow" during his days as posterboy for the now-defunct EliteXC, but the UFC exec changed his tune when Slice answered a challenge to join the Spike TV-televised reality show.

Slice's fighting skills were widely panned by the MMA community, though he helped generated the highest ratings to date for "The Ultimate Fighter."

Among his "TUF 10" castmates, Slice drew a mixture of ire and curiosity before he fell prey to veteran Roy Nelson in the preliminary round of the reality show tournament (the fight aired on the show's third episode and drew a record 6.1 million viewers). After campaigning vocally for a second opportunity, he declined a possible chance to replace Matt Mitrione in the show's quarterfinals due to an ailing knee. He earned his first UFC victory at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale with a unanimous decision over Houston Alexander.

Imber declined to elaborate on Slice's current opportunities but said they were in both boxing and MMA. The manager left up to Ferguson which to choose.

"It's been his call from the beginning, and it's his call now," Imber said.

By Steven Marrocco

I would still like to see Kimbo fight. I think he should try out boxing and see how he does with that. I think his hand skills are really good but his ground game and dealing with leg kicks is always going to be a problem for him in mma. His endurance is also subject where ever he decides to fight. He is not good enough to beat the top level heavy weight boxers like the Klitschko's IMO but he can't really go back to mma unless the organization he fights for puts him aganist sub-par opponents all the time.

[capitalB]

kimbo showed he has potential for most aspects of the fight game. i would be a loyal watcher regardless. he just seems to be a pretty good guy and comes off that way on screen.