Just days after Muhammad Ali’s death,
another star from the sport scene has passed away.
Mixed martial arts star Kimbo Slice
died Monday night at the age of 42. According to the report by the South
Florida Sun Sentinel, the MMA fighter was diagnosed to have heart failure and
was in need for a heart transplant.
Kevin Ferguson, also known as Kimbo
Slice, was admitted in the Northwest Medical Center on June 3 after complaining
of “severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath and nausea.”
Ferguson was placed in a ventilator in
intensive care and was scheduled to be transported to Cleveland, where he would
be placed on a donor list.
Mike Imber, Slice’s longtime manager
and childhood friend, confirmed to ESPN.com that Slice entered the medical
facility on June 3 and appeared to be doing well until Monday. He also added
that Slice went to Germany around March and got really sick while he was there.
Slice was scheduled to fight James
Thompson at Bellator 158 on July 16 in London, but according to Mike Brown, his
head coach at American Top Team, Slice had intended to withdraw from the event.
According to Brown, the fighter had a ‘crazy
hiccup problem, high blood pressure, and some problem with his gallbladder.’
And this is what lead them to decide to pull out of the fight.
Slice fought once this year in
February, knocking longtime rival Dhafir Harris also known as Dada5000. However,
the bout was later changed to a no contest after Slice was tested positive for
anabolic steroids and with an elevated testosterone ratio.
Slice was born in the Bahamas but grew
up in the Miami area. He came to prominence through participating in backyard
brawls, which generated millions of views. He transitioned to professional
mixed martial arts in 2007 and delivered massive television ratings throughout
the extent of his career. In 2009, he participated on "The Ultimate
Fighter," the UFC's long-running reality show. He also compiled a 7-0
professional boxing record.
"Unless you met him, you didn't
know how touching of a person he really was. The absolute epitome of 'don't
judge a book by its cover.' I think everyone will remember him that way,"
said Imber, praising his long time partner and best friend.
Slice leaves behind six children along
with his eldest son Kevin Ferguson Jr. also known as ‘Baby Slice,’ who just made
his professional MMA debut earlier this year.
Source: ESPN
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