Urijah Faber: BJ Penn Has 90 Percent Chance of Beating Kimbo Slice

by Luke Thomas on Aug 28, 2008 2:03 PM EDT in News Comment 18 comments

On the Big O & Dukes show on 106.7 WJFK today, WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber was asked about BJ Penn's chances of defeating Kimbo Slice in a fight. Faber replied that Penn had a "90% chance" of defeating the EliteXC heavyweight, although one speculates Faber really feels the chances are much higher.

The Penn vs. Slice "fantasy match-up" is the product of UFC President Dana White's comment just prior to EliteXC's debut on CBS. White remarked that BJ Penn could defeat Slice in a MMA bout. The effort of White was to disparage Slice's talent level by suggesting a lightweight fighter in the UFC could defeat a heavyweight fighter in EliteXC (or at least Slice). Faber's corroboration merely adds fuel to the fire.

As for a potential bout with Norifumi Yamamoto, it's the same story: Faber wants it; there are no plans in the works to make it happen.

Listen to the entire interview here.

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

lets see.. if Fedor can do that to giants. Why cant he?

by Johann on Aug 28, 2008 2:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

All Slice has going for him is his knockout power. Which I now doubt ever since he couldn’t put away Thompson. BJ wins every time.

by pud333 on Aug 28, 2008 2:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I put it 100%.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Aug 28, 2008 2:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dana was right on the money and I think Faber is just being honest. If he were toeing the company line he would have said 100% without a doubt. From what I have see of Big Kev, BJ would beat him. BJ has him everywhere except power and you would expect that a heavyweight would hit harder. BJ even has an edge in gas tank, you don’t get to say that a lot. BJ might even stand with him. His head movement looked great v. Sherk and Slice might not touch him.

by szucconi on Aug 28, 2008 2:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I know BJ is amazing, but I think standing with him would be a very bad idea (although I don’t put it past B.J. to try something like that).

by Day Man on Aug 28, 2008 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree its not the best game plan, but like jemaleddin said, BJ had the technique over Slice. I think Slice MIGHT not be able to touch him. I think the best game plan for BJ is to look to take the back by any means.

by szucconi on Aug 28, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kimbo may have BJ on power, but BJ wins on technique every time – especially in the stand-up.

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Aug 28, 2008 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

After seeing Kimbo’s ground game…I wouldn’t doubt it.

http://mma4real.net/

by Tha Realness on Aug 28, 2008 3:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What ground game?

laying on the ground saying, “i’m ok” over and over to the ref until the round is over really can’t be called a ground game, don’t you think?

by JimmyTheSaint on Aug 28, 2008 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Umm…I was implying that his ground game is non-existant…yes.

http://mma4real.net/

by Tha Realness on Aug 28, 2008 4:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Doubt BJ chances of beating Slice is that high

I believe the Kimbo against Thompson will not be the same person against Shamrock. That fight woke Kimbo up. He’s not going to be a BJJ technician, but he’ll be better at defending against the ground game. Yeah, Fedor beat a 7’2" guy, but dude was backing away from Fedor. I could swear that guy was afraid of him. Kimbo moves pretty quick for someone his size. Unless BJ gets him in a quick submission, I doubt he could take three rounds of Kimbo’s punches. BJ is not knocking out Slice. Taking it to the ground is the only way he’s beating Kimbo.

by Akorn on Aug 28, 2008 4:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What worries me about Kimbo is his power. Supposedly he hits like a truck. But he couldn’t really knock Thompson out…and it seems damn near everyone can KO Thompson. So now I have significant questions about how much power he really has.

What’s more you can’t really “train power” you can tweak technique to generate a little more. But at a certain point a person can only hit so hard…

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 28, 2008 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BJ vs Slice? Why not Faber vs Slice??

In the next Playboy issue, Dana White is interviewed and states that Faber would carve up Slice. Incidentally, I totally agree.

by mmac on Aug 28, 2008 11:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Torres

Let’s drop another ten pounds. Miguel would break Kimbo’s arm or choke him out in the first round.

by zackaryl on Aug 29, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Penn/Faber/Pulver/Whoever vs. Slice

is a mismatch of early Royce Gracie proportions. There is simply no way a one-dimensional guy without an outstanding A+ skill is going to take out a complete fighter like Penn or Faber, no matter what the weight difference is. I understand that Kimbo’s a renowned striker, but there are lots of guys in the UFC that strike with more power and efficiency than Fergi. Guys like Houston Alexander or James Irvin have more power than Fergi, since they have made their careers by knocking out seasoned pro’s in the MMA ranks.

I have no doubt that Fergi could do some damage to any of those guys if they were made to stand in front of him and absorb shots for the entire fight. He’d almost certainly knock them out. But there’s no way that happens, they’re too well-rounded.

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Aug 29, 2008 1:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not gonna happen...at least not that fast

There’s no way any of those lightweights beat Kimbo so easily. When Royce was fighting, no one had ever heard of BJJ. Slice is being trained by Bas. Someone who knows a little about the ground game. Thompson, as far as I know, was the first opponent to take Kimbo to the ground. He couldn’t knock out Thompson because he ran out of energy. If anything how come Thompson couldn’t submit (except for that guillotine…Slice tapped LOL) him? He had him on the ground.

Slice has only fought in a few MMA fights. After Shamrock (if he wins) Slice has to fight better competition. He has no choice. Dana & Co. are saying these things because Slice is not on their team. Didn’t Dana say Fedor was overrated?

by Akorn on Aug 29, 2008 10:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m personally pretty sick of the whole “he’s training with Bas” so he has to improve shtick. He’s been training with Bas for quite a while now and yet we saw against Thompson that apparently all that training so far has done nothing for him in terms of developing any kind of ground game/defense whatsoever. He still relies on nothing but pure raw power/strength, both standing and on the ground. Why should we assume that now all of a sudden it’s going to “click” and he’ll be a “different” guy this time out? I don’t expect to see anything different from him, frankly.

by Kierkegaard on Aug 29, 2008 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kimbo joke.

That would be an interesting fight.Kimbo already fights like he is caught in a fish net.His utube fights? They would be even more entertaining if he was fighting them “fake wrestling” bitches.At the very least, there would be more a challenge.BJ,provided he keeps or improve the cardio conditioning,would be too slick for Bas Ruttan’s closet plaything.SALT-N-PEPPER 4 EVER.It will never happen though.For that Kimbo slit will have tenatively leave a generic fight organization and,possibly remove himself from the underside of El Gapo’s dangling scrotum.

by trashtalkerdisposaldept on Sep 8, 2008 6:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs