posted May 29, 2008 at 15:32 EST in UFC / MMA Articles

Some sports betting faithful might call it something of a freak show, but others are looking at it as a watershed night in the sport of mixed martial arts when Kimbo Slice takes on John "The Colossus" Thompson in heavyweight action promoted by Elite XC and televised live on CBS. The Saturday night card will take place at the Prudential Arena in Newark, N.J.

BetUS MMA Online Betting Odds

Elite XC -- Heavyweights

May 31 -- Newark, NJ

KIMBO SLICE -450

JAMES THOMPSON +275

For MMA betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

KIMBO SLICE (2-0, 2 KO's), the -450 favorite in the BetUS MMA betting odds, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, was legitimately a pretty good football player at Palmetto High School in Miami, as I remember him being mentioned as a prospective recruit for Division I colleges. As for the validity of everything else, well, that's pretty much up for debate. Kimbo started with backyard fights uploaded to the internet by online porn producers; bouts characterized by a few punches landed by Kimbo, followed by the camera looking away for a half-minute or so, then moving back to find the opponent with an excess amount of blood all over his face. When Kimbo lost to a cop named Sean Gannon, it looked like something had gone wrong with the plan. Gannon was later blown away in the UFC. In the "real" world, Slice fought an exhibition with Ray Mercer, who had no business in that setting, then he beat one Bo Cantrell and then Tank Abbott, who looked like he hadn't trained. I wonder whether anything he's been involved in has been, well, all the way legitimate. Considering that Kimbo has done very little as far as actual mixed martial arts is concerned, his opponent looks like someone who, on paper anyway, has enough credentials to make a fight of it.

THOMPSON (14-8, 9 KO's, 4 submissions), the +275 underdog at BetUS online sportsbook, debuted in Ultimate Combat in the U.K. back in January of 2003. He won an Ultimate Combat "world championship" in September of '04 when he defeated 46-year-old Dan Severn by knockout. Thompson also beat Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida in PRIDE on New Year's Eve of 2006 and added a KO win over former UFC tournament champion Don Frye in April of last year. Here's what bothers me, though - he got knocked out by Butterbean in 43 seconds. And although there was a protest over a quick stoppage, he essentially went down from a blow that did not land. Another sideshow attraction for an opponent. And he followed the "storyline" that made the most sense. Besides, I've seen a few other fights of Thompson's and he can not take a punch all that well. He often runs right at his opponent, and that strategy, which the promoters will no doubt encourage him to use, seems designed to run right into Kimbo's punches. Goodbye, Brit.

As far as MMA sports betting goes, my buddy Zach Arnold insists that underdogs are posted at a price that is often too high. That may well be the case, but I think we should be fully prepared for a new era in MMA, thanks to promotional organizations like Gary Shaw's Elite XC, which is borrowing from the boxing model of building up the records of "house fighters with 'opponent’ types. Here the underdogs are supposed to lose, they know it, and they will more often than not fight like it. Is this what you guys started watching MMA for? To see another version of professional boxing and its practices, except in a cage?

JAY'S PLAY: KIMBO TO WIN (-450) ***