Kimbo Makes the Media Rounds

There’s some irony to be found in Kimbo Slice’s media tour this week: only a year after Dana White described his EliteXC run as a farcical, desperate bit of circus, Slice is fielding media calls and appearing on the Jimmy Fallon show -- all in the service of his Wednesday fight under the UFC banner.

White’s out, of course, is that he always insisted Slice would only get an Octagon invite if he appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter” series, and that’s exactly what happened. But before Slice has thrown a single (public) punch, with no audience comprehension of what he did or didn’t do on the show, he’s been as prevalent a figure as any of the fighters on their roster. Curious push for a guy who White once believed would fail in a fight against his lightweight champion, B.J. Penn.

White’s time in front of a microphone often winds up being in total dichotomy to what happens later. It’s a promoter’s job to run up his product and run down the competition, but I wonder at what point his universal critique of everything not labeled “UFC” will become white noise.