"Don't judge books by their covers" - Dana White reveals his surprising first encounter with Kimbo Slice
Dana White recently opened up about the time he made a deal with Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice. At the time, Slice was gaining immense notoriety for his backyard brawls.
During a recent appearance on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast, White admitted that he hadn't always spoken highly of the fighter before meeting him. The UFC president then detailed his first meeting with Slice:
"I used to talk all type of s*** about Kimbo when Kimbo wasn't in the UFC – 'He's a bum, he'll always be the toughest guy at the barbecue and s*** like that.' Then we ended up talking. You think you'd never do a deal with somebody. So, [we] end up doing this deal with these guys. We meet him at a hotel room here in Vegas, me and Lorenzo [Fertitta], my old partner. We're going into this room with f****** Kimbo Slice and I'm like we might go in there and this dude just f****** beat the s*** out of me and leave."
Watch Dana White talk about Slice on the Impaulsive podcast:
However, upon their first interaction, White concluded that Kimbo Slice was one of the nicest human beings he had met:
"So, we go and it couldn't be nicer, he's the nicest f****** guy in the world and his manager, Mike, he's one of the best guys I've ever done business with. Straight up, I mean what he says he's gonna do, he does. We couldn't meet better people. Don't judge books by their covers man."
Kimbo Slice's UFC record
Slice entered the UFC with a professional record of 3-1. He matched up against Houston Alexander in his debut fight in The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. He managed to win a unanimous decision.
Watch Slice's UFC debut below:
In his next fight, Slice lost to Matt Mitrione via TKO at UFC 113. That loss ended his run in the organization. He fought twice more for Bellator, where he earned one victory with the other ending in a no-contest. His lone win in the promotion came when Slice defeated Ken Shamrock via TKO.
The legendary figure passed away on June 6, 2016 at the age of 42. Despite not having a long career, Slice will always have a special place in the hearts of MMA fans.