https://youtu.be/snigTc_iaXM

Earlier this year, news broke that Bellator heavyweight and former UFC star Kevin Ferguson – more widely known as Kimbo Slice – had tragically passed away. The beloved fighter died of heart failure after being rushed to a hospital in Florida.

Slice, of course, rose to prominence as a street fighter. In the early 2000s, videos of the Bahamian-American’s backyard brawls took the internet by storm, and turned him into a cult hero.

One of the most famous of those videos can be viewed above.

Slice’s online superstardom eventually led to a foray into the world of mixed martial arts, where he became an even bigger star under the Elite XC banner. And though Kimbo’s massive hype would be largely derailed by a TKO loss to Seth Petruzelli – which effectively killed Elite XC – he was eventually given a shot at UFC glory as a cast member of season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Unfortunately, Slice would handily lose his first fight on the show, being pummelled to a second-round TKO by the show’s eventual winner. From there, any remaining mystique the former street fighter possessed quickly faded away, as he earned an extremely forgettable decision win over Houston Alexander in his UFC debut, only to be TKOd by TUF 10 cast mate Matt Mitrione in his next bout.

After being released from the UFC, Slice briefly explored the world of boxing, before eventually signing with Bellator MMA.

Under the Bellator banner, Slice engaged in a pair of freak show fights with Ken Shamrock and the other with Dhafir Harris AKA Dada 5000, the latter being one of the most unimpressive fights in MMA history.

Though Slice’s MMA career was far from a success story, he is remembered as one of the game’s most interesting characters, and as one of the true nice guys in a sport that’s often marred by ego and trash talk.