Bellator 253: Baby Slice would still be fighting even if he had $1 million, didn’t have dad’s legacy
Baby Slice’s MMA path goes beyond dad’s legacy — a deep love of the sport.
Kevin Ferguson Jr., better known as “Baby Slice,” who competes at Bellator 253, was more than familiar to the MMA world when he signed with Bellator MMA in July 2016.
The son of Kevin Ferguson, much better known as Kimbo Slice, Ferguson Jr. got to experience the highs and lows of his father’s combat sports career, including stints in EliteXC, UFC and Bellator — and he fell in love with MMA himself.
That same month that Ferguson Jr. signed with Bellator, Kimbo Slice was scheduled to rematch James Thompson in the main event of Bellator 158. Tragically, however, Kimbo Slice died of heart failure on June 6, 2016.
With just one amateur fight to his record, and not long following his father’s passing, Ferguson Jr. was put right into the big leagues in his professional debut. And being a second-generation talent, he’d have to balance the talking points from fans and commentators in the MMA community alike of him carrying on a legacy, while at the same time carving out his own.
But Ferguson Jr., in an exclusive interview with FanSided MMA, said above all that and the potential in-cage successes, however, he fights for a love of the game.
“If I had a million dollars, I would still fight,” Ferguson Jr. told FanSided MMA. “I’m not doing it just to continue my dad’s legacy or I’m doing this for him. I was gonna do this regardless. Even if he was alive, I still would have done fighting, done MMA. It’s not something I’m doing just because my dad was Kimbo Slice and he passed away. It’s deeper than that. I actually love this sport and I’ve been wanting to do this.”
And that love of MMA was a byproduct of being around his father during his noteworthy career.
Bellator 253: Baby Slice feels he’ll be a ‘problem’ at 155
Kimbo Slice, who was a notorious street fighter prior to his days of MMA and boxing, didn’t do much hiding of his career around Ferguson Jr. As he watched his father fight, he took in the sights and scenes MMA brought, and his love and passion not only turned into a career, but it also gave have him a head start of preparation as he entered Bellator.
“I grew up around all of this; I remember the EliteXC days,” Ferguson Jr. said. “I used to be at all those events, saw all those guys fighting…and I was just like, ‘Yeah this is it. This is home for me.’ So even back then, I was so comfortable in the spotlight and have been around the spotlight. Like, I have so much knowledge and wisdom when it comes to just the spotlight of MMA.
“I had to catch up skill-wise, and I think now my skills are actually catching up with the knowledge I already had. And that’s why it’s so easy for me to walk down to the cage, so easy for me to be in front of cameras. I’ve been around it my whole life.”
Things didn’t come easy to start Ferguson Jr.’s MMA journey. In fact, his father actually did not want him to jump into MMA right away. Kimbo Slice told Ferguson Jr. to attend college first before committing to the idea. And so, Ferguson Jr. took to Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, to study photography.
But lo and behold, as if it were a sign, Ferguson Jr. one day came across the college offering MMA classes.
“It was so weird,” Ferguson Jr. recalled. “In the basement, they [were] doing these MMA classes. I started doing that, with those guys. And then after college, I decided to pursue MMA.”
Ferguson Jr. dropped his professional MMA debut in November 2016 but rebounded with three straight first-round finishes — stopping DJ Griffin and submitting Fred Freeman and Devon Brock. Ferguson’s streak was snapped in a TKO loss to Corey Browning in October 2018.
Ferguson Jr. was last in action at Bellator 232 last year in a fight with Craig Campbell that was originally ruled a knockout win for “Baby Slice.” Soon after, however, the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation overturned the bout to a no-contest, citing strikes that landed on the back of Campbell’s head.
“Out of my control, man, there was never anything I can do,” Ferguson Jr. said. “I talked to the commissioner that morning, Mike [Mazzulli], and he told me that actually I did nothing wrong. I don’t know why it was this way; it’s a bunch of weird situations this year. I just roll with it. I don’t try to control anything. I wasn’t mad or anything about it.”
The one-year span between the fights with Browning and Campbell came due, at least in part, to a torn ACL Ferguson Jr. suffered. And one positive he was able to take away from the Campbell fight, in spite of the commission’s decision, was how good he felt inside the cage.
Even with another year’s layoff before this showdown with Murray, Ferguson Jr. says he still feels great, owing it up to how he’s consistently training.
“The more time you got, you have to put in the work,” Ferguson Jr. said. “You can have time off and not be doing anything, especially in MMA. MMA is an individual sport, If you don’t want to go to the gym that morning, you don’t go to the gym. So even if you have a year off, you can be lazy and not get [anything] accomplished. But for me, this time I had off, I’ve been training every day. Literally no days off, honestly.”
Murray will be making his Bellator debut in this fight with Ferguson Jr. Spoting a 3-3 record, Murray, a Muay Thai specialist, was submitted by LJ Reboli in his last fight back on June 1, 2019. Murray has dropped two of his last three fights, and two of his three total losses have come by submission.
These two were originally booked to fight at Bellator 241 before the event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ferguson Jr. says while he was taken aback by how much the coronavirus shook things up, finally getting this fight essentially ends a mega-long camp of preparations. He says at this point, there’s nothing left to do but throw down.
“I watch my opponent sometimes, but I did my little research before the first time around,” Ferguson Jr. said. “So it is not really much to do now; I’m just gonna go do my thing. A person [has] got to deal with me, man. I know I’m not an easy fight; no matter what, if you’re coming in there, you got to fight. If I catch you, that’s it. I’m going to be a big problem at 155.”
And Ferguson Jr. says he feels Murray won’t be able to handle both the fact that he has that experience edge due to all of his pro fights being in Bellator, and the fact he has brutal knockout power.
“I have that dog in me, I have that fight in me,” Ferguson Jr. said. “I’m not just playing around. I have another side to me that I’ve just started tapping into when I’m in the cage.
“I have a gift from God and that’s knockout power. A lot of people can punch and you’re just standing there…you can’t take five of my punches, there’s no way.”
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