Kimbo Slice (aka Kevin Ferguson) died on Monday at the age of 42. As of yet, there’s no official cause of death but his training partner Tyler Cook revealed he died after his “heart quit working.” Tyler wrote in a Facebook message that he got a phone call from “family.”
Update–June 7th, 2016: The Orlando Sentinel is now reporting that Kimbo died of “heart failure.” A report on his death (from the Sun-Sentinel) explained that Slice had a liver mass and congestive heart failure. His family was told that he’d need a heart transplant, so Kimbo was being prepared to go to a facility in Cleveland. He died at 7:30 PM on Monday.
Kimbo was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning, after being rushed from his home in Coral Springs, FL. He was complaining of severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath and nausea. His death was confirmed by the CEO of Bellator Scott Coker who had this to say:
“We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family. One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport. Outside of the cage he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo’s friends, fans and teammates.”
As many of you probably already know, Kimbo was a fan favorite in MMA because of his “interesting” background. Not only did he work security for adult website Money Talks (appearing in many of their videos), he also made his name pummeling the faces of multiple people in the Florida street fighting circuit.
How Did Kimbo Die?
Again, Kimbo Slice’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed but there’s no reason to doubt Tyler Cook, Kimbo’s training partner, when he said on Facebook that his “heart quit working.” When asked where he heard that news from, Tyler wrote “family.”
https://twitter.com/B1ackSchefter/status/740008258916601856
“Heart failure” is the same thing that the Orlando Sentinel is reporting as the cause of death.
It’s important to note that Kimbo last fought at Bellator 149 on February 19th. Although he won a in a three-round decision, the fight was later changed to a no-contest after Kimbo tested positive for anabolic steroids and elevated testosterone levels. Both steroids and testosterone would be extremely hard on your heart, especially if you’re the size of Kimbo Slice.
Speaking of size, it was also a well-known issue that Kimbo faced weight issues. Obviously Kimbo was not fat, but because of the sizes and weights that he was fighting at, plus the sheer mass of his muscles, it was very important for Kimbo to keep his body fat to low levels. Constantly working to keep those levels low would also be dangerous for a fighter of his size.
Kimbo was training for a fight this July, at Bellator 158 in London.
