Sean Sheehan 
Horrible news in the world of MMA tonight with reports emerging from Florida that Bellator MMA fighter Kimbo Slice has passed away. The cause of death is unclear at this time.
MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani confirmed the sad news with his sources and Kimbo’s team ATT have also confirmed the news via their Twitter account.
The ATT Family and South Florida community lost a legend today. RIP Kimbo. pic.twitter.com/sjs8ctyJMd
— American Top Team (@AmericanTopTeam) June 7, 2016
42 year-old Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson, shot to fame around the advent of YouTube in the early 2000s as part a backyard fighting series. He transitioned to mixed martial arts in 2007 and fought four times for EliteXC, the last of which was a famous loss to Seth Petruzelli – the first of his career.
In 2009, Slice signed up to compete on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” where he recorded record viewing figures for the show in a losing effort to Roy Nelson.
Slice went 1-1 in the UFC before taking up boxing where he had a successful 7-0 stint. Last year, he made his return to MMA beating Ken Shamrock and Dada 5000 under the Bellator banner.
SevereMMA would like to offer our sincere condolences to Kimbo’s family and the MMA community as a whole at this time.
Update – Bellator MMA have released the following statement:
Statement from Scott Coker: pic.twitter.com/Djyo4Z3dRE
— Heidi Fang (@HeidiFang) June 7, 2016
