Filled with controversy and adversity, Seth Petruzelli, a 29-year-old veteran

stepped into the Elite XC ring for the injured Ken Shamrock and shocked America

on October 4, 2008 defeating Kevin Ferguson, “Kimbo Slice”. Slice, an up and coming star in Elite XC fighting was scheduled to fight the well Experienced Ken Shamrock, but an injury sustained before the fight prevented Shmrock to participate that night and gave the well qualified Seth Petruzelli a chance of a lifetime. Slice weighing in at 245 pounds came into the fight as a huge favorite outweighing Petruzelli by almost 50 pounds.

Kimbo was detamed in only 14 seconds by a technical knockout leading a win

for Petruzelli. The referee made a questionable decision to call off the fight, and

Slice was visibly upset. The argument was made that the fight was unfair due to

the fact that Slice had no preparation for his new opponent that Saturday evening.

As the fight began, Petruzelli backed himself against the cage, and landed two

fatal blows to Slice’s chin and upper eyebrow, knocking Slice to the mat.

As the official made his way over to the now helpless Slice, he made the

decision to call it off. The blows were strong, deep and impressive to Slices’ head. Slice was not aware, rolling side to side trying to protect himself but Petruzelli was persistent not to let Slice get up. As the fight concluded the audience was in awe of this unexpected victory.

Petruzelli now filled with emotions that can only be imagined, circled the

cage in a celebratory manner. Running, jumping and gleaming with joy Petruzelli waved at fans, climbed the cage fence and took in the ovation as Slice tried to plea his case to extend the fight. Even though Slice was upset, he congratulated Petruzelli and stated numerous times “its all good” to viewers.

In just 14 seconds, Petruzelli made his name in Elite XC knocking out Slice. Fans around the country are anticipating a rematch but Petruzelli remains humble and confident about Kimbo’s huge upset. Most of Petruzelli’s fights were fought on Pay-Per-View and were not on national broadcasts.

Petruzelli was to set to fight Saturday night, but against a different

opponent not on national television. Coming off losing 2 out of his 4 prior

Fights, Petruzelli was an underdog weighting at least 40 pounds less than

Slice. But experience seemed to play a crucial role and gave Slice a

figure in the loss column. Petruzelli improves his record to 10 and 4 while Slice’s record is 3 and 1.

While Petruzelli and his new found fans celebrate his victory, mass

speculation has been circulating through out the media. While Slice was on the floor,

Petruzelli gave numerous illegal blows to the back of Slices’ head. Jarred Shaw,

VP of Elite XC admitted that while viewing the fight ring side, explained to officials that he had made the wrong call. Standing up out of his seat, wailing his hands and screaming, Shaw’s reactions were said to be out of line and disturbing. Shaw later apologized for his actions and stated that even though he had a different opinion towards the official, his actions were inexcusable.

This was the fourth fight for Slice in Elite XC. Slice stormed onto the scene destroying his past opponents fairly easily, but the media has said his competition were fighters below average and Kimbo hasn’t faced a true challenger yet. Now with his first loss, Slice looks to remain positive and regain what was once his, glory.