Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, upcoming headliner at EliteXC’s primetime network debut on May 31st, is featured on the cover of the June edition of ESPN The Magazine.

The issue is currently available at newsstands everywhere and features a cover story on the internet sensation turned MMA star called, "Not Quite What You Were Thinking".

Kimbo Slice is a very scary guy. He is also a thoughtful friend, loving dad and budding entrepreneur. As MMA’s date with mainstream destiny nears, it’s time to reappraise the ultimate YouTube legend.

Following in the footsteps of "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell, Slice will be only the second mixed martial artist to grace the magazine’s cover.

The article starts at the beginning of Kimbo’s journey from street fighter to pro athlete when he was homeless 14 years ago. From living in his 1987 Pathfinder to earning three grand to knockout a neighborhood bully, this story gives you an inside look at Miami’s most notorious backyard brawler. Here is a clip from the article:

"Back then, there was no packaging. Surrounding neighborhoods merely brought their baddest and bravest to fight, organized by what Kimbo calls the Don Kings of the street. Many of the fights were posted on YouTube. The rules were simple: pure striking, no grappling, officiating by the masses. In more than 20 fights, Kimbo lost only once."

The article wraps up by talking about a possible rematch with the only person that ever defeated Slice in his street fight career, 33 year old Boston police officer Sean Gannon. Click here to read the entire article at ESPN.com.

On May 31 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Kimbo Slice could possibly become the biggest star mixed martial arts has ever seen. In the first MMA event ever on a primetime network television channel (CBS), Slice will take on James "The Colossus" Thompson in a main event that will probably be over quicker than a Rickson Gracie grappling match.

EliteXC "Street Certified" lived up to the hype on Saturday night February 16 at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami.

The arena was packed and the crowd was energized ready to see their hometown boy Kimbo Slice, rip a hole in Tank’s head. It was clear from the beginning of the broadcast that people were their to witness one fight and one fight only. Even Miami rapper "Pitbull" was there to do his thing for the Miami street fighter turned internet sensation.

Kimbo had trained hard and was ready to "let his fist do the talking"as he put it inside the EliteXC cage. Tank on the other hand never turns down a fight and wasn’t about to be intimidated by the facade of Kimbo Slice. The talk was over. The pre-hype was history. This was the moment fans had all been waiting for.

Tank was first to come out and to no surprise received no love from the thousands of Kimbo fans in attendance. Never one to really care about what people think about him, he made his way to the cage looking like he lacked the motivation to hang with a fueled Kimbo Slice. Tank made his way to his corner and waited for his adversary.

When Kimbo made his entrance the crowd went wild and electricity filled the air. As you looked out at the sea of people you could see tons of signs that read "Kick Ass Kimbo". He received a standing ovation as he made his way down the catwalk with the Caribbean flag proudly draped over his shoulders. He was there to win and you could see it in his eyes. You could feel the intensity grow with each step as he got closer and closer to the cage.

With the crowd still on their feet both fighters prepared for battle in their respective corners. Tank paced back and forth as the announcer introduced each man. Kimbo rocked back and forth anxious to start swinging away. As the fighters made their way to the center of the ring to get instructions from Troy Waugh, the crowd started to chant "Kimbo, Kimbo, Kimbo". The place was on fire and fireworks were about to hit the ceiling in Miami.

Both fighters came right out and landed a left simultaneously. They began to throw and Tank tied Kimbo up pushing him back against the cage looking for the takedown. They exchange and Kimbo quickly lands a left that puts Tank on queer street. Slice lands a left right combo that sends Tank to his knees. Kimbo smells blood and starts to tee off on Tank but the Ref immediately jumps in to stop Kimbo. Mauro calls the fight thinking it is over. It turns out the ref deducts one point from Kimbo for hitting the back of Tank’s head.

The fighters get right back to business after the stoppage and start to swing but once again the ref jumps right back in to break them up. The crowd boos as an enraged Kimbo figures out that someone had thrown something into the cage and that was the cause of the stoppage. Kimbo gets to it before the ref and throws it right back out into the crowd obviously unhappy about the interference with his head pounding. The ref has to literally muscle Kimbo back to his corner so he can restart the fight.

They start to bang it out again and Kimbo lands a solid right hand that has Tank scrambling on the mat trying to tie up a leg and hold on for dear life. Abbott gets another dosage of right hand and once again scrambles on the mat trying to stand up again. He stands up for the last time as Kimbo seals the deal with the third right hand that sends Tank to the mat face first. This time Tank is not getting up as he attempts to lift his head from the canvas. Kimbo wins via KO punch at 0:43 in the first round and the crowd goes completely ballistic.

As a sign of respect, Tank walks over to congratulate Kimbo on a job well done. Kimbo returns the gesture in his post fight interview and has these words to say about David "Tank" Abbott.

I can say it now man I got a lot of respect for Tank. I always watched him growing up as a shorty. You know what I’m sayin and this is one of my dream fights along with Tyson you know what I’m sayin to get in the ring and bang with Tank. My hat goes off to you Tank man.

I guess you could say this was the passing of the torch. From old school pit fighter to new school street fighter, there is a new heavyweight in town and his name is Kimbo Slice. He has proved he can hang with an experienced mixed martial artist but can he hang with a well rounded mixed martial artist? That is the question facing Kevin Ferguson. He has yet to face anybody with superior ground skills that can take him down and work submissions from the ground. He has yet to face a heavyweight striker who is as quick and agile as he is. He has yet to face an All-American wrestler who can determine where the fight goes. All of these questions will need to be answered before he can earn the respect as one of the elite mixed martial artist of our time.

Tune in tonight to the Jimmy Kimmel Live show at 12:05am ET/PT on ABC to see EliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice talk about his upcoming fight with Tank Abbott. Two weeks earlier Kimbo’s opponent Tank was a guest on the show and had a few things to say about the street fighter.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and David "Tank" Abbott will be headlining EliteXC’s Street Certified event on February 16 at the University of Miami’s United Bank Center. The event will air on Showtime and is appropriately named "Street Certified" due to the fact that both fighters made their names street fighting back in the day.

Tank is widely recognized because of his early days in the UFC when there were no rules and no time limits. He is also known for his brash attitude and laid back fighting style. He even stated once that he trained in a bar. Kimbo on the other hand is an internet legend famous for his street fights recorded and distributed on YouTube. His fight videos are still today some of the most popular clips on YouTube and other video sharing sites.

Slice made his pro mixed martial arts debut at EliteXC Renegade in October of 2007 and blew through his competition Bo Cantrell with fast and furious punches that caused Bo to submit. The whole fight lasted only 19 seconds. Bo was experienced but Kimbo has yet to be really tested against anybody with some real skills. Tank Abbott may put up a good fight but definitely won’t test Kimbo’s ground skills or unproved areas as a fighter.

Some other noted matches on the card will include Antonio Silva versus Ricco Rodriguez and Yves Edwards versus James Edson Berto. All in all it should be a decent night of fights. Tune in tonight to hear what Kimbo has to say about his second pro mixed martial arts fight. It should be interesting to say the least.

Kimbo and Tank recently did a live forum on ProElite with Q&A. Check them out to see what they are thinking with their upcoming fight right around the corner. Kimbo’s Q&A / Tank’s Q&A

Update: Here is the video from the show.