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by Lee Casebolt

Kevin Ferguson (I have a policy about inane nicknames) has already had more virtual ink spilled over him than his accomplishments merit.  Two MMA fights over opponents with a combined record of  19-25, with the most recent win either of them have being a 2006 TKO of Cal Worsham, does not impress.  It does force one to ask troubling questions like “Cal Worsham is still fighting?  Seriously?  Why?” but it doesn’t impress.

So why do so many internet MMA pundits and wannabe pundits (it is left to you, gentle reader, to determine into which category your present author falls) persist on writing about him?  Slow news week, maybe?  Tank Abbott brutal knockout nostalgia?Thinly disguised racism?  In all probability, the central cause is this - Ferguson is the closest thing to a “Big Thing” in a secondary American company right now.  MMA writers like nothing better than showing off how smart they are by fantasy-booking a potential star into the vehicle that pushes a #2 promotion into the #1 spot or, failing that, pointing out how stupid other writers are by poking holes in that same fantasy booking.  It’s a little sad, frankly.  Which is not to say I’m not about to do a little of both.  I am, after all, an internet MMA writer.

Most of what’s been written about Ferguson is, in my opinion, deeply flawed.  The criticism is overly harsh and the praise overly generous.  Here’s what we really know about the man at this point in his career - he can knock out bad heavyweights who stand in front of him.  That’s it.  End of list.  (There are those who would argue we don’t even know that much, but having watched both Ferguson fights a few times, I don’t buy the work theory.)  Readers of the original Total MMA will remember a little feature I wrote there called “The Book”.  For our newer readers, “The Book” was essentially a scouting report on major MMA fighters.  I would sit down and watch the last two years of a fighter’s career, every fight in slow-mo and rewind and let me see that again.  From this I would determine their strengths and weaknesses and try to get an idea of where their career seemed headed. 

 The point of that little reminicense is that there’s no way I’d write a Book on Kevin Ferguson right now.  The very idea of presuming to know how good a fighter he is or can be based on what we’ve seen so far is laughable.  Yes, he’s shown a very limited skill set, hasn’t faced anyone of note, and is awfully old (34) to be beginning an athletic career.  He’s also powerful, athletic, and competing in the thinnest division in the sport.  It wasn’t that long ago that the UFC was putting Paul Buentello and Justin Eilers in PPV main event title fights.  Paul Buentello and Justin Eilers!  And we paid money for it!  Whatever you think of Ferguson’s potential, I’m pretty sure he can reach (if he has not already achieved) Buentello/Eilers level talent. 

Ferguson’s career (if you can call it that) thus far demonstrates one of EliteXC’s strengths as a promotion.  They are not afraid of the slow build for a fighter with potential.  Bo Cantrell is nobody special, and not a name people know.  Ferguson beats him.  Now we line up Tank, a nobody special whose name people do know.  Ferguson beat him, too.  Now I expect there will be another baby step up the ladder of credibility to a more challenging but very winnable fight.  It’s the same career path Cung Le took.  For Le, it set up a potentially electric and highly lucrative title fight against Frank Shamrock.  Where will that path take Ferguson?

Here’s the fantasy booking part I mentioned earlier.  Ferguson needs about another year - three to five fights - of build up.  Keep moving him up the ladder, keep his name and face on TV, and give him time to develop his skills a little bit.  Then you feed him to Antonio Silva or Alistair Overeem, depending on what you can talk people in to and what, exactly, the relationship between EliteXC and Strikeforce really is.  If Ferguson wins, you’ve got a homegrown American ace heavyweight for your promotion that you can use for the next few years while grooming some young stars.  If he loses, you’ve got a signature win for your ace/champion heavyweight and you don’t have to protect Ferguson anymore. 

The latter is more likely than the former, if you want my opinion.  Ferguson is probably too old to adapt to MMA competition at an elite level.  A true mixed martial artist the caliber of Silva or Overeem (or even Rodriguez) will probably take him to the floor and wreck him in short order.  As a promoter, you’d have to be ok with that.  Ferguson is not Brock Lesnar.  He is not a world class combat athlete, and at age 34 he isn’t going to turn into one.  He is also not a premier draw and, lacking elite skills, isn’t likely to turn into one of those, either.  What he can be is a short term attraction.  For a few years he can supply the audience with brutal knockouts in the heavyweight division.  As much as we talk and write about diversity of skills, the beauty of submissions, and the science of striking, there’s a huge market for the highlight reel knockout.  It keeps guys like David Abbott employed long past the point where they are relevant to the big picture of the sport.  Kevin Ferguson isn’t a guy you can build your promotion around.  He is a guy you can build your promotion with, and in the thin heavyweight division, that’s not a bad thing to have.