"You laid your eggs in a basket that had holes in it. They had a good thing going and they fucked up. You can't lay your eggs on a street fighter...Kimbo gets knocked out and they go out of business. I give him credit for doing what he did. He went from street fighter to real fighter and fought a few bums and made a half million dollars each...Kimbo, I still want your autograph," stated mixed martial arts veteran Shone "Mr. International" Carter as he shared his thoughts on EliteXC going out of business. Check out what else he had to say as he talks about Kimbo Slice, Anderson Silva, UFC 90 and much more.
PC: UFC came to your neck of the woods in Chicago. How did you like them being in Chi-Town?
SC: Man, they found every damn fighter they could find to bring to my little city. I was negotiating terms to afterparties and helping the welterweight world champion find a pair of wrestling shoes so he could go to Brazil. It was cool to have the UFC in Chicago.
PC: What did you think of the card itself?
SC: I liked Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin's fight. I don't know what idiot thought that Tyson lost. I personally gave it to Tyson. That's just my own personal opinion. The wrestling match between Gray Maynard and Rich Clementi wasn't anything of any consequence. Thiago Alves and Koscheck
Alves did a good job at out-kickboxing the wrestler. I think it was a good fight for him. He definitely won and I respect his gangster in avoiding the takedowns. The only takedown that wrestlers know nowadays is double leg. It's called mixed martial arts; mixed martial arts.
PC: Who were you least impressed by?
SC: The heavyweights. I've never been a fan of heavyweights. I respect the fact that they get in there and do what they do, but the heavyweights man
what are we going to do with them heavyweights?
PC: Randy Couture is fighting Brock Lesnar. Maybe Randy will bring some form back to the division for you. Who do you like in that fight?
SC: Randy gonna beat his ass and I don't mind if anybody gets offended about me saying it. I've gotten in a lot of trouble from previous statements that I have made, particularly in the interviews I do with you, but that's a money in the bank ass whooping right there. That's ass-whoopingville and Brock is about to become homesick.
PC: Elite XC has gone under since our last conversation. What was your reaction to that?
SC: That's what they get for hiring somebody to fuck around with Kimbo. You laid your eggs in a basket that had holes in it. They had a good thing going and they fucked up. You can't lay your eggs on a street fighter.
PC: You said he wasn't ready for a younger guy with experience. Do you think he was too green to be taking a late replacement fight?
SC: He wasn't. What could you say? He had his come up and it happens and Lord, Lord, Lord. Kimbo gets knocked out and they go out of business. I give him credit for doing what he did. He went from street fighter to real fighter and fought a few bums and made a half million dollars each. He fought a veteran that was okay as a heavyweight; not to take anything away from Seth Mr. Petruzelli. The next thing you know
Kimbo, I still want your autograph, but you got your dick knocked off. He'll be okay.
PC: What did you think about Anderson Silva's fight with Patrick Cote before the knee injury?
SC: Professionally speaking, that was some bullshit. Everybody has an off night, but I'm not going to goof around in a fight. I still respect him, but I'll be damn if you gonna drop your hands with me boy. I tell you what, you start doing the hippie hippie shake, you better expect something crazy. I'm going to throw something and I don't give a fuck if you knock me out with me trying. You're gonna be like, "I can't believe this motherfucker tried to take my head off." I told everybody
it happens to every fighter, and I'm not leaving myself out of the equation, you start getting the big head. Personally, he got lucky. You don't do that. Showboating is fine sometimes and I give Mr. Cote props because he done better than any other fighter I've seen fight Anderson, like Chris Leben, Rich Franklin and Travis Lutter. He looked as good as he could look.
PC: Do you think a lot of fans and people in general make these guys immortal and think they are unbeatable?
SC: Right, that's the thing. According to TV, certain fighters walk on water and when they shit, it smells like roses. They think because I ain't on TV, I'm washed up. I wish somebody would dance around and act silly with me. They gonna catch one.
PC: When are you competing again?
SC: I'm fighting November 22nd. I cut my cast off of my forearm and I will be in a 4-man world championship Muay Thai Bareknuckle Karate tournament. I'm going to win it and do the damn thing. I'm going to take a Black Belt promotion test the next day and then go to the gym and teach class on Monday. I would like to fight Thiago Alves because he ain't never fought a kickboxer. That's the thing, a lot of these guys have fought one-dimensional fighters in the UFC. Guys like Anderson and Thiago ain't fought nobody that could stand up with them. They think just because they could throw a punch or a kick, that they are kickboxers. The problem with the guys they have fought is ain't none of them ever stepped in the ring in a real kickboxing match. They think they kickboxers because they training with kickboxing and boxing coaches, but it's a big fucking difference. I laugh about it because I done fought K-1 kickboxers. These guys forgot that standup is a big part of mixed martial arts. It's going to be like every cycle that's come through Ultimate Fighting. It's going to be a new tidal wave. You remember the Gracies, the Jacksons and the Mondays? They were one-dimensional. You remember Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and Matt Hughes? Matt Hughes' demise was a guy who brought more weapons to the table. You look at guys like Koscheck and Fitch and yeah, they are great athletes, but either due to ego or contractual stipulations that are put on them, they could not compete in events outside of the UFC. Sure, you get better sparring or going to a training coach, but if you're getting in that ring, you're getting in there with 3 idiots that are called judges and one man in the middle that controls the fight and you take your loss or your win and learn from it. These guys do not know that business. I love Chuck Liddell, but either he changes his game up or the game is going to pass him. I'm not saying that he's washed up because I'm the last one to say that, but in his last fight, Rashad made him look slow. By every stretch of the word, Rashad was not supposed to win that fight.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]