Bodog Beat

Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott. (MMAweekly.com photo)

Since plucking him from the ashes of the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, which collapsed under financial ruin, EliteXC has invested mountains of cash into marketing Kevin Ferguson (1-0-0)

With millions of people downloading videos of his street fights off the Internet, "Kimbo Slice" was already a household name among fight fans when EliteXC picked him up. Now, after appearing nationwide on billboards and television shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live, he's one of the most talked-about fighters in mixed martial arts – and certainly the most famous on the EliteXC payroll.

After everything they've done to build his already larger-than-life image, it's safe to say that EliteXC has a considerable interest in seeing “Kimbo” defeat fellow street-fighting legend David "Tank" Abbott (9-13-0)on Saturday, Feb. 16 at EliteXC: Street Certified. Will "Kimbo” win? It seems likely, for a lot of different reasons.

You don't spend millions of dollars marketing a fighter and then send him into battle unless you're relatively sure he's going to come out victorious. At the same time, you can't keep putting your golden boy against tomato cans forever without damaging his credibility. What you want is someone with a big name but not much to back it up, a fighter whose bark is worse than their bite.

Considering the marketability of his name and his faltering record, is anyone surprised that EliteXC matchmakers called "Tank"? Sure, he and "Kimbo" were scheduled to throw down at CFFC before it fell apart, but beyond that history, there's a chemistry there that favors "Kimbo" in a big way.

Read the rest of this Kimbo vs. Tank Preview at Bodog Nation.

Bet on EliteXC odds in the Bodog Sportsbook.

All lines subject to change.