It took little known fighter Seth Petruzelli just 14 seconds and a series of punches to fell the legend that was becoming Kimbo Slice.
At last week’s Elite XC: Heat,Petruzelli—who was originally slated to fight on Heat’s undercard—knocked out Slice in the opening round of their unexpected main event bout.
Now, the fight, and perhaps Slice’s reputation are being called into question.
According to ESPN, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has launched a preliminary investigation, even though no formal complaint has been filed.
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“While the Department of Business and Professional Regulation doesn’t have any reason to believe there was a problem with the Slice-Petruzelli fight, given the interest in it, the department has begun a preliminary investigation to thoroughly review the circumstances of the fight,”Jennifer Meade, Communications Director for the DBPR told the sports outlet.
The issues for Elite XC began in the days after the stunning finish when Petruzelli, in a radio interview, alluded to being paid extra money to keep the fight standing in an attempt to make the fight more exciting.
A stand up fight, on paper, would have favored Slice–who rose to prominence after being featured in a series of street fight clips on YouTube.
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said the allegations of fight fixing makes him “sick to my stomach.” White also says the fight outcome confirms his long stated suspicions about Slice.
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“It revealed everything I’ve been saying about him from day one… he can’t fight,” White said before adding that the loss was “embarrassing, and it’s horrible for our sport.”
