A biopic about late MMA fighter Kimbo Slice is being made.
Kimbo Slice
The intriguing story about Slice's life is being brought to the big screen by producers Steve Lee Jones and Andy and Michael Weiss
through their Bee Holder Productions and WeBros Entertainment companies respectively and will be directed by Simon Brand from a script by Andy Weiss.
The film will focus on Slice's rise from a street fighter who gained a huge following on YouTube to becoming a professional mixed martial artist who fought in the UFC, Bellator and Elite XC and a pro boxer.
It will also show how Slice - who was born in the Bahamas but moved to the US to Cutler Ridge, Florida, as a child - used his fists to drag himself and his family out of poverty and how his determination to care for his loved ones drove him on to compete until his death at the age of 42 in June 2016.
Speaking about the project, Brand said: "Those who only knew Kimbo by viewing his brawls saw him as fierce and frightening beast of a man, but those close to him experienced his heart of gold, and that he used his fists and instruments to raise his family out of poverty, he was a loyal friend and devoted father. Kimbo's story transcends the ring, it is a story about the power of the internet, the lengths one will go to break out of desperation and it is a success story shared with his long-time friend-turned-manager and adult entertainment magnate Michael Imber as they both emerge from the slums of Miami."
Slice - whose real name was Kevin Ferguson - died suddenly last year from heart failure and a liver mass.
Even though he was taking blood pressure medication for years , Slice didn't want to stop fighting and boxed just months before his passing, winning a three-round heavyweight match against Dhafir 'Dada 5000' Harris at Bellator 149 in Houston.
He had even accepted a bout against James Thompson in the main event at Bellator 158 which was scheduled to take place in July 2016 in London just weeks after his death.