Kimbo Slice settles with Texas panel, agrees to pay $2,500 fine
— -- Bellator MMA heavyweight Kimbo Slice has reached a settlement with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation regarding a failed pre-fight drug test on Feb. 19 in Houston.
The TDLR confirmed to ESPN.com on Monday that Slice, birth name Kevin Ferguson, has agreed to a $2,500 fine and a license revocation. According to Texas commission director Greg Alvarez, the revocation is in effect within the state of Texas for one year. Slice waived his right to a full hearing as part of the settlement.
Slice, 42, tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in the aftermath of his three-round fight against Dada 5000, birth name Dhafir Harris, at Bellator 149. Slice (5-2) won that bout via unanimous decision, but the result has officially been changed to a no-decision, according to Alvarez. Harris was hospitalized from injuries suffered during the fight for several weeks.
Bellator has since booked Slice to a fight against James Thompson at Bellator 158 on July 16 at The O2 Arena in London. Slice's one-year license revocation in the state of Texas does not figure to prevent him from competing on that date, even though certain state athletic commissions in the U.S. would likely honor Texas' one-year revocation.
Overseas, however, Bellator events are regulated by the International Sport Kickboxing Association, which is not a member of the Association of Boxing Commissions.
ISKA president Cory Schafer, who also serves as Bellator's director of regulatory affairs during stateside events, told ESPN.com on Monday that even if Slice is flagged on the ABC database for a license revocation, he is not technically under suspension and, therefore, likely able to compete under ISKA protocols.
Schafer did say not all event details have been hammered out yet and that he will be working with the British Boxing Control Board in terms of the medical portion of licensing.
"I'm not finished working with Bellator on how all this is going to pan out," Schafer said. "There are certain aspects to be determined."
Slice, who trains out of South Florida, is now officially 1-0 in the Bellator cage. His fight against Thompson (20-16) will be a rematch of a 2008 victory via TKO under the now-defunct EliteXC organization.
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