Sport goes mainstream with Kimbo Slice-James Thompson bout

Maybe it's the shimmering gold teeth. Sharp as an ax and framed by a bushy black beard.

It could be the arms. Defined by impossibly thick muscles and quick as a rattlesnake strike.

Something -- maybe all of the above -- helped to transform Kimbo Slice from bare-knuckle, backyard brawler into one of the leading attractions in mixed martial arts.

Yet his biggest appeal, simply put, might be a knack for toppling large men with one powerful blow.

"He's the closest I've come to Mike Tyson," said Gary Shaw, who promoted the former heavyweight boxing champion and now does the same for Elite Extreme Combat, an MMA organization based in Los Angeles.

Those who have not heard of Slice, or never downloaded one of his immensely popular underground fights, can witness for themselves tonight, when he's scheduled to take on fellow heavyweight James Thompson in the main event of a card scheduled to be televised on CBS.

Tape-delayed on the West Coast, the broadcast from Newark, N.J., will be the first MMA event ever shown on a major network. To help viewers who may not understand moves like a guillotine chokehold, the network plans to mix in explanatory features, including the sport's rules and why it is staged inside a cage.

For his part, Slice makes it clear he is ready for prime time. Yet, as much as he plays off his power, strength, even his considerable charisma, that is not all he is.

"He has an on-off switch," Shaw said. "If it's off, he can baby-sit your kids, everything's great. If you flip that switch on, it's a problem."

Out of the cage, away from his push to intimidate merely by being there, away from the controlled acts of violence, Slice surprises.

Those who know him say he is soft-spoken, articulate, loyal, humble and prides himself on being a loving father of six children.

"He will walk me and my wife out to a vehicle, stand by the vehicle until the door's locked and the vehicle pulls away," Shaw said. "I sit there in utter amazement because he's a superstar."

Even fellow MMA fighters are caught off guard by this side of Slice.

"He's way more educated and smarter than I thought he'd be," said Scott Smith, who is scheduled to fight middleweight Robbie Lawler on the same card tonight. "Looks aren't everything, I guess."