Internet Stardom Revives Veteran's Career

Heavyweight brawler “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson isn't the only Internet sensation in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

"Oh, man – when I dropped my version of The Rock's ‘People's Elbow' on heavyweight fighter Joe Nameth in New Orleans, it didn't even occur to me that the moment would live on forever," mused Johnathan Ivey from his Tennessee MMA training camp. "It was just something silly I did to entertain the crowd. But that clip has been circulating all over the World Wide Web, landing on YouTube and countless other websites. In fact, someone once told me that my impromptu elbow drop has been viewed by over half-a-million MMA fans on six different continents, including Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe – and I've received interview requests from journalists all over the globe. Isn't that crazy?"

Some might consider Ivey's unique repertoire of unusual MMA moves pretty crazy as well.

"In my last fight – against Ricco Rodriguez in Houston, Texas – I believe I became the first fighter in MMA history to successfully land the ‘Karate Kid' crane-kick in a live bout," said Ivey. "That'll probably be popping up on the Internet before too long as well. It sure as hell took my opponent by surprise, I guarantee you that! Mr. Miyagi would've been proud of me. Wax on, wax off, baby!"

Johnathan Ivey is a study in contradictions; on one hand, he's a hard-hitting MMA veteran of over 60 professional fights who's battled the likes of Dan Severn, Ben Rothwell and Jeremy Horn, and yearns to be taken seriously as a legitimate heavyweight title contender. But on the other hand, he also walks to the cage dressed as various horror movie monsters ("I've been Freddie Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Chucky, Michael Myers and Leatherface.") and once created a near-riot when he simulated a sex act over a bent-over opponent. But there's one aspect of Ivey's life that turns this unorthodox cage fighter deadly serious: His four-year-old daughter Savannah, and his battle to keep her out of poverty.

"I'm a single Dad with 100% full custody of my little girl – and she's my entire reason for living," Ivey whispered, his tone instantly transformed from playful to solemn. "She's with me 24-hours-a-day, 365 days a year. Me and her are tag-team partners for life… and we wouldn't want it any other way. See, I know some people think that standing inside an MMA cage and trading bombs with a heavyweight warrior is scary stuff. But that ain't nothin'. What's truly scary is contemplating a future where Savannah is trapped in poverty, stuck in a minimum wage hell for the rest of her life. These kinds of thoughts chill my soul… and at least once a week, I wake up in the dead of night, imagining a world that robs her of her happiness and childhood innocence. As God is my witness, I will never – ever – let that happen. You just don't understand the rage a single father feels when he knows that the only thing standing in the way of a better life for his baby girl is that opponent standing before him. It makes you want to just smash his skull in."

Ivey's next opponent is the six-foot, ten-inch Gan "The Giant" McGee on September 13, 2008 Xtreme Fighting Championships: Salute to Our Armed Forces 5 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. This will be McGee's first fight in four years; when "The Giant" last competed on American soil, he lost a controversial bout against Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title on Pay-Per-View. Johnathan Ivey will be at a 13-inch size disadvantage and a decided underdog – but the "accidental" Internet sensation fully expects to play David to McGee's Goliath.