James Toney/UFC Update: Toney vs. Couture at UFC 118?

[CPT]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/18156/41-year ... th-ufc.mma

Sometimes trash talkers get what they want.

After berating UFC president Dana White on several media outlets in recent months, 41-year-old boxing champion James Toney (72-6 Boxing, 0-0 MMA) has reportedly signed a multi-fight agreement with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The report was issued Tuesday by FiveOuncesOfPain.com citing sources close to negotiations, and MMAFighting.com's Mike Chiappetta has since confirmed the deal after speaking to White.

Toney, the current NABO and IBA heavyweight champion, pitched himself to White before cameras following UFC 108 in January and afterward blasted the UFC president for what he considered a "laughable" offer to fight in the octagon.

Ever since, Toney has taken every opportunity to challenge White for a contract.

"Dana White is a straight up ho!" Toney told Fighthype.com this past week. "He makes me a five-fight offer for chump change and said I can't box anymore if I accept it. He must have lost his damn mind."

It appears talks have brightened considerably since then.

At least one UFC fighter will welcome Toney into the cage.

"I think a lot of people would pay to see that," UFC heavyweight contender and "The Ultimate Fighter 10" winner Roy Nelson recently told Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports.

A timetable for Toney's debut is unknown at the time of this writing. Requests to the UFC for comment by MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) were not immediately answered.

The 41-year-old Toney's most recent fight was this past September when he defeated Matthew Greer by TKO in a boxing match. Prior to that, he defeated Fres Oquendo for the vacant NABO and IBA heavyweight belts.

After all the trash talk on both sides, they finally came to a deal.

It's a freak show, for sure, but I can't say I'm not interested. I want to see who they throw him as his first opponent. At 41, I don't think there's much point in a slow build. Might as well toss him right in there in a big money fight.

Who comes to mind as possible opponents for him?

Randy Couture?
Kimbo Slice?
Mirko Cro Cop?

[REDDzone]

I just hope they don't throw him in there with someone who would try to stand with him. Would rather see him fight a well rounded fighter, personally.

[Posey H8er]

Dana's comments-

"We threw the kitchen sink at Brock when he came in. Are we going to do that same thing with James? I don’t know. To be 100 percent honest with you, all [expletive] aside, I haven’t thought it out."

"I like James Toney. He’s one of the greatest boxers ever. I have tremendous respect for him. He said he wanted to fight in the UFC and I was interested. Now he’s here and I have to figure out what to do with him. What we won’t do is make a freak show out of it. I’d be the first to scream if someone else did that, so I’m not going to do it."

"Hey, I don’t want this to be seen as a joke, and it’s not like Herschel Walker or Canseco or any of those guys. James Toney is a fighter. The worst thing anyone can ever say to me is that they were watching one of my fights and they changed the channel. That’s why I’ll never put [expletive] fights on."

"James is an interesting case. We know how much talent he has as a boxer and he insists he’ll surprise people by how much MMA he knows. I’ve still got some thinking to do. But if we promote him and he does well and that raises his profile and he gets a Klitschko fight and makes a lot of money for himself and Goossen, I’d be cool with that. But James came to me and he literally chased me around the country to do it, so I’m giving him the chance. We’ll get it figured out one way or another."

"We’ll figure something out. I’m not really sure. Here’s the thing with James: We were sitting around finishing the deal and talking and he told me that he’d been talking to Strikeforce. He said they were talking to him about a fight with Herschel Walker. James said to me, ‘Do you know what I’d do to that [expletive]?’ He looked at me and said, ‘You know, I have a lot of pride and I’d never do anything to embarrass myself. I’m a fighter. I want to fight. And don’t ever underestimate me.’ "

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/3/3/133 ... ey-we-wont


Frankly I think this is a little hypocritical of the UFC but I agree, I am still interested. Supposedly Toney has been training with Rampage's former trainer which is promising because I thought perhaps he would fight thinking he could win with his boxing skills alone.

Kimbo would be a terrible fight and it would be the definition of a freakshow. Kimbo is really a one-dimensional fighter. They would just exchange punches and I'm pretty sure Toney is better.

Cro Cop, maybe. I think he would win just because Toney wouldn't be able to deal with the leg kicks. Couture sounds the most intriguing, I don't know why.

[HMFFL]

I'm very interested to see how he does and I am very happy that both sides could come to an agreement. Very intelligent decision by James Toney.

[Cammo101]

No idea how this plays out. You can't put him in with a pure striker, because Toney will likely tool them. You can't put him in with a straight ground fighter, because they would tool Toney. And to further complicate, no one has any interest in seeing him fight a can. Maybe put him in with a striker who is not a contender, like a Cro Cop, Rothwell, or Yvel.

[Nemesis21]

[CapeCrusader]

It depends who wins the Kimbo fight and Cro Cops next fight. But I could see them throwing the human punching bag Al Turk for his first fight and then giving him competition for his next.

[jTF2]

No idea how this plays out. You can't put him in with a pure striker, because Toney will likely tool them. You can't put him in with a straight ground fighter, because they would tool Toney. And to further complicate, no one has any interest in seeing him fight a can. Maybe put him in with a striker who is not a contender, like a Cro Cop, Rothwell, or Yvel.

yvel would be perfect.

[Dry_Fish]

I don't know if Toney boxing style will translate to MMA not to mention the last few time I saw him, he was fat and slow

[REDDzone]

Feed him to Cain Velazquez.

[damo[23]]

Kongo maybe in the mix?

In my mind, like CPT says they cant faff around to much with slow builds, a TUF 10 HW wouldn't be all that good, and Kimbo really would be the "freak show attraction" of a UFC fight.

Thinking along the lines of what other people are saying, a known striker that people do watch.

Its interesting, and certainly in the case that we are seeing a boxing champ coming to MMA, it will be interesting to see how he does in all aspects, including the hands. Good litmus test for the old boxing vs mma arguement.

[Kaizen]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2010/03/04/showdown_column_kimbo/

After previously announcing that Kimbo Slice was to take on Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 in Montreal, the two former Ultimate Fighter Season 10 contestants are mysteriously missing from the event’s webpage. Could the recent signing of James (Lights Out) Toney have anything to do with it?

Many signs are pointing to "Yes" as it seem to appear the bout may be replaced with a Kimbo. vs Toney matchup, May 8 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

[REDDzone]

Wellll looks like Kimbo doesn't have to worry about getting that bum knee kicked, at least for this fight.

[High 5]

He laughed off Herschel, but I'd be surprised if Toney's MMA skills look as solid as Herschel's.

[Posey H8er]

I thought this vid of Toney was funny. He called out Kimbo calling him 'Simba Spice'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnUKkWNeI60

[funkatron101]

He's talked so much trash, I would love for a guy like Schaub to KO him via headkick, then Dana cuts him immediately.

"There was your ****ing chance, now shut-up." -Dana

[cowboyronnie]

Toney would get tooled by any decent HW kickboxer. This is stupid, and will embarrass one of the greatest, most prideful boxers ever.

As a boxer, it's not his punching power that surprise MMAers, it's his head movement and shoulder rolls. No one would ever clip him with a punch. He'd **** humiliate anyone trying to exchange hands. He moves so beautifully and defends so well. But the simple fact of leg kicks, kickboxing range and a kickboxing stance, combined with James' loss of speed, he'll get tooled. Someone like Cro Cop wouldn't break a sweat.

This is sad. My favorite Toney moment is during his second loss to Peter, how he refused to stop jawing at the MFer at the end of every round. He surely believes he's never loss a round in his career, never seen a moment of shame in the ring. He's so uniquely macho. But a UFC match will give a definite loss. It's not how he wants to end his career.

[Cammo101]

He laughed off Herschel, but I'd be surprised if Toney's MMA skills look as solid as Herschel's.

Toney would not need any MMA tools to beat the can that Herschel walked through.

[CPT]

I was reading that there could be sanctioning issues in Toney's first fight.

Probably rules out the Coutures and Cro Cops if true.

[Posey H8er]

Wouldn't there be a different athletic commission if it takes place in Vancouver? For example the Cro Cop fight at 110 probably wouldn't have been sanctioned in the US.