UFC 118 The Ultimate Freak Show We’ll All Watch

July 5th, 2010

The reports seem to be true. Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, not to mention UFC Hall of Famer, Randy Couture (18-10 MMA Record, 7 TKO’s, 3 submissions) will meet multi division former boxing champ James Toney in an MMA fight freak show at UFC 118 August 28th from Boston.

I’m not being overtly negative by calling it a “freak show”. Let’s be honest..it is. Even UFC President Dana White agrees with me.

“I’m always yapping about people who do freak shows. I’m doing one. I got sucked into one. James Toney talked a lot of smack, and he picked a fight and now it’s going to happen.” White said Saturday night at the UFC 116 postfight press conference.

The fight will mark Toney’s MMA debut. He has not competed in the sport as either a pro or amateur. His pro boxing record stands at 72-6, 44 KO’S. Back in April I wrote a column asking what could be gained by Toney and the UFC respectively with this unique pairing.
At this past weekends UFC 116 postfight press conference, Dana White commented on the Couture – Toney matchup saying ““we’re going to make an example of James Toney.”

Surprise, surprise.

To White’s credit., he gives all of his high profile newcomers stern tasks in their UFC debuts. Currect UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, already a known commodity from his WWE pro wrestling days, faced former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in his debut and youtube sensation Kimbo Slice took on light heavyweight gatekeeper Houston Alexander in his proper UFC debut.

Toney, who has been less than kind in his words describing MMA fighter’s abilities, will probably be taken to the ground fairly quickly by Couture and grounded and pounded into unconsciousness or chocked into submission within one round on August 28th. Couture will certainly be a heavy favorite entering the bout.

Not that it matters to Toney who when aiming comments at Couture told Thesweetscience.com, “You come in with that wrestling..dirty boxing. I promise you I’m gonna choke your ass out.”

He also said “I’m the icon. The greatest fighter that ever put gloves on. The true ultimate fighter.”

And to the Klitschko’s, “Y’all scared to fight me”.

He’s making Floyd Mayweather look humble by comparison.

However, he’ll have the chance to backup the talk on August 28th in Boston. And who knows? If Couture falls into a trap of standing and trading with the superb boxer Toney, Toney’s chances of winning will be relatively high.

This is a fact not lost on White, an admitted big time boxing fan.

“James Toney’s a real fighter. James and I go back and forth. He’s mad at me right now and he’s going to be even more pissed off now after what I just said, but the reality is I am not so delusional that I don’t think that anything can happen when two big guys get in there and start throwing punches. Believe me, I’ve seen, and I’m sure that many of you who’ve been in the fight business for a long time have seen some crazy things happen, and James Toney’s no joke. He’s a real guy, and I noticed the difference in the weight that he’s lost already. I wasn’t sure if he was going to come in and talk all this smack and then stay heavy and not really train. He’s training and he’s going to try to knock out Randy Couture that night.”

And we’ll all be watching because everybody loves a good freak show.