James Toney signs with the UFC

Its a good thing although i dont expect him to do much really against the better fighters, would love to see miguel cotto join him there too

they say he'll fight at heavyweight. Thats fair enough...no probs....but at 205 a fight with Anderson Silva could happen ie boxing vs mma....remember the whole silva-roy jones thing.

cotto's been working with kurt pelligrino too. that would be awesome if true.

He has to fight kimbo given kimbo's lack of a ground game its a fight toney can be competitive in

i wana see toney get smashed and then released,dont like the toilet.

First thoughts are that this is shocking for MMA - it puts the sport in a no win situation

If they try to build him up, they will give him an easy fight, say vs Kimbo, who isn't a proper mixed martial artist, but when Toney KO's him, you'll get the boxing only/anti MMA brigade pi$$ing in their pants laughing.

Or if they put him in with a proper mixed martial artist, someone with a black belt in brazilian jujitsu or a wrestler or someone with heavy leg kicks, we all know Toney would get destroyed. But the boxing only/anti MMM brigade will say that Toney is well past his best.

It's lose-lose. I don't like it. At all.

:-(

[i]HEAVYWEIGHT boxing champ James Toney has stunned the sport after signing a multifight deal with UFC - but the fight league's boss insists he's not looking for a freak show.
The 41-year-old, who currently holds the IBA Heavyweight title, boasts a 72-6-3-2 record from his 83 fights, and was previously named fighter of the year by the prestigious Ring magazine.
But with his age and lack of MMA experience, the deal has been branded a freakshow by critics in the US - and comes just weeks after rival organisation Strikeforce fielded 48-year-old former NFL star Herschel Walker in his Octagon debut.
Toney has also twice failed steroid tests - once resulting in him being stripped of the WBA title.
UFC president Dana White hit back, however, insisting that he didn't want the deal to be seen as 'a joke'

Frank Mir would destroy him

comeonkautostar 04 Mar 21:27
First thoughts are that this is shocking for MMA - it puts the sport in a no win situation

If they try to build him up, they will give him an easy fight, say vs Kimbo, who isn't a proper mixed martial artist, but when Toney KO's him, you'll get the boxing only/anti MMA brigade pi$$ing in their pants laughing.

Or if they put him in with a proper mixed martial artist, someone with a black belt in brazilian jujitsu or a wrestler or someone with heavy leg kicks, we all know Toney would get destroyed. But the boxing only/anti MMM brigade will say that Toney is well past his best.

It's lose-lose. I don't like it. At all.

This was my first thought but then I realised it really doesn't matter what the boxing only fans think, anyone who knows the first thing about MMA would realise a boxer has little more than a puncher's chance in MMA. It may become a little frustrating listening to these people go on about Toney should he win but I think the positives outweigh this slight negative.

Instead of worrying about that side-argument, I then realised this will bring quite a lot of publicity and from new sources. Deep down I'm sure most of us would love to see a top boxer fight in MMA and whilst Toney is no longer at his peak, he's still going to be the best boxer to have ever fought in the UFC.

I'm sure it's going to get a lot of interest from fans who wouldn't ordinarily watch and that's a good thing.

As for his opponent and weight-class, I'm assuming he's too slow for light heavyweight. He'd probably be best served being matched up with some of the smaller heavyweights or someone who just likes to stand and bang.

I think Kimbo would be too much of a freak match for his first fight but if they both have a win or two under their belt then let them meet.

Im not sure. Unfortunately there are a lot of morons out there who know zilch about MMA and won't realise that for his first few fights, the Athletic State Commissions won't allow Toney to fight anyone with any amount of quality or experience on the basis of competitive fairness, just like a recent Lashley fight Strikeforce tried to set up. So if Toney does win once or twice the people that know nothing or even some casual fans may think that somehow Boxers are a lot better and more skilled fighters, which we all know is utter crap.

I can't see how Toney will make 205lbs. He's heavier now than he's ever been and he's been fighting at 225/230lbs in his last few boxing contests, so a smaller heavyweight it looks to be.

Rumours are that his first opponent will be Pat Barry.

Bottom line is no matter who he fights, the game plan must be to take him down and choke him the feck out.

he got a big old neck to choke out, probably be leg lock imho

Yes, Mir would have him out of there in a matter of moments.

destroy him anyway and then say next! I would love to see him taken down and submitted! Love to see the loud mouth berk scream in pain or go to sleep,really dont like him.

Cmon guys...u know exactly who his first opponent in the UFC is....

MUSTAPHA AL TURK...

followed by Anthony Perosh...dont the UFC owe him a fight after he stepped up vs Cro Cop.

then I imagine someone like Cheik Kongo will be in the offing after thant.

ive just heard a whisper its stephan bonnar

hope he doesnt have to fight the toilets mentioned! Give him someone that will embarrass him!

Ok folks how do you price the following

Toney V Kimbo

Toney V Bonnar

Toney V Jardine

Toney V Couture

please dont put kieth sardine in with Toney....thats the last thing a guy with no chin needs!!!

Purely based on weights and styles:

Toney 1.26 V Kimbo 4.8 at catchweight of 225lbs

Kimbo would stand and bang - and if Seth Petrezelli could KO him, I'd imagine Toney could. Although tbh Kimbo seems to be working on his wrestling, so if he came in with the GSP gameplan, stand and trade, lure them into a false sense of security of a kickboxing contest, then SLAM, takedown, he could win it. Cardio not good enough though and he's old.

Toney 2.4 V Bonnar 1.7 - not sure it would happen due to weight, Toney too heavy for 205, Bonnar is a proper light heavyweight but is now talking about dropping to middleweight

Bonnar is FINNISH. In his prime he'd have been 1.2, but he's been poor for a while. However, he is a legit BJJ performer having trained with Carlson Gracie. He's also quite smart. So if he could take him down he'd submit him.

Toney 1.7 V Jardine 2.4 - not sure it would happen due to weight, Toney too heavy for 205, Jardine is a proper light heavyweight

Jardine's punch resistance has GAWN. He's a better fighter than Bonnar, but I can't see how he'd hurt Toney. We've at least seen Bonnar take people down. We haven't seen that with Keith.

Toney 15 V Couture 1.07 at catchweight of 225lbs

Randy would maul him. Destroy him in the clinch, up against the cage, relentlessly take him down, GnP him, outwork him, outlast him. Natural would kill Toney.

Randy vs. Toney :D :D

Randy would be a 1.01 train if ever i saw one.

I'd love to see Toney on the receiving end of some of Randy's dirty boxing :D

http://twitter.com/Randy_Couture

In response to who he's fighting next Randy said he hopes to welcome James Toney to MMA. I can see it happening although would like to see how far Randy can get towards another title shot and this obviously wouldn't help answer that question.

Freddie Roach reckons that if he had self-discipline then James Toney would have been the best fighter of all time. Also thinks nobody in MMA could stand with him although I'm assuming he means without kicks:

http://www.craveonline.com/sports/article/freddie-roach-talks-boxing-97907

Two guys on the ground doesn't appeal to me but I understand there's a science to it.

Thats fair enough. Its saying stuff like that that makes me respect him a lot. It appeals to me, it doesn't to him, but at least he respects there is a clear science to it, unlike the bunch of anti MMA/boxing only prats you get, especially in the boxing forum.

I really dont think theres one fighter in MMA that could stand with James.

Disagree totally with him. If he stands with someone with greater reach and sick Muay Thai, he'd get owned. Can you imagine him trying to get to Anderson Silva? Silva would dance all around him while kicking the legs clean off him.

Yep, I'm assuming he means punching only when he says stand. This is what could happen if he went against a kick boxer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXkcYul1LRo

It's Ray Mercer quitting after one kick to the head.

The question is to what degree he can adapt. Strategy is different in MMA stand-up because of the smaller gloves (a lot easier to finish with one punch) and the risks of kicks and take-downs. If he really wants to learn, he's quite a talented chap and might do okay - a lot depends on his level of commitment.

He is/was a talented boxer

Being all round talented is so different

At his/their (mercer too) age it is impossible to be competitive with the amount of fight/MMA knowledge they lack

lol at that video of Mercer

:^0

smart....any longer and Bojansky wouldve killed him.

Mercer didn't adapt, doesn't mean anything for Toney. It's all about his attitude - if he thinks he isn't a total beginner, his career will be very short - if he is humble and committed, he has a lot of talent. I accept his age is a big diasadvantage.

Tbh, the MMA Champs of the (not so distant) future will be like Lyoto Machida, i.e. studying martial arts from the age of 2, mastering that one, then moving on to others arts and mastering those.

The current days when if you have one supreme art above all others you can be good (Brock) will soon go. But even so, even today its far too late for Mercer/Toney (and Mercer seems more humble and willing to learn) to be any good.

The sport is always evolving and will continue to evolve. Martial Arts have undergone more change in the last 15 years than they had in the last 800 years, and thats due to MMA. We now have a rough idea (but ot the complete knowledge) of what skills are required to be successful in combat.

Not only will this sort of idea be beyond the mentality of a James Toney, but physically it will be impossible to achieve given his age.