Next month at UFC 118, Randy Couture will square off against former heavyweight boxing champion James Toney. With not a punch or kick yet thrown, the fight is already proving one of the most controversial in UFC history.
By Alan Murphy
Promotionally, Toney’s trash-talking is box-office gold. But at 41-years-old and with his best days long past, the once-brilliant fighter has exhausted all of his significant boxing pay days. Few could argue that his interest in MMA is anything other than financial. There is little evidence that he is greeting the challenge, or the sport, with respect.
During a now-infamous taped meeting with UFC president Dana White, when asked if he was studying kick defence, Toney told White, “yeah, front kick, back kick, side-check kick, all that.” When later confronted on the non-existence of ‘side-check kicks’, Toney replied, “I don’t know nothin’ about the sport. I don’t know jiu-jitsu. I don’t know wrestling. All I know is how to fight, period.”
James Toney at the peak of his powers:
White has endured a torrent of criticism since signing the former two-time Ring Magazine ‘Boxer of the Year’. The outspoken UFC president has long been scathing of rival promotions who have indulged in similar fare. “I’m always yappin’ about people who do freak shows,” he said at the UFC 116 post-fight press conference. “But I got sucked into one.”
Though the motormouth boxer stalked and goaded White at several public appearances, it was only when MMA legend Randy Couture began twittering (“I hope I’m the first guy they call to fight him,” he posted) about Toney that things got serious, and bluster turned into contracts. At 47-years-old, the supernaturally preserved Couture could be forgiven for picking and choosing interesting opponents at this stage of his career. However, the staunchest critics will hold Couture complicit with White in potentially damaging the wider sport of MMA.
Randy Couture doing his thing:
And criticism hasn’t come exclusively from MMA circles. “James is going to get thrown onto his back immediately by Randy,” said WBA heavyweight boxing champion David Haye. “I admire his spirit and boxing skills, but he’s delusional here.”
Many concur with Haye that on 28 August, Randy Couture will draw upon his Olympic-calibre wrestling to maul Toney on the ground. Others believe Toney will clobber Couture senseless, just as former WBO heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer KO’d Tim Sylvia in 9 seconds of his MMA debut last summer. But for some, there’s only disappointment that the sport hasn’t moved beyond freak shows and cheap, ratings bonanzas.
