Who doesn't have mixed feelings about James Toney and UFC 118? Sure he brought a lot of new media and attention to the event but one has to question whether the sport really benefitted from what Toney did in the Octagon. He received a rumored $750,000 up front for his efforts. No one expected the aging boxer to put up a great fight but could he at least pretend like he was going try? For me, all hope for the fight being even halfway decent, was finished as the scale read 237 pounds on Friday. Toney either had no shame or just said "screw it, I'm making my money. So why train?"He was ridiculed all over the country by folks who rarely buy UFC pay-per-views or attend the numerous viewing parties. Toney was fodder for casual fans like Luke O'Brien, who posted his recap of UFC 118 on Deadspin. If, over the last nine months, the boxer had trained to defend even one more
takedown than the number of cheeseburgers he seemingly stuffed in his gob, he
might have made the night more interesting. As it was, he didn't get to throw a
single punch before Randy Couture grabbed his ankle and, in slow-motion, dragged
him to the mat. Hitting a "low single" is one of the more insulting occurrences
in grappling, the rough equivalent of winning a chess game in four moves.
He's right. When was the last time a mixed martial artist even thought about a low single? The result would be getting your head kicked off into the mezzanine. Couture soon had the manatee in an arm triangle. Fat Toney looked so lost on the
ground that he didn't even know how to tap out properly.Apparently even referee Mario Yamasaki sort of mocked Toney. When Toney was sitting and pinned against the cage, Couture tried to tell the ref that his opponent verbally tapped. Yamasaki responded by telling Toney that he may want to just tap. After the fight, James Toney offered a few smart words
on courage: "Anybody else in boxing ... wouldn't have done what I done because
they ain't got the heart or the balls that I do. You know what I'm saying? My
balls. ... I got big walnuts. Not little nuts." Toney is correct, he does have guts but he should've also pointed out that no one else in boxing would've gone into the Octagon in horrific shape and dragged along boxing's reputation to take a beating. There was a lot more at stake here than just a single fight. Toney's lack of desire to take his training and conditioning seriously now makes him a footnote forever in the MMA versus boxing discussion. Deadspin also reports that Boston backed up its reputation as one of the roughest towns for fans. With the testorone and beer flowing there was plenty of tomfoolery in the stands at the TD Garden. In non-flack-approved action, a terrifying donnybrook among fat men erupted in
the upper deck before the event started. Bodies went flying. The wife of a pro
fighter sitting near me gasped in horror. One fat man almost plummeted from the
loge to great injury or death. At least two other crowd scuffles broke out
later. Each time, the pros behind me gawked like regular fans. Despite having an
armada of cops on hand, the Garden security staff seemed ill-equipped to handle
the raw New England aggression incited by MMA. In fact, one sleeping security
guard allowed an irate fan to storm up to the octagon and berate Marcus Davis
for shaming his Irish brethren This is a good read. Go check it out over at Deadspin.
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