I hope Toney wins because I've always been more of a boxing fan over MMA.
Signing Toney gets the UFC at least one big pay per view but other than that not much. He's 41, has been on the downside of his boxing career for many years and is a bit of a head-case. I don't see Toney having it in him to train like a mad man in the other areas without getting hurt all the time. Weight issues for years combined with age, are awful rough on the body..I give this 3 or 4 fights and he'll be out..
I feel his first loss gets him terminated, and even though Toney is not a total freakshow like a football and baseball player trying to fight in a relatively old age...Toney is a fighter by nature and after all the talk he's done to get in this position, I find it hard to believe he'd just fall right on his ass in the first fight. I say he wins the 1st, loses then 2nd to Kimbo, bye bye Toney thanks for coming out.
Prime JT was a mudda en BEAST! Prime Toney had a granite chin, good power, very good defense, very good boxing skills, and was actually in shape!
Today JT is getting out-boxed buy guys like Sam Peter (JT was robbed in the first fight though). No MMA fighter is stupid enough to try to trade, as soon as they get Toney to the ground it's pretty much over.
JT has been out of shape for years, the last time he was any good was at cruiser weight. JT is a stubborn bas too, I'm not sure how seriously he'll take the mma training.
All Toney has is a puncher's chance, dude can still slip punches but as I said before, no MMA fighter is stupid enough to stand up with him.
Also, I heard Randy Couture wants to fight JT.
That's all Ray Mercer needed against Tim Sylvia.
Old, fat James Toney is still going to be the best striker (not including feet) in the UFC. Anybody who plans to test their stand up may be setting their self up for an upset.
yeah, not best striker... best puncher. Im really wanting to see what he does when someone leg/head kicks him..
I'm getting the feeling Kimbo will be James first opponent
Why not milk this for all it is worth, since Toney is not likely to be around long?? I know Kimbo has a fight with Mitrione set but that could change with this signing..
LOL here we go
By Brett Okamoto (contact)
Friday, March 5, 2010 | 6:47 p.m.
When news broke Wednesday that the UFC had signed 41-year-old professional boxer James Toney to a multi-fight contract, it probably was inevitable that Kimbo Slice would be tagged as a potential opponent.
Both fighters are pure strikers, relatively new to the sport, with little interest in taking a fight to the ground. Both are committed to competing as heavyweights, even though many believe they would be more successful as 205-pounders.
There's just one problem. Slice (4-1) already has a fight to worry about — a previously signed agreement to face fellow TUF 11 contestant Matt Mitrione (1-0) May 8 at UFC 113.
So when Mitrione started receiving phone calls Thursday, asking him if he was worried about losing his main card bout, it's safe to say the former NFL player was caught a little off-guard.
"I have no clue what's going on; the last 15 hours have been pretty crazy," Mitrione said. "To be truly honest, I haven't heard a thing from the UFC, and it's frustrating me. It's my understanding that it took awhile to get his paperwork signed, but I'm sure it's signed.
"Then again, that doesn't mean (expletive). When I was in the NFL I signed a contract, they signed a contract, and they can cut you whenever they want. I know that from first-hand experience."
As of Friday morning, Mitrione said he still was expecting to face Slice in May, even though the bout does not appear on the UFC 113 fight card on the organization's Web site.
However, Mitrione did admit that the rumors and phone calls had him a little worried because, as he put it, "Where there's smoke, there's usually fire."
He also said he had received a somewhat generic response from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva when he tried to find out if the original fight between he and Slice was still on.
"I texted Joe Silva (Thursday) night and asked what was happening, if there was any danger of this being cancelled," Mitrione said. "His response was basically that nothing was official and that I should keep preparing — that I'm still fighting in Montreal."
Although Mitrione said he would accept a change in opponent if that were what the UFC decides, the 31-year-old fighter also would hate to lose the opportunity to fight such a well-known opponent under that type of spotlight.
Mitrione is well aware of the negative perception fans may have of him, after he was clearly portrayed as the heel on the most recent season of the UFC reality television series.
Comfortable in saying he's probably one of the, "Top five villains ever on the show," Mitrione's antics in the house included leaking his team's strategy to its opponents, complaining of a "swollen brain" after his first-round fight and admitting that he competes in MMA because it's the only way to silence voices he hears in his head.
Mitrione laughs when reminded of those moments now, chalking them up to his boredom towards the end of the show and select editing by e TV.
"They show what happened, but it was a very slanted view," Mitrione said. "Like that part about me hearing voices — they took the setup of a joke and then didn't use the punch line.
"They want you to give exciting answers. So they sit you down and ask you, 'Why do you fight?' And you say, 'Dude, I've been fighting for six months. I fight because it's new and exciting.' Then they give you this look like, 'C'mon. Really?' So you say, 'OK. I fight because I hear voices and it's the only time I can be peaceful in my mind.' That's totally nuts and insane. But they take out the part where you laugh after and you say, 'Man, I'm sorry. I totally made that up.'"
Mitrione remembers being close to quitting towards the end of the show because he was so sick of living in the TUF house, a complaint fighters from previous seasons have made before him.
After defeating Scott Junk in the first round of the compe ion, Mitrione said he faked his head injury just to go to the hospital where they allowed him to call his wife and two sons.
Although he says he and Slice became friends on the show, Mitrione couldn't deny the fact the Internet sensation received special privileges on the show — laughing when asked if he agreed with complaints made by Roy Nelson that Slice's entourage was allowed at the UFC gym.
"Roy's a smart guy," said Mitrione with a laugh. "He's very observant. That's my answer. I think Roy is very observant."
Despite the fact Mitrione pretty much was miserable by the end of filming the show — sleeping in his closet so he could have privacy at night — he understands the positive effect it's had on his career.
For a fighter without a single professional contest before entering the reality show, a heavyweight bout against Slice on a televised pay-per-view card is a big step in exposure.
Mitrione is planning an eight-week camp under trainer Duke Roufus in Milwaukee to prepare for the fight and believes his standup offers a bad matchup for Slice.
He just hopes he'll still get the opportunity to find out.
"Fighting Kimbo is a phenomenal fight for me, and I think it's a bad fight for Kimbo," Mitrione said. "I'm still preparing for Kimbo, and I firmly feel I would knock him out. Once I turn his chin and put him to sleep, that would be a great amount of exposure and a great stepping stone for my career.
"If it doesn't happen, it's not up to me to get pissed about it. It's not like I'm five days out of the fight, I still have a full camp ahead of me. But I would like to know so I can sit back and re-evaluate how I'm preparing."
Bad fight for Kimbo.. He better take this to the ground. But i know he will want to throw and is gonna get KO'd. Im pretty excited to see Toney in the UFC. They needed this. Hanvnt had any eye grabbing fights in a while and need something like this to pull in more people. Roy Jones Jr vs James Toney is one of my favorite matches of all time.
Out of all the new Toney needs to learn, checking leg kicks should be one the least complicated parts of the game for him to pick up. Then again, it will be completely foreign to him so who knows. His strategy may be to just eat the leg kick and fire a straight right.
So his weight problems could be an asset?
Is boxer James Toney an MMA freak show? Many UFC heavyweights say no
Steven Marrocco, MMAjunkie.com
Purists have cried hypocrisy over news of boxing champion James Toney's new Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.
The 41-year-old boxing veteran got the usual line on Wednesday for well-known outsiders who make their way to MMA: he's an opportunist just looking to make a buck, he couldn't make it in his sport and can't go anywhere else, and he'll be obliterated by the "real fighters."
He is, in short, a freak show.
But several UFC heavyweights MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) spoke to Wednesday didn't condemn Toney for the move. Most, in fact, had more positive things to say than negative.
Pat Barry, a former kickboxer who's felled more than a few opponents with his leg kick, said the signing could raise the level of striking in the UFC.
"It's awesome, man," he said. "It just widens the pool of fighters. If it was up to me, I'd rather see someone get stung and knocked out versus submitted any day. If he hits you, you're going to get hurt. I'm looking forward to seeing him do damage if he can make the adjustment."
Todd Duffee, who scored the fastest knockout in UFC history this past August at UFC 102, said he understands purists' arguments but feels Toney's presence is a good business move for the promotion.
"I think the UFC's going to make a lot of money," he said. "There are people in the UFC he stands to beat. Yeah, it kind of makes a mockery of the sport, but James Toney is a fighter. I definitely respect him.
"I think it's kind of being blown out of proportion. There's world champion jiu-jitsu players that fight in the UFC. You don't tell them, 'Oh my god, you're going to mixed martial arts. Are you sure about that?'"
Paul Buentello, a former top UFC heavyweight contender, admires Toney's brazen campaign to earn his contract.
"I like the way he got the fight going," Buentello said. "He got in Dana White's head. He's a warrior. I think it's a good fit. He's just true. He brought it all out there and called everybody out. I think his actions are showing what he wants to do."
Even Brendan Schaub, a veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter 10" who initially criticized the decision to add former bareknuckle brawler Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson to the cast, is far more charitable to Toney's move.
"He's 41, so it's kind of a late start to get into it, but with is boxing background, it's trouble with those four-ounce gloves on," Schaub said. "Honestly, I'm surprised the UFC signed him with zero MMA fights. But with the right matchups, he could be exciting in the UFC. Even his jab can do damage do guys."
Heavyweights Chris Tuchscherer and Gilbert Yvel don't know who Toney is.
"That just goes to show you how much I follow boxing," Tuchscherer, a collegiate wrestling standout, said Wednesday evening with a laugh.
All of the heavyweights MMAjunkie.com spoke to agree that Toney faces an uphill battle inside the octagon.
"I always said you can bring a wrestler to an MMA fight, but you can't bring a boxer to MMA," Tuchscherer offered. "Most fights end up on the ground, and wrestlers are more comfortable when they're on the ground."
Schaub, a former arena football player who trains with heavyweight contender Shane Carwin, put it more bluntly.
"Someone would be stupid to trade with him," he said. "Once he goes to the ground, he's screwed."
Then again, Duffee said, stranger things have happened inside a cage. Former boxing king Ray Mercer knocked out five-time UFC champion Tim Sylvia in one punch this past June.
"We don't know anything about him," Duffee said. "We know how his boxing is, but we don't know how his [MMA is]. We don't know how he's going to react to a double leg or any kind of wrestling. He may be really friggin' good at it. There's just a lot of question marks around it."
Buentello said it will be hard for Toney to erase years of physical training centered toward boxing.
"It's going to be a different rhythm," he said. "It's a different pace. Boxers like to run five miles every morning. MMA is a sprint sport. It's going to take him a while to get adjusted to that. There are too many variables.
"I think he'll do just fine with the right opponent. If you get the wrong opponent, like Randy Couture or Rashad Evans, these good grapplers and wrestlers, he's going to have a hard time."
UFC president Dana White said on Wednesday that he has yet to formulate a plan for Toney's first octagon appearance.
The heavyweights were unanimous in their willingness to fight Toney. None, however, was opposed outright to his presence.
"It's dope, man," Barry said. "I want to fight him. Tonight."
IT really to me just comes across as a desperate attempt by Toney to make some noise now that his boxing career is at an end.. He is a good 5 or 6 years past his best days in his best sport. But he obviously thinks that MMA boxing is bad enough he'll KO a few guys with ease if he can just work on a little takedown defense..
i really really want to see someone kick him in the head
So his weight problems could be an asset?
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