Toney spells trouble
James Toney is a name some of you may not know, but get ready to make it a household name. The 41-year-old boxing veteran signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC to compete for UFC gold and a big payday.
Though the sport of boxing notoriously makes and generates more money per pay-per-view, they only happen once or twice a year and unless your name is Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, you're no longer interesting in the boxing world.
Toney brings a bad-ass attitude to the octagon, he's confident, has swagger and thinks he can kick the shit out of any one who dares step foot in front of him. Good for him, but will that actually happen?
Before I answer that, it's been much debated since Toney's arrival if he should have been signed in the first place and if this is a step back for the UFC. UFC President Dana White criticizes other organizations for putting on “freak-show” fights with people who have no business fighting professionally at all.
With Toney though, it's different, he has a legitimate background base to start with, and while he's 41-years-old, he's barely been hit in his boxing career. He may be old in age, but he still has gas in the tank, much like a Randy Couture-type fighter. While boxing will be a great start for Toney, you know he's going to have to learn some ground game or he's going to get exposed really, really quickly and he'll quickly be tossed aside.
While it remains to be seen what Toney will actually do in the octagon, one thing is for sure, even though he is a loud mouth, and a guy who may say the wrong thing at the wrong time, the signing of Toney has helped the legitimacy of the UFC.
Finally a notable name from the boxing world has made a crossover to MMA. It's the beginning of the end for boxing, though it's not like it hasn't been falling from grace for a long time now. What Toney does is bring a different set of eyes to the MMA world, the boxing purists who haven't given MMA a chance because it's killing their sport.
Toney's success in the octagon does not matter from here on out. He has already served his purpose, he's not a freak show fighter, he's a legitimate badass, and he can put guys to sleep with one punch. If he loses, then it's true that pure boxers will struggle to fight guys who have a well-rounded arsenal of martial arts. With a loss, it might make more boxers feel the need to give it a shot to prove that they are able to compete in MMA.
On the flip side, with a big win in his MMA debut then Toney has successfully paved the path for every other boxer to try their hand at MMA if they want to.
So it doesn't matter if Toney goes out and gets submitted in under a minute, or knocks someone out in 20 seconds, he's already served his purpose.
Though the sport of boxing notoriously makes and generates more money per pay-per-view, they only happen once or twice a year and unless your name is Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, you're no longer interesting in the boxing world.
Toney brings a bad-ass attitude to the octagon, he's confident, has swagger and thinks he can kick the shit out of any one who dares step foot in front of him. Good for him, but will that actually happen?
Before I answer that, it's been much debated since Toney's arrival if he should have been signed in the first place and if this is a step back for the UFC. UFC President Dana White criticizes other organizations for putting on “freak-show” fights with people who have no business fighting professionally at all.
With Toney though, it's different, he has a legitimate background base to start with, and while he's 41-years-old, he's barely been hit in his boxing career. He may be old in age, but he still has gas in the tank, much like a Randy Couture-type fighter. While boxing will be a great start for Toney, you know he's going to have to learn some ground game or he's going to get exposed really, really quickly and he'll quickly be tossed aside.
While it remains to be seen what Toney will actually do in the octagon, one thing is for sure, even though he is a loud mouth, and a guy who may say the wrong thing at the wrong time, the signing of Toney has helped the legitimacy of the UFC.
Finally a notable name from the boxing world has made a crossover to MMA. It's the beginning of the end for boxing, though it's not like it hasn't been falling from grace for a long time now. What Toney does is bring a different set of eyes to the MMA world, the boxing purists who haven't given MMA a chance because it's killing their sport.
Toney's success in the octagon does not matter from here on out. He has already served his purpose, he's not a freak show fighter, he's a legitimate badass, and he can put guys to sleep with one punch. If he loses, then it's true that pure boxers will struggle to fight guys who have a well-rounded arsenal of martial arts. With a loss, it might make more boxers feel the need to give it a shot to prove that they are able to compete in MMA.
On the flip side, with a big win in his MMA debut then Toney has successfully paved the path for every other boxer to try their hand at MMA if they want to.
So it doesn't matter if Toney goes out and gets submitted in under a minute, or knocks someone out in 20 seconds, he's already served his purpose.
