Would You Want To See Boxer James Toney Fight In The UFC?

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 6:00 PM EST in News Comment 24 comments

This guy's a real fighter. This guy is tough and nasty. I've always been semi interested in this ya know they are two different sports. Anytime anybody has talked about doing it they always want to fight boxing and not MMA. This is a real guy, I don't know. I'm going to talk to him and see what he has to say and we'll see what we can do.

That's Dana White talking about James Toney right after Toney basically called him out about fighting in the UFC.

HT: MMAFighting

Poll

Would You Want To See James Toney In The UFC?

YES

44 votes

NO

25 votes

It Would Disgrace The Sport

22 votes

91 votes | Poll has closed

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Read More: james toney, ufc, boxing, dana white

Comments

Uh, F*CK NO!!!!

This will never happen. If it did, I would never purchase a UFC PPV as long as Toney was signed, possibly never even again.
For Dana to even entertain this makes him look like a dumb ass for criticizing Coker for signing Walker. At least Walker has a martial arts background.

@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Jan 3, 2010 6:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

its actually quite smart on Dana's behalf

im banking on the dude bringing him cos he’s a semi-reputable boxer. he puts him in against a Todd Duffee, he gets mauled and Dana can forever sing about how mma is superior to boxing

"I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me... but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch." ~ Ty Cobb

by RearNakedPoke on Jan 3, 2010 6:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

anyone that can bring a new fanbase to the UFC is welcome IMO. I don’t think a boxer without any ground game is going to survive, but who knows, maybe he’ll get a few boxing fans to embrace the sport after he gets his ass kicked. The UFC has someone ready for him to fight too, his name is Kimbo, and it would be a hell of a fight…

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 6:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No

that would be a freakshow, like Mercer vs Sylvia was.
It would be kind of an insult to all of the fighters that have actually worked their ass off to get into the UFC too.

@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Jan 3, 2010 6:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

so is Kimbo

but I embrace him in the UFC, he brings in more viewers, a good chunk of them people that were not in to MMA and are potential diehard fans. we know where these guys stand, we know how they’ll do against certain fighters. But they bring in the cheddar, and that’s good for the sport IMO.

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 6:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

So skill as a mixed martial artist shouldn't factor in to weathe a person is signed or not?

@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Jan 3, 2010 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not only is he over 40

but he has been busted for steroids.
This guy brings nothing to the table.

@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Jan 3, 2010 6:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm with Felix

I like Toney and all…but the guy is past his prime…probably wouldn’t be a big PPV draw….and the UFC should take the money they’d offer Toney and sign other legitimate MMA talent….

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@MMA4Real

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 7:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Randy is over 40, boxing is a form of martial arts (we have great boxer stylists too), the problem here is he is one dimensional and yes, old. But he is not like Herchel, who may be a martial artist, but have never fought in a full contact sport (like MMA and boxing), this guy has.

Didn’t Brock do roids before (in his WWE days)?

Skills is necessary, and they will need it if they want to stay in the UFC (both Kimbo and this guy). If they lose, their gone!

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 7:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good point about Walker

In regards to Lesnar…I’m not sure it has been proven that he’s taken steroids…at least I’m not aware of it.

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@MMA4Real

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 7:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

my apologies than, I thought I read that somewhere. But we do have athletes that were caught using some sort of PED and were dealt with, and are back fighting in the UFC. This argument shouldn’t be an issue unless he fails another test.

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 7:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

no problem

I can’t prove he hasn’t taken them either….my thing with Toney is what he said in the interview…he’d do MMA part time…what about all the other guys out there trying to make a career out of this sport and they have their whole career in front of them…whereas Toney would be a 1-2 shot deal…

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@MMA4Real

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 7:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, he did say that, maybe he was joking though. DW needs to make sure Toney wants to stay the course before he can sign him. But here is the thing, potential new fighters, to me, does not come in to the equation. I don’t think the UFC would opt to sign Toney over a young prospect, I think they can do both. Regardless if they sign him or not, I am sure they have the means to keep signing young prospects if they want. Toney has a name in the world of boxing (I think, not a fan of boxing, but he said he is a HW champ), and the potential that he could bring over some boxing fans to MMA to me is valuable.

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 7:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Regardless if they sign him or not, I am sure they have the means to keep signing young prospects if they want. Toney has a name in the world of boxing (I think, not a fan of boxing, but he said he is a HW champ), and the potential that he could bring over some boxing fans to MMA to me is valuable.

They probably could do both in regards to Toney and new prospects….but they would be better served to avoid Toney IMO…If they put Toney in there and he gets mauled…that’s not going to convert any boxing fans into MMA fans…it would be this from the boxing audience.

If they didn’t have take downs…Toney would knock his head off type of excuse…

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@MMA4Real

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 7:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ah, but he could very well lose on the feet. They would also see the rest of the card, and watch how MMA fights can be more dynamic than boxing fights!

cagar é uma filosofia profunda...
a merda bate na água e a água bate na bunda.

by orcus on Jan 3, 2010 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

totally agree with you.

huge ratings for that ppv and dana white wins either way. i actually think the supposed meeting was planned. when has dana ever been outspoken? it rarely happens and dana actually might have thought this up during tuf 10 show. it all kinda makes sense now. i think kimbo could pick toney up like he did alexander and throw him to the ground. i also believe kimbo is trying hard to become better all around fighter. plus we owe boxing one for that embarrassing performance by ex ufc hw champion tim sylvia being dropped with one strike to the face by 50 yo ray mercer. it was all over youtube and i kinda laughed b/c sylvia is so tall it took him an extra second to crumble to the canvas. we owe boxing a beatdown and kimbo is the man to deliver it!

i'm all about covering the spread and moneylines. i was building a house, i don't deserve this, deserves have nothing to do with it. bang. "unforgiven"

by wolfmanshowlforever on Jan 3, 2010 9:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the guy coming to MMA. Guys come into MMA from all types of combat sports disciplines. Boxing is no different and James would be far from the first to come from there. I just want to see guys that are willing to get in there and fight. He absolutely has the right to compete in MMA. As far as the UFC goes, I can see why people wouldn’t want to see him just jump right into that level out of the gate. We shall see what happens. I say give him a mid-level guy if he does sign with Zuffa. Sort of like PRIDE did with Rulon Gardner back in the day, decisioning Yoshida.

by SlickRick00 on Jan 3, 2010 8:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

kimbo is going to deliver big ratings whoever he fights

toney has been around the boxing world a long time. he must have some kind of fan base.

i'm all about covering the spread and moneylines. i was building a house, i don't deserve this, deserves have nothing to do with it. bang. "unforgiven"

by wolfmanshowlforever on Jan 3, 2010 9:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but

that fan base is older and probably will not find MMA their cup of tea is what I’m saying…hell…he’s 40+

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@MMA4Real

by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 3, 2010 10:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No

anybody that watches boxing doesn’t even want Toney on free T.V. Toney wants to get paid and no one in boxing will pay him. So he is resorting to MMA so he can make money

by EVeezy on Jan 4, 2010 6:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs