UFC 118 Preview: Randy Couture Vs. James Toney

Randy “The Natural” Couture (18-10) vs. James “Lights Out” Toney (0-0)

Randy Couture is 46-years-young and a UFC Hall of Famer. James Toney is a 42-year-old boxing champion making his MMA debut. This fight happened because Toney decided he wanted to fight MMA after a few too many In-And-Out burgers one night. (I assume.) He started attending UFC events to badger Dana White until he let him fight.

The negotiations between James Toney and the UFC must have been epic. Dana offered Toney a fight with Kimbo Slice which he turned down because it was a “freak fight.” Toney then countered with Heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar. Finally, Randy Couture stepped in and offered to kick Toney’s ass.

So yes, this is boxing versus MMA. Its a much bigger deal than when Tim Sylvia got knocked out by Ray Mercer in 8-seconds. This is in the UFC. A champion of one world is crossing over to take on a champion in the other. No matter what happens, someone is going to be bragging that one sport is superior to the other. The truth is, that Couture would lose in a boxing ring and Toney should lose in the cage. Its the same reason that Jordan rode the bus. These are different sports.

Since I had never heard of James Toney (72-6-3 as a boxer.) before he started chasing Dana White all over the country, I’m not much of an expert on the mush-mouthed boxing champ. I went to boxing apologist fan and TBL commenter, R.W. Helmet for some historical perspective.

When James Toney was a Middleweight (mid 90’s) he was fighting at 154. He was pretty good back then with a great nickname (Light’s Out) then he progressively got fatter then was washed up , then got caught using HGH and still he sucked but still made money as a heavyweight fighter (220ish) because, A) He once was good, B) He has a great nickname and C) most importantly, the Heavyweight Division in Boxing is a giant turd whose best two fighters are brothers who won’t kill each other in the ring for money.

The main point? At 42 and 200+pounds, James Toney is a little past his prime. Despite the fact that he seems to have at least cut a little of the belly, he shouldn’t be able to hang in a cage with a UFC Hall of Fame wrestler. Yes, Toney has a chance. As he pointed out – at least I think he pointed it out. I couldn’t understand anything he said during the conference call last week – every round starts out standing.

Here’s what’s going to happen – Randy is going to come out on Saturday, close the distance quickly and take the fight to the ground. Word out of Toney’s camp is that he’s a quick learner, but I remain dubious! This is Randy’s fight to lose and he’s got the entire fight world hanging on his every takedown. He’ll probably only need one. Randy by submission in the first.

*Tomorrow – Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn preview. Friday the weigh-ins will be live on TBL, I’ll preview the rest of the card and I’ll be in Boston at the UFC Fan Expo. Saturday, more coverage and then I’ll be cage-side for UFC 118. If they would just move Vegas closer to Albany, this would happen all for every event.*

[Images via Getty]