Toney-Couture UFC 118
Date: 2010-08-22 00:00:00
Source: http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/2836/20...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
Former three division boxing world champion James Toney (72-6-3, 44 KO’s in boxing) will do something rare and unprecedented when he makes his pro MMA debut against UFC hall of famer Randy Couture (18-10, 7 KO’s, 3 submissions in MMA) this Saturday in Boston. He’ll be making his pro MMA debut inside a UFC octagon and he’ll be making his debut against a former world champion. The only active UFC fighters from this decade to make their pro debut’s in the UFC instead of previously starting off in more minor league organizations are current UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione (2-0, 2 KO’s in MMA) and welterweight Amir Sadollah (3-2, 1 submission). Both earned their spot in the organization as contestants on the reality TV competition “The Ultimate Fighter”. Mitrione was brought onto the show as part of a gimmick of season 10 where some contestants were former NFL players. He had previously played for the New York Giants as a defensive tackle. Sadollah had an undefeated 4-0 amateur MMA record prior to his appearance on the reality show and made his proper pro MMA debut winning the live championship fight of season 7. Bouts on the show that are taped don’t count because they’re classified as exhibitions. There have been a few cases of current UFC stars making their pro debuts against former world champions outside the UFC. Former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin entered the paid ranks in 2003 by dropping a unanimous decision to former UFC tournament winner and future hall of famer Dan Severn. I asked former Massachusetts’s boxing commission chairman Dan Fitzgerald about the Couture – Toney MMA fight this Saturday and how he would feel about it if he were on the commission sanctioning this fight. Admittedly Fitzgerald has never seen Couture fight. However, here’s what he had to say. “I think I probably would have voted to sanction the fight assuming that I would have, at a minimum, watched some of Couture's fights first, and had seen that he was a fair match for Toney, that he (Couture) was a professional, and in good shape, tough, capable, etc.” Saturday’s UFC event featuring Couture – Toney will be the second MMA event to hit a major arena in Massachusetts since the state began regulating the sport earlier this year. The first event featured former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia taking on MMA newcomer and Polish strongman competitor Mariusz Pudzianowski at a Moosin MMA event in May. Sylvia was a 32 fight veteran entering the bout. Pudzianowski had just 2 fights prior. Sylvia thoroughly outclassed his neophyte opponent en route to a 2nd round submission due to strikes. So what if the tide was turned and Randy Couture were entering the boxing ring? Would this fight be approved inside the ropes instead of inside the cage? Fitzgerald said, ‘Even without ever having seen Couture fight, or knowing that he was a force in the MMA world, if he was making his pro debut as a boxer, and even taking into consideration that Toney is way past his prime, I don't think that I would vote to sanction that fight. Boxing is one art form, not a combination of forms, while Mixed Martial Arts is just that ‘mixed’. So, I think it is far easier for a boxer to enter the MMA arena, like Ray Mercer, was able to do, for instance, than the other way around.” Fitzgerald refers to the one other noteworthy time a former boxing standout entered the MMA arena to fight a former UFC champion. 1988 Olympic boxing gold medalist Ray Mercer made his MMA pro debut against the former UFC champ Sylvia and needed all of 9 seconds to knock the former UFC star out cold last year. “It was originally suppose to be a boxing match but then they had some commission problems and it got changed to a MMA fight”, Mercer said recently over the phone. “I was mad as hell and wanted to knock him out as quick as possible. They can say I was lucky but truth is that punch landed exactly where I wanted it to land and he stayed on the mat just like I wanted him to, thank god.” Mercer had competed at least once in MMA prior to that bout losing an exhibition to youtube star Kimbo Slice in 2007. He’s now taking MMA more seriously and has a bout scheduled next month at Foxwoods for the King of the Cage MMA promotion against the undefeated Ron Sparks (5-0, 4 KO’s in MMA). “Boxing is still in my heart but I found MMA in my heart too” Mercer said. “I train for the stand up part of the sport with boxing and train to wrestle on the ground. Sometimes the ground training is like being in a real fight you’re so sore at the end of it.” Not too many MMA stars have wanted to cross over into boxing the way Toney has wanted to get into MMA. The lone notable example is UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (27-4, 15 KO’s, 5 submissions in MMA) expressing his desire to fight former boxing 4 division champ Roy Jones Jr. (54-7, 40 KO’s in boxing) inside the ring. Jones seemed to like the idea, but UFC officials did not. According to boxrec.com, Silva has fought professionally as a boxer twice going 1-1, with 1 KO to his credit. He was stopped in his lone loss in 1998 in the 2nd round. In boxing it’s very rare that a fighter would make his pro debut against a former world champ. However, it has happened. One fighter even made his pro debut against a current world champ. Washington state native Pete Rademacher, the 1956 Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medalist, made his pro debut in 1957 challenging heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. Rademacher dropped Patterson in the 2nd round, but was eventually knocked to the canvas 6 times himself and was KO’d in the 6th round. Rademacher would never again challenge for a belt and retire in 1962 with a record of 15-7, with 8 KO’s. In 1994, New York’s John Carlo defeated former heavyweight champ Leon Spinks via first round knockout in his pro debut. Carlo would never challenge for a world title and last fought in 2005 finishing his career with a record of 14-2, with 12 KO’s. However, Toney will be entering new territory Saturday night when he fights an MMA legend in the sports premiere league in his first MMA bout.
