Making his MMA debut at UFC 118 in Boston Saturday night, James Toney defied the critics; he lasted just over three minutes — two more than many people expected.
If you thought this was going to be a matchup of boxing vs. MMA, as it was billed, then sorry, you got suckered into the fight’s selling line.
The 42-year-old out-of-shape Toney stood one chance to win — connecting on a knockout punch early against Randy Couture. It was a 1 in 100 shot for Lights Out and all depended on which came first — his punch or Couture’s takedown. 10 seconds into the fight, we had our answer.
Couture shot on Toney, got him to the ground, and it was over from there. The only question was how much punishment Toney would take before the fight was stopped or he submitted.
Turns out Toney took a healthy amount of punishment as Couture rained down blows onto James’ head and face before successfully choking him out. The only positive notion to take away from the fight is that Toney hung in there and withstood three minutes of pain before tapping. No one will accuse him of not having courage (or brains).
So what did we learn from this fight? Nothing we did not already know. In order to fight in MMA, one has to be well versed in many different forms of combat. Toney knows how to box and that’s it. When he was taken to the mat, he was toast. He was ill-equipped to defend himself and compete on the ground against a wrestler and stood no chance.
Lights Out should walk away now knowing he got a payday that will last him the next decade. He has no business being in the Octagon and there’s no way Dana White should ever allow him back. Once was enough and some might argue too much.
