UFC 118 Preview: The Main Card

Randy Couture vs. James Toney

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Any serious prognostication of the “UFC vs. Boxing” sideshow that is Couture vs. Toney is an affront to the sport of MMA. It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath and accept some hard truths about “Lights Out” before stretching reality in the name of making it seem like he has a chance of winning.

Toney’s athletic prime came during the first half of the 90s as a middleweight and super middleweight. Since then he has done nothing but gain weight while putting the long-term effects of an overextended boxing career on display for all to see. The physical and mental degradation of this once great boxer, regardless of how grating he can be, is a tragicomedy of the highest order.

Presuming that he can put Couture down and out with a single blow is a stretch. No one seems to take into account the fact that he is not a natural heavyweight and will not have the boxing shoes that play a critical role in boxers generating the power they are known for. Setting that aside, however, the fact remains that Couture was once a borderline world-class wrestler and remains fully capable of taking down any boxer who ever lived.

Beyond that rather obvious advantage, Couture, even at 47, remains a serious athlete with a vaunted commitment to proper training. Contrast that with Toney, who is so out of shape that the UFC has resorted to Photoshopping his media photos. Regardless, even an in-shape Toney doesn’t have the time necessary to make up for the more than 13 years of MMA training Couture holds over him.

That’s the story of this fight: a haggard, old boxer stepping outside his realm to take on a man his senior in age but junior in mileage. The conclusion will be every bit as predictable come fight night as it was when the announcement first hit the newswire.