Ibarra: Toney’s ‘A Guy That Can Do It’

James Toney. Few men or women in MMA have elicited such a vehement reaction from fans. Since the UFC’s announcement last week that it had signed the former boxing champion to a contract, questions surrounding Toney’s abilities in the sport have abounded. What about his jiu-jitsu? Wrestling? Submissions? How will he adapt to MMA? That job falls on Juanito Ibarra.

“He's going to learn them and he has to apply them,” Ibarra said on Wednesday's edition of “the Savage Dog Show” on the Sherdog Radio Network. “That's it. So if he makes a bad habit, which are good habits in boxing, but he makes them in MMA then we're going to have some troubles. It's all about teaching. It's all about second nature, listening too. I have a very very good feeling and confidence that James Toney is going to be something to reckon with in MMA.”

The 41-year-old Toney has competed in boxing's middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight divisions. Ibarra said the former IBF champion will start even heavier in MMA.

“I'd like to see him start off at heavyweight and move to 205,” said Ibarra. “Some people may laugh but James can do it. He's the guy that can do it. His age or not. He's a guy that can do it.

“Ain't no Burger King here,” continued Ibarra. “He loves Burger King. I hope he gets a Burger King commercial out of it. But what I'm trying to say is this guy, since we've started training seriously in the last couple of weeks, his bad habits have gone away like magic. I know people doubt it. I'm telling you it's like giving candy to a baby. This guy is a sponge.”

Ibarra also spoke about watching Toney’s progression.

“This kid threw a headkick at me the other day and it didn't shock me for the bad,” said Ibarra. “It shocked me just to know that his flexibility is getting there. Some people have a different opinion or no comment on it but this guy's a born fighter.”

The former trainer to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was optimistic about getting Toney in the Octagon by summer. Kimbo Slice is also on the horizon, said Ibarra.

“I'd like to see James fight hopefully June, July the latest,” said Ibarra. “That's when his coach would like to see that happen. I'm his advisor and he has a manager I work well with, but that's what we'd like to see because you have to put in the work. But we'll fight Kimbo after his fight. And then we'd like to move on and there's guys like Chuck (Liddell), who's been learning jiu-jitsu and I respect Chuck ultimately. I love that guy and I like the way he fights. You've got him and Tito (Ortiz) fighting and who knows maybe down the road at the end of the year we'll fight the winner of that fight and keep moving up.”

Part of the uproar surrounding Toney might come from brash and loud personality. Ibarra hasn’t been deterred by it.

“It's about chemistry with me,” said Ibarra. “I'll give you my heart. I'll give you everything I got. If we have chemistry then I know I can deal with their personalities, good, bad or indifferent. And nobody's perfect. I'm not. They're not. You're not. It's about chemistry. I could put up with James' personalities and I know when to let go and to give them space and we have that established. That took some time to establish that. Once we establish that then we move on. He's my student. I'm the teacher and hopefully we could make a great team in MMA and you'll see some great stuff out of James Toney.”

Getting that “great stuff” out of Toney will be a process, admitted Ibarra.

“It's been interesting,” said Ibarra. “James is a phenomenal person. He really is. And he's very intelligent. The guy's a historian about the fight game itself. Why I'm excited to work with James is because he's a born fighter. He's one of these raw guys that this guy is like a sponge. He wants to learn everything. He wants to learn everything in one day. He can't. Rome wasn't built in one day.”

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