@kevin richardson
kimbo sice wasn't a side show???? The entire world of mma is a damn freak show. Look at the lesnar carwin fight. Lesnar gets hit with a minor and sloppily thrown uppercut and lesnar reacts with all the skill and finesse of a grade school bully who can't fight for crap. Wait a minute , he's not that far off is he? lesnar's a wrestler who can't fight for crap.

Anyway, back to lesnar. So, what does he do, exactly, when he gets hit with that sloppy upper cut? Lesnar drops his head and runs away from mediocre carwin and then throws himself on the floor and assumes the fetal position in an attempt to avoid any further fighting as opposed to standing and fighting his way out like a true champion. I guess it's a strategy unique only to the trash world of mma.

With such obvious displays of inferior fighting technique it is mind bending to see people like you being such fans of trash like mma and trumpeting it as the greatest thing since sliced bread. The ufc should be so lucky that not more talented boxers like Toney make their way into the three ringed circus known as the octagon and take real talent into the trash world of mma instead of a bunch of lame wrestlers who don't know how to fight being marketed and sold to the dim wits of the world. The same dim wits who find the WWE so mesmerizing.

As a wrestler, I'm not scared of anyone. I could take out "money" mayweather anyday. Once I have him on the ground, I'd choke him out or break his arm.

No doubt in my mind. He has no idea how to not get taken down and grounded and pounded. I grew up in section 8 on welfare, and the fights I was in and saw always resembled mma not boxing. Anybody knows that in a real street fight, you better know how to handle yourself when you hit the ground.

Boxing reminds me of that old philosophy argument, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody saw it, did it really happen? Since nobody watches it anymore does boxing really exist?

I respect Toney as a fighter very much. He's won a belt in every weight class in a long hard fought career. I'd like to see him brawl in the Octagon. Toney is a legit tough guy, but he'll get exposed just like Mike Pascal did at Shogun fights.

I do agree with you Kevin that Dana is a hypocrit. Walker may end up having a longer career in mma than Toney, so White will eventually eat his words. I enjoyed Walker's first fight; he showed he's got the kind of heart and passion I hope to have when I get up in age.

@ ballz mahoney

You said it perfectly. MMA does look more like what you see in the street and that's the point. Why would I look to mma for greatness when all I have to do is watch some street fights? Sports are about testing the greatness of an athlete and boxing is the toughest place to do the testing..

You should also not site practicality when arguing for mma. If you like to point to the streets as proof you need to remember that there exist no rules in the streets except for any unspoken rules that may exist between the two individuals fighting. This is one area that allows boxing to shine like no other. In boxing, because of its rules, it tests an athlete like no other combat sport. Why do you think mma is constantly looking to boxing to gauge their success?

It is also the difficulty of boxing that makes people shy away from boxing and enter things like wrestling or bjj. Why do you think you can enter any high school nowadays and find about a hundred wrestlers and a smattering of so-called mmartist and close to no boxers? It's because deep down we all know just how taxing and difficult boxing is so most people choose something that they see as attainable rather than the stiffer challenge. It's just like calculus. How many people do you know who want to do calculus? Not many? Well, do you think it's because it's boring and one dimensional or because it's very difficult and time consuming for most people?

So, you can argue that you can body slam Mayweather but the fact of the matter is that what Mayweather does is far more difficult and impressive then what you have chosen. Boxing baby. Love it. It's where the real tough guys are.

I am not a mix martial arts fan however I do respect it. I am a boxing fan who eats sleeps and breaths the sport. So of course I know of james toney and wat he has accomplished. I believe he was a great boxer. Was. He should have retired already but he hasn't because the heavyweight boxing division is such a joke now that toney can still look good. I will watch him vs couture even though he's going to get smashed on. They should put him in there with someone of his calibur I mean come on its his first time in the cage. That's like a washed up mma fighter going to boxing to fight pacquiao. I mean of course toney has a chance because in the fight game wether its boxing or mma all it takes is one good shot. But he most likely won't get that shot

I'm a huge huge boxing fan who has I watched a fair bit of MMA, and I just don't get it.
With boxings well known and publicised problems, it's amazing that the UFC or something like it hasn't come into existence earlier. There's always going to be a market for contact sports, and an organisation that controls the talent, has the media and organisational savvy, some vision and a charismatic spokesman was always going to do well.
Thats because boxing has no formal structure - no Dana White to "sign" or "release" guys, or to make matches based on YouTube viewings, or online polls. Everyones a free agent; you gain the rep with what you do in the ring. The great fights aren't made, they're clamoured for.
It's the UFCs biggest strength and weakness, and what I feel will stop it ever usurping boxing as the main game. Ultimately, if you're Floyd Mayweather you fight who you want to, when you want to for how much you want to. If you're Brock Lesnar though; it's Danas way or the highway. Make too many demands and you can tell your story walking. The UFC will shrug and carry on.
In that respect you're watching a stable of fighters fight, rather than the "best of the best" nature of the big boxing bouts.
UFC doesn't come close to including anywhere near all of the best MMA fighters in the world. Whereas big time boxing is only about proving exactly that.

It's funny reading posts from these Boxing hating wrestlers. "I would do this to Floyd Mayweather, blah blah blah, the fact is, I bet Floyd as little as he is would knock you out in stand up, you know it and I know it. You MMA groupies (all 25 of you in the entire world) always claim in a street fight blah blah, well in today's street fight they bring guns, what's your wrestling going to do against a Glock 9? LOL bottom line it is the COWARDS way to say a boxer would lose to an MMA fighting a MMA fight, but how come we don't see any MMA fighters converting to Pro Boxing and dominating? Yeah, see how that works? Same reason an All Star baseball pitcher doesn't go to the NFL and dominate as a Qb, THEY ARE DIFFERENT SPORTS EINSTEIN!
MMA and dana white are the bigget joke in combat sports and is right on par with WWE. The MAJORITY of the world does NOT respect you and the numbers don't lie, Dana tried to put an event the same night Floyd fought Sugar Shane and guess what, NOT EVEN CLOSE, 90% of people watched the boxing match!

Please remember that Toney's chances in mma are far, far, far, far greater than the chances of a pure mmartist coming into the world of boxing. That's just a fact. Why do you think that any reasonable person would sanction Toney vs couture in an mma match way before they would sanction Tua vs couture in a boxing match? Boxers are clearly the greater athlete. Case closed.

It also takes a lot skill and athletism to be a ballerina, but nobody watches that either.

MMA is universal because its basically street fighting with a few rules. Everyone thats been in a street fight can relate to these fights. That's why there is a market exploding in every country right now. This product sells itself.

I admire boxing to an extent and don't need to hate on it to like mma. I like seeing guys get hit in the face; I just brather see it with 4 oz gloves rather then 16 oz gloves.

James Toney is a boxer. Lots of MMA fighters are originally from a single fighting discipline like wrestling or ju jitsu, so why not Toney. He has far more fighting credibility than a former football player, or a former baseball player (Canseco). I'm not saying he'll be great this late in his career, but this is far less a freak show than having Walker or Canseco in fights.

Will,
Herschel Walker is a fifth-degree belt in tae kwon do. You cannot compare Canseco and Herschel Walker. Besides didn't Canseco box Danny Bonaduce and Vai Sikahema? So lump him in with boxers and not MMA.
-Kevin

This fight should have been fought on April 1, because this is a joke.

If UFC could have, then I bet they would have!

The main purpose of this fight is to get people talking, like the above commentary from Fight 'N' With heart and Ballz Mahoney.

Your excerpt from BJ Penn is perfect. If I'm not mistaken, the Couture/Lesnar fight resembled that quote as well.

And I agree 100% with your main point (conclusion) in that UFC has no room to put themselves over Strikeforce when they're in the same game.

Great post. Kevin

Why would a multi-dimensional figher fight a one dimensional fight?

It just doesn't make sense. How can you be serious in making the case that boxers are better athletes when they have less in their arsenal to hurt people?

The fight game has evolved man. You need to get back to reality.

How the hell has something evolved when it resembles a street fight between to wild punching 'no nothings'? How has it evolved when a mma fighter rushes a downed opponent and pounds on him with all the skill and finesse of a caveman? I need to welcome you bandwagon fad following people to reality because it seems that you people like following trends and fashions. Modern ufc has barely made it to its tenth b-day and all you bandwagoner's are hailing it as the greatest thing you have ever seen. How is that?

And boxers are greater athletes for the simple fact that it's they who are moving between sports while mma fighters use their rules as an excuse, and the octagon as a cradle, to keep from doing what boxers do. You have to admit that I'm correct on this point.

Boxing fan here. Don't think Toney has much of a chance of winning this fight in UFC, but respect that the man has to make a living somehow.

My question is, will there ever be an individual who is both a world class boxer AND a world class mixed martial artist?

I need to welcome you bandwagon fad following people to reality because it seems that you people like following trends and fashions. Modern ufc has barely made it to its tenth b-day and all you bandwagoner's are hailing it as the greatest thing you have ever seen. MMA is universal because its basically street fighting with a few rules. Everyone thats been in a street fight can relate to these fights. That's why there is a market exploding in every country right now. This product sells itself.

Fantastic question, Gopal! Both disciplines require such devotion that it is hard to imagine that a single individual would be able to excel at both equally. At least, simultaneously.

However, I could imagine an ex-boxer learning the submission arts well enough to where he would be a world-class boxer in his 20s and a standout in UFC in his 30s (see the above quote from BJ Penn).

Hmm, that second paragraph probably would've had better odds than a case like Brock Lesnar being a draw for WWE in his 20s, then exceling in UFC in his 30s.

Hey, Fight 'N' With heart...you couldn't beat my [expletive deleted], let alone Mayweather. And I was only a Texas State Golden Gloves champ and Air Force champ, too. Though, my striking skills or no where near Mayweathers, mine are decades past anyone on mma, including Anderson. Which bring up another point, if someone like you "ever" got me to the ground, prepare to be losing something because this won't end until one of us is crippled and the other is dead...