Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Thoughts on Randy Couture vs. James Toney; Plus Reader Feedback
Aug 18, 2010 - 10:52:43 AM HYDEN BLOG: Thoughts on Randy Couture vs. James Toney; Plus Reader Feedback

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

It makes for a sexy headline to bill the upcoming fight between Randy Couture and James Toney at UFC 118 a "MMA vs. Boxing" match. However, the reality is far from that. Firstly, Mixed Martial Arts cannot be defined as any one style. MMA encompasses boxing, wrestling, judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and many other fighting styles. No one man can define what MMA is, no more than James Toney defines what boxing is.

The largest reason why Couture vs. Toney is just a regular fight is the age factor. To be blunt, both guys are well past their prime. If this fight was taking place 10 years ago, we might have something. The fight taking place in 2010, though, negates much of the hype. Both fighters are decorated, no question, but they're done as legitimate championship title contenders. Toney is the current IBA (International Boxing Association) Heavyweight Champion, but IBA titles are stepping stone titles lost in the alphabet soup that is professional boxing. Couture, while still a good fighter, is not nearly the fighter he once was, and his championship days are over.

If James Toney wins this fight, he's beaten a 47 year old man. While it's true that Randy Couture is no ordinary man, he's still not the best example of a MMA fighter at the top of his game at this point. If Randy Couture wins, he's beaten a 41 year old boxer who's had 83 professional boxing bouts, has suffered innumerable shots to the head, and has been training MMA for a few months. No arguments in the MMA vs. Boxing debate will be settled in this fight, regardless of the outcome. This is like a modern version of the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. This can all be for fun and games, but no one should take the results too seriously.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney can be a nice special attraction fight, but there's not a lot of people out there who would pay money specifically to see this fight. This would be much better airing on Spike TV as the main or co-main event of a free show. That's what UFC should have done with Kimbo Slice, and it's what Strikeforce needs to do with Dave Bautista. Kimbo is a street fighter and Bautista is an ex-wrestler, much the same way that James Toney isn't a MMA fighter, he's a boxer looking to make a buck. That's fine, but it's a lot easier to make that buck off of TV advertisers than it is pay-per-view buyers.

READER FEEDBACK

My blog on Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: [CLICK HERE]

MICHAEL ZUFELT
"This is my first time writing into MMATorch (or to any contributors for that matter) with any of my own opinions but, I just want to say that I couldn’t agree more on your most recent blog post on the site. Seriously. Great commentary, I feel the exact same way with your stance on champions and how they defend/retain their belts. My point is that I thought the Jon Fitch fight was downright boring."

ERIC
"I just read your blog on why you are glad Silva beat Sonnen. I think it would be nice if fights (especially title fights) were always finished, but decisions are a part of the fight game.
You seem to be a Silva fan and are happy he finishes his title fights unlike GSP. So should Silva have lost his title for the way he fought Maia? Was that championship material?
What about Mousasi? Did King Mo beat him? It looked like he did a Fitch strategy and the only time that fight was almost finished Mousasi was doing damage from the ground and almost got the submission before the round ended. (to be clear I think Mo won)
I personally would have been fine if Silva lost. I am glad he finally fought a dominant/controlling wrestler and his takedown defense was exposed."

ANONYMOUS
"It's funny to hear someone else finally say that Georges St. Pierre isn't that great of a champion. All I ever hear is that GSP is the best and no one can beat him. All he ever does is the exact same thing Sonnen did the other night and people give him the greatest respect!! He talks about his standup all the time but as soon as he gets tagged, it's always lay on top mode just to score points. I won't deny that GSP has skills and talent but I will NEVER purchase a ppv for him solely, there better be some good matchups on the that card. Sorry just had to vent since you made a small comparison there, I am so looking forward to the day GSP loses that belt!!"

ANDREW BOSAK
"Amen brother! No title fight should go to decision! I wish they would make that a rule. Great blog."

NICK FORTUNE
"I just wanted to state that your point makes more sense then most points I read on here. A great example was Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio Rua 1. I don't care who thinks Rua won but he didn't! He did absolutely nothing to earn that belt. Machida tried twice to finish the fight by combinations where Rua just stuck and moved the whole fight. Rua also got stuffed on 2 takedown attempts. Point is, you should have to beat the champion not just say "Hey, I lasted 5 rounds and the champ couldn't put me away." Granted, Rua won in great fashion in the second fight but had he not caught Lyoto, he was in for a battle that he was already losing. Great story and I'm 100% behind you on this topic. And yes, B.J. was robbed of his title."

JONATHON KELLY
"Thank you for your article on why you were glad Silva beat Sonnen. I agree with every single point you made about the damage done by each fighter (Sonnen's eye) and that he very much pulled a GSP ( I am tired of hearing how he is #1 blah blah, #1 at not finishing anybody and just laying on top of them). I was pissed thinking Silva was going to lose like that. Just glad to see my feelings in print by someone else."

SAM JEFFERIS
"Hey man, just read your blog on Silva vs Sonnen. Totally agree, and I'm really suprised I haven't seen anyone else saying it, you think about how many punches Sonnen landed and then see Silva's face afterwards, not a scratch. Either his fists must be made of candy floss or he's seriously lacking some power. Everyone I watched it with thought Sonnen was robbed but Silva was versatile enough to beat him up and submit him from his back, which is why he's the champ. It was awesome stuff."

OMAR
"I read your article and was a bit surprised at how dissatisfied you seem to be with decisions, however any MMA fan can and will tell you it's ridiculous to want all fights to be stoppages. A guy that can win decisively after 15 or 25 minutes in some ways proves more than a quick KO. Junior Dos Santos went to decision with Roy "Big Country" Nelson, but come on don't you think JDS has spoiled us with all of his previous performances?? Maybe a guy not finishing doesn't mean he cant finish the fight, maybe it means the other guy can't be finished. When's the last time we saw JDS finish a fight? Very recently. When's the last time Big Country was stopped? Quite a while ago, these guys not being finished just shows how much better the sport has gotten and the caliber of fighter they are. Nothing is worse than hearing a crowd boo after a few seconds on the ground. The sooner they become educated in all aspects of MMA can these boos stop and a take down followed with great top control such as that shown by Sonnen against Slva be embraced. If there are people always just hoping for a knockout or quick submission, they aren't mma fans."

ANDY
"You got to be kidding me, Sonnen did not lay on him for 20 minutes. He actually whooped his ass for 20 minutes. Silva is out till 2011 cause of Sonnen, he could barely walk out of the ring. Don't be a hater, bub!!!! Sonnen should be the champ, Silva is a joke"

JOHN PATRICK BYRNE
"I have just finished reading your recent post and I have to say I disagree with your comment that all Chael did was lay on top of Silva. He was always looking to move to better positions and use his ground and pound to attempt to finish the fight.

You also made a comment about the strikes not being big bombs I would like you to watch the fight again, he did in fact land power shots to Silva's face. If you do not believe me look at the post fight press conference. You will see bruises all over Silva's face, Sonnen had only two cuts above his eyes from Silva's lucky wild flurry of elbows in the 4th round.

In my opinion if Chael had won the fight he would have earned it. Not only was he able to take down Silva and keep him down, he was able to clip him with a left hook I believe in the first or second round.

I am not the only one who feels this way Dana White said that Chael had worked hare every second of that fight and he could of coasted but he didnt he was always looking for the finish. Even Anderson Silva said in the post fight press confrence that Chael put the pressure on him and put on a great performance.

Grappling, in this case wrestling, is not the most exciting. Wrestlers are going to go in there take you down, keep you there, and pound you out. If they cant get the finish oh well, they went in there and did their job and won the fight by being the more dominant fighter."


Comments and suggestion can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com