James Toney In The UFC: A Win-Win For Dana White

by Paul Magno

It's official: James "Lights Out" Toney, one of boxing's modern day greats, is now a member of the UFC.

Of course, the UFC isn't getting the James Toney that outclassed most of the best middleweights and super middleweights of his generation. They're not even getting the post-prime Toney who floored, and ultimately beat, Vassiliy Jirov at cruiserweight or the one who humiliated a shot Evander Holyfield at heavyweight. But, nonetheless, Toney represents the biggest name to ever cross the imaginary border between boxing and mixed martial arts.

Toney's been looking at a move to the UFC for a few years now, claiming that he just can't get the big fights in boxing.

Technically, he's right; But, realistically, he just doesn't have the juice anymore to beat the top dogs at heavyweight and lacks the draw to entice the young lions to try him out. So, with nowhere to go in the sport and his internal clock ticking away, he's packed his bags for a try at the UFC octagon and one last power grab at making some real headlines.

So, yeah, we all know and can understand why Toney's making the jump, but the real question is why Dana White, the UFC's bossman and "extreme" PT Barnum, has finally decided to give in and receive an active professional boxer into his ranks. After all, this is the same Dana White who rejected a possible Roy Jones-Anderson Silva bout awhile back and has danced around other possible boxing vs. mma bouts.

For White, having James Toney aboard, even a Toney 15 years past his prime, is a win-win situation.

With Toney officially signed to the UFC, the game is now in White's home court and Toney will have to work under the conditions and whims that his boss dictates. This will not be a case of Toney possibly scoring a win and then heading back to the world of boxing, sporting bragging rights over the UFC; This will be a case of Toney being a full-time employee, pushed into the octagon until someone can put a hurting on "Lights Out."

This is where the win-win situation for White plays itself out.

If Toney has great success, The UFC still owns him and all of the publicity that goes along with his run. If Toney gets humiliated, White finally has his "UFC is greater than boxing" moment and you can bet that he will milk that for every penny on all subsequent public appearances.

Since The UFC has suffered some ugly defeats recently in head to head PPV battles with boxing, the whole "Boxing is Dead; UFC is the Future" logic has faded and the related Dana White headlines have all but disappeared. What better way to recapture some of that bravado than by taking a future first-ballot hall of fame boxer and having him bloodied and battered at the hands of one of his top guys?

Of course, this second scenario would not be possible if, instead of Toney, we saw a name like Klitschko, Mayweather, or Pacquiao being mentioned in a boxing vs. mma clash.

White has neither the money nor the desire to truly test the boxer vs. mma waters, but, at this point, he certainly has enough "F-You Money" to buy James Toney. Consider this a vanity purchase for Dana White.

For Toney, this is truly a lose-lose proposition.

Once he crosses the line and enters the UFC arena, there's no going back to boxing. It's almost like a legit actress deciding to make a porno...there's no turning back.

At 41 years of age and after nearly a quarter-century in the fight game, it's doubtful whether Toney can ever have major success again. Considering that he's struggled in recent contests against questionable talents like Fres Oquendo and Danny Batchelder, it appears that Toney's career has run its course. But even if Toney does have success in his first UFC bout, does anyone honestly think that Dana White will let him retire gracefully and with the respect he deserves?

Expect James Toney to be an indentured servent to Dana White until one of the UFC thugs can manage to permanently hurt him.

Ideally, Toney would've decided to call it a career and dedicate himself to teaching future generations of fighters the skills and technique that made him such a special fighter. Lord knows the sport needs old-school trainers with a keen eye for fundamentals. And, truthfully, there is money to be made in training young champions, especially with the prestige the Toney name brings.

But "Lights Out" appears to have crossed the line and signed a deal with the devil for another 15 minutes of fame.

Maybe we should try to exact a measure of revenge and sign Randy Couture to a boxing match against Vitali Klitschko.


Discuss This At Boxing's Pound for Pound Best Fan Forum: The BTBC

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Dana White, UFC Blink...Move PPV To Avoid Another Head to Head Clash With Boxing

by Paul Magno

UFC head honcho and modern day carnival barker, Dana White, announced his plan to move the UFC 113 pay per view from its original May 1st date to a week later in order to avoid competing with the probable Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley PPV.

The UFC got two black eyes in 2009 when they tried to air competing MMA shows against PPV boxing telecasts. According to reports, the Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez card in September outsold UFC 103 by approximately a 3 to 1 margin. UFC 105, which was booked to go head to head with the Pacquiao-Cotto PPV was not even marketed through PPV and was broadcast, instead, on free Spike TV.

Mayweather and Mosley are rumored to be clashing on May 1st after the falling apart of Mayweather-Pacquiao and the withdrawal of Andre Berto from a January 30th clash with Mosley.

"We were trying to not go the same night as boxing but these [expletive] guys can't get out of their own way," White told Yahoo! Sports "I have never seen anything so unorganized, selfish and dysfunctional as boxing. It's a joke!"

A joke, maybe, but White has learned that going head to head with boxing is no laughing matter.

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Sorry Dana, America Still Prefers Boxing

by Paul Magno

The recent confirmation that last Saturday's Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez pay per view reached one million buys once again proves that the five hundred monthly "Boxing is Dead" articles that originate from MMA websites and ignorant members of the mainstream press are way off base.

Dana White, the figurehead of the UFC and one of the principal causes of the bitter rift between many boxing fans and MMA aficionados, was telling every available microphone that nobody wanted to see Mayweather and that the boxing show was an event that "nobody asked for" featuring Mayweather against a "what's his name."

Now, after seeing the end result of the first ever UFC vs. Boxing face to face ppv war, the boastful anti-boxing stories should be rewritten and boxing's obituary should be shoved back into the top shelf of the desk, next to the silly, "whose fighters would win?" debate.

The fact of the matter is that boxing outsold UFC 103 by more than 2 to 1 with a main event that many were openly criticizing and "the theater option" which provided a cheaper alternative to the hefty ppv cost.

Of course, none of this absolves boxing of its sins or excuses the often archaic nature of its business policies. Boxing still has to do some serious house cleaning and is in dire need of reform in everything from the sanctioning bodies to its subservient relationship to the TV networks.

But, what September 19th proved was that America, still, when given a choice, chooses to believe in boxing and, overall, prefers it over any other combat sport option. The key is to simply make an honest effort to put on a good show.

Let this serve as a lesson to Dana White and his posse of true believers: Boxing is not dead.

Let this also serve as a lesson to the boxing hierarchy of power: People want to support your sport; They want to be won over...They want to believe.

Let's hope the fans have indeed been heard.

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UFC's Dana White Nixes Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva Bout

Roy Jones Jr. has verbally agreed...MMA star, Anderson Silva, had already signed off on the idea..so, we're all set for the first Pro Boxer vs. MMA fighter matchup worth chronicling, right?

Not in this lifetime, says UFC dictator, Dana White.

"You won't see a Silva-versus-Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me. I don't want to say anything bad about Roy Jones. I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered, like, 15 years ago. He's not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must've spent all his money."

While Jones is nowhere near his prime, the publicity generated from having one of his MMA guys brutalizing a recognizable boxer would be tremendous...and it would lend credence to the long-standing MMA boast that insists a boxer wouldn't be able to hang in a UFC octagon.

This would be easy money and easy publicity for the UFC, right?

Unless...Maybe Dana is not too sure that his boasts were correct. I'm sure he understands the public relations disaster that would be generated from a shot and beaten Roy Jones beating a prime and sharp Silva...

Maybe White, and the rest of the UFC goons, are like a chihuahua chasing a pick up truck...Tough as hell on the chase, but be careful if that truck ever stops.

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