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[RonPaulForPeace]

"Inside MMA" preview: Boxing champ James Toney wants UFC champ Brock Lesnar first
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 12, 2010 at 12:15 pm ET
Boxing champ James Toney has been a hot topic for mixed martial arts fans from the moment his recent UFC signing was made official.

What seemed a mere curiosity as Toney followed UFC president Dana White around the country – begging for a shot in the octagon – quickly turned into a potential game-changing acquisition.

But is the UFC supporting a freak show? Or can Toney prove boxing's value in MMA?

And whom exactly is Toney going to fight?

On the newest edition of HDNet's "Inside MMA," the 41-year-old boxer said he doesn't want any pushover; in fact, he'd be comfortable starting with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

"I want Brock Lesnar," Toney said. "I'm the heavyweight champion of the world vs. the UFC champion. That'd be a hell of a match."

And if Lesnar's not in the cards, Toney said there's a few other guys he wouldn't mind facing.

"Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, or whatever his name is," Toney said. "It doesn't matter. I'm not a sideshow. This is the real deal here."

While Toney's signing has already been officially announced, when and where he'll debut for the organization has not. Liddell and Ortiz, opposing coaches on Spike TV's soon-to-debut "The Ultimate Fighter 11," are expected to face off this June, though Couture and Lesnar are currently without opponents.

Toney began boxing professionally in 1989 and fought as light as 155.5 pounds. As his career progressed, he fought as heavy as 237 pounds in 2006. In his most recent outing, a September 2009 TKO win over Matthew Greer, Toney weighed in at 217.5 pounds.

Toney insists he has the utmost respect for the sport of mixed martial arts, but he believes it's time MMA fighters develop more respect for boxing.

"I never said nothing less about the sport," Toney said. "But when you come disrespect the man who's 20 years deep and has won 12 different title in six different weight divisions and say MMA sport is better boxing, you got to be kidding me."

Check out the embedded clip for the full conversation.

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[willpunisher]

lol he is naming has been 205s.. how much does he way? 230?
doubt he would want to cut that much weight... why doesn't he name dos santos, kongo and the young guys who weigh as much as him?

[IceCold48]

lmao i think hes just saying that because brock is one of the few mma fighters that he even

[SWIFTboy]

Originally Posted by willpunisher

lol he is naming has been 205s.. how much does he way? 230?
doubt he would want to cut that much weight... why doesn't he name dos santos, kongo and the young guys who weigh as much as him?

He probably doesn't know who those people are. I doubt he follows MMA that closely, haha.

[Xanatos]

Man, Brock Lesnar would utterly demolish James Toney. The fact that he is ignorant to that just shows me how dumb this man truely is.

Chuck and Tito would be interesting. He has a better chance against Chuck that's for sure. His striking might be unorthodox enough to throw Toney off guard, but I think JT would ko him. But If Tito could get him on the ground then it's game over.

[KevoOnTheRadio]

Toney insists he has the utmost respect for the sport of mixed martial arts, but he believes it's time MMA fighters develop more respect for boxing.

Funny, I think it's the other way around. I'm already tired of this guy. I don't know who he's going to fight first, but unless it's Bin Laden, I'm cheering for the other guy.

[lwbrewer]

Mabe Toney knows he's only going to last one fight and if his contract gives him part of the pay per view Brock would help his payday. His manager is probely just looking at the money also. Can't be much worse than CANseco

[macewen]

^ definitly not worse then Canseco

[Pasha K]

Well this is getting boring. Sometimes its funny to read bullshit but when everyday you read stupidities from Toney that are bigger and bigger everytime its just not funny anymore.
Now he wants Lesnar, tomorrow he will say that He would like to fight against 3 UFC fighters at the same time and he would KO all of them. After tomorrow he will say that he would submit Nogueira in 1 minute.

[hass]

Is Kongo scheduled to fight anyone? I like Kongo vs Toney for Toney's Debut.