Who Should Toney Fight?

Mike Chiappetta of MMAFighting.com asks the question, who might get the first shot at the UFC’s newest light heavyweight signee – and former boxing champion – James Toney.

There is a set of assumptions we can make about a prospective opponent. First, rather than risk a promising young fighter losing to Toney and losing momentum, it’s safe to assume the UFC will try to match him with a veteran. So guys like Cain Velasquez and Todd Duffee are probably out. Second, the promotion will pair him with a name fighter. At 41 years old, Toney’s days in MMA are limited, and the UFC knows they need to cash in immediately. Third, Toney won’t get a gimme in his first time out; he wants a big payday, and he knows there are only a few opponents who will bring it. Finally, weight class doesn’t matter. I have a feeling Toney’s first time out may well be a catch weight.

Payout Perspective:

Chiappetta goes on to list a handful of names that he thinks might fit the bill according to his criteria above: Liddell, Couture, Slice, A. Silva, Rampage Jackson, etc. Those are all good picks. However, I have to disagree with the notion that the UFC shouldn’t throw a young buck in there with Toney.

If the fight were at heavyweight – which now seems unlikely – my first choice would be Cain Velasquez, because he’d take Toney to the ground and immediately pound him into submission. It would be the perfect set-up for the next contender to the winner of Lesnar-Mir/Carwin and add a lot of fuel to the momentum of the UFC’s growing heavyweight division.

If the fight happens at light heavyweight, I’d love to see the UFC select Jon Jones. He’s got the perfect set of tools to dismantle someone like Toney; long reach, good kicks, and superb greco-roman. He’d ragdoll Toney. In the process, the UFC would again be helping to put over another one of its young and most promising stars.

Jones has a fight on March 21st, but should he win that bout it would make a lot of business sense to slot a Jones-Toney bout in behind Lesnar’s return in early July to create what would undoubtedly be the UFC’s top grossing PPV of all time.

And the reason I favor Jones/Velasquez moves beyond just hyping young stars. There’s also something to be said for the amount of risk the UFC is exposing itself to by matching up legendary fighters like Couture or Liddell – whom are over the hill – against a guy like Toney with a punchers chance. If Couture or Liddell were to lose, it would resonate far more with the casual sports viewing public. If Jones or Velasquez were to lose it would have much less of an impact on the reputation of the sport. Yes, the UFC might be down a future star, but if either of those guys lose to Toney, they might not be what we think they are anyways.

Note: You may be thinking, “Jeez, it’s risky no matter the direction the UFC takes,” and I happen to agree.

Make no bones about it, this is a risky play on the UFC’s behalf; calculated, but risky. They could reap significant rewards, or it could backfire and really rip a hole in the organization’s – and by virtue of that, the sport’s – credibility.

Is it a risk the UFC needs to take right now? I’m undecided.