Butterbean almost had James Toney for Moosin
Posted on May 12, 2010, 06:18 PM by Daniel CassidyDespite the recent announcement that James Toney is all but confirmed to face Randy Couture at UFC 118, it seems he wasnt always certain to sign for UFC. Today Eric Butterbean Esch announced his company were on the verge of signing Toney before UFC got the pro boxer.
Speaking about it, Esch said:
"We had Toney committed to our card, but the UFC flew him to Las Vegas the day before he was to sign with us and they locked him up. Believe me, they're not doing any favors throwing him in there against Couture. Couture won't stand up with Toney, he'll just jerk him down and beat the snot out of him. That's not a good fight. To make good fights, you need a stand-up guy against a stand-up guy, or a take-down guy against a take-down guy. A lot of boxers have tried [MMA] and not had success. It's important to know the differences, otherwise you look like Michael Jordan trying to play baseball."
Esch's company's first card will be on May 21st, in Massechausetts. It will be called Moosin:God of Martial Arts. The card is headlined by Tim Sylvia vs Marius Pudzianowski. It aslo features Yves Edwards and Travis Lutter.
Interestingly, Sylvia is also scheduled to face off against Wes Sims just 15 days later, will Pudzianowski fought only his second MMA bout what will be 14 days prior to the main event.
Comments
to be honest he made a really good point with the MJ playing baseball analogy.
Man the way that guy was running his mouth he deserves it and he deserves it from a well-rounded fighter. So I am sure Dana purposely put him in there with a guy that was gonna ground him and pound him out. I feel this deal was done out of sheer pleasure for Dana. I mean I dont know if everyone saw the videos, but one was even posted a few days ago here on LowKick. He ASKED for this fight. He specifically called out names and Couture was one of them. So as they say, be careful what you wish for.
Toney, though I'm not the biggest fan of him as a person, has always been in my boxing top 3 faves. However, I'm thinking this may be a little too late for him to hope on the UFC bandwagon. He is a great counter-puncher, but that doesn't mean shit against someone phenomenal at takedowns. However, if he lands one on Couture on his way in, it could be nasty.
I think I'm gonna root for Toney anyways though. I have a feeling about his 'punchers chance'. On that note, I think Big Country would be an entertaining (albeit massively fat) fight for Toney. Cage reinforcement may be called for, however.