UFC 118
It didn’t seem possible, but Frankie Edgar put the stamp on BJ Penn and beat him for the second time. Penn looked sluggish and disinterested. Edgar was fast and strong, dominating the whole affair. Randy couture did what everyone knew he would and tapped James Toney with ease. It should be clear to everyone now, boxing and MMA are two different sports and a cross-over between the two, at their highest levels, is next to impossible. Gray Maynard bored everyone to death and earned a title shot with his victory over Kenny Florian. And Joe Lauzon looked like a fuckin’ savage tearing through Gabe Rudiger not far into round one. I doubt we’ll see Godzilla back in the octagon again.
A few notes…
- Is James Toney really only 5”9”? I see him listed as 5’10” elsewhere. Though it’s only an inch, something tells me the UFC did that on purpose. Five-nine somehow seems a world smaller.
- BJ Penn’s corner was awful. Advice like “clock this cock sucker”, “fuck that speed” and “how about a knock out?” are not championship worthy nuggets of wisdom. Their lack of urgency was second only to Penn’s.
- I couldn’t understand more than every fifth word James Toney said in his post fight interview. I’m anxious to see what he says in the days to follow once his head clears up—or clears as much as it can these days. If he decides to take another MMA fight, you can bet it won;t be in the UFC. It’ll be a smaller show, probably no bigger than King Of The Cage, and for significantly less money. What? Less money? You won’t see James Toney in another MMA fight.
- It was a nice moment to see Randy Couture get his black belt from coach Neil Melanson* immediately after he submitted Toney. And though I’m sure Randy has more than earned that rank, choking out a clueless boxer is something any worth-his-salt blue belt should be able to do. It almost seemed as though they were proving a point about grappling versus striking. If anything, they should have given Couture is due after choking out Mark Coleman, someone with actul grappling skills.
That’s all for now.
*I originally said Couture reeived his black belt from Robert Drysdale. It was not him, but Neil Melanson. My bad. I like to focus on what is truly important—my opinion. Sometimes, minor facts will get lost in the shuffle.
