I?ve let a full week pass before typing a word about UFC 118. One reason for that was that I was pretty tired out from a bunch of trips into Boston to cover the fights and the Fan Expo for ESPNBoston.com. But I also held off on writing here until I?d had time to reflect on the event?s results and their fallout.
I had a bagful of sarcastic remarks ready to dump into a snickering essay about Randy Couture vs. James Toney. After all, the fight went exactly as I had predicted ? except for the fact that Toney not only didn?t land a punch but didn?t even attempt one before landing on his fat ass 18 seconds in. It?s not like I was the only one who foresaw what happened, though. Even the most punchy boxing fan knew that Toney had no more than a puncher?s chance.
What I?ve been thinking about this week was whether the bout was an important moment in combat sports or nothing but, as Dana White at one point suggested, a ?freak show.? More to the point, what did the fight do for the UFC, for the sport of mixed martial arts in general, for boxing, for Toney, for Couture? My conclusion: nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing and practically nothing.
Had things played out differently ? had Toney clipped Couture, for example ? the fight would have had lasting consequences in the disdainful jockeying for position between boxing and MMA. A Toney KO would have left MMA, and especially the UFC, discredited. Permanently. There would have been no chance that an elite-level boxer would have ever again stepped in with a top MMA guy. Even if some other top boxer suddenly were emboldened, boxing promoters would have paid anything ? and they do have deep pockets ? to deprive their rival sport of an opportunity to redeem itself. So that would have been it for boxing vs. MMA, with the lingering image being Toney standing over a fallen Couture.
But since it was Couture who doled out the dominant beating, as expected, will other boxers step up and try to do what Toney couldn?t? It certainly won?t be Floyd ?Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is? Mayweather, because luckily for him, the UFC couldn?t pay him enough. Manny Pacquiao, who never shies away from a challenge, has said he?d be interested in an MMA bout. But he?s already signed for a November fight against Antonio Margarito, and after that he?ll probably have a date with Mayweather. So even if Manny?s interest deepens, it would be at least a year before he?d seriously consider signing up enter a cage, and then he?d surely want another year for MMA training. The most likely ? and most immediate ? cross-sport scenario: Another boxer in Toney?s position ? aging, with little or no pay-per-view appeal in his sport ? might make some noise, step in the cage and take his beating/payday. But the payday won?t be as big as Toney?s ? reported to be $500,000 ? because it?ll be with a different MMA organization. White has said the UFC is done with boxers.
If anyone came out ahead in UFC 118?s co-main event, it was Couture. Which is ironic, because going into that fight he seemed like he had nothing to gain. If Toney had caught him, he?d have been a mockery. In beating down Toney, he did what was expected of him. But Couture emerges slightly ahead of where he was two weeks ago, in terms of his legacy. He did and said all the right things. He didn?t allow a press tour for The Expendables to distract him from training. He didn?t allow his ego to lull him into testing his standup skills against an elite boxer, although I would have liked to have seen how the kickboxing he?d learned would have slowed down Toney?s fistic attack. Couture also didn?t stoop to Toney?s trashy level in talking up the fight. And best of all, when the fight was over and both Toney and his boxing promoter challenge Couture to step into a boxing ring with ?Lights Out,? Randy just shook his head and said what James Toney could not: that he was smart enough not to enter another man?s house. Randy Couture came out of this freak show looking like the sane one.
But here I go, allowing the co-main event to once again overshadow the main event. It?s understandable that MMA vs. boxing would have been The Story for any mainstream media covering the event, but those of us who regularly write about MMA did not show the lightweight championship rematch the respect it deserved in the lead-up to UFC 118. Maybe that was because the first meeting between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn, back in April at UFC 112, was not the most stirring standup war. But still, this was a championship fight in which one of the sport?s legends entered as a challenger. It deserved some hoopla.
The rematch did not feature a heart-thumping KO or a ?wow!? submission, but it was an exciting five rounds nonetheless, if only for Edgar?s domination in all phases. Whereas in the first fight he squeaked out a decision that was explained away as being the result of simply a great strategy, this time he was simply the better fighter. By far. He couldn?t finish Penn, but in every round he showed his superiority, in some cases in rousing ways. He showed he?s a champion.
Next up for Edgar is the one man who has defeated him, Gray Maynard, who earned the title shot by smothering hometown boy Kenny Florian in a three-round decision. Maynard doesn?t fight pretty, but he imposes his will on his opponents, making them fight his fight. He did that in his first fight with Edgar, at Ultimate Fight Night 13 in April 2008, when both fighters came in unbeaten and highly touted. Maynard avoided Edgar?s punches and easily fended off his takedown attempts, then took Edgar down and, as he did vs. Florian, stayed on top, riding out a decision win.
I think Edgar-Maynard II will be different. Maynard is still doing what he?s always done, overwhelming opponents with strength and wrestling. But Edgar has blossomed since that lone loss. His standup game is a lot more active and versatile. In the first Maynard bout he was fairly stationary and didn?t let his hands go. If he can box like he did against Penn, when he moved side to side and peppered B.J. with punches and kicks both high and low, he might draw Maynard out of his comfort zone. The key to the rematch, though, will be what Edgar can do when (not ?if?) Maynard takes him down, Edgar has to be able to get back to his feet as quickly as possible. Both Edgar and Maynard are points machines, not finishers. So who?ll win more points: Edgar with his tireless and accurate hands, or Maynard with his inevitable takedowns? The key will be if Edgar?s wrestling defense allows him to spend enough of each round on his feet, enabling him to land enough flurries of punches and kicks to win a decision.
