UFC Versus Boxing: James Tony Attempts to Knock Out the UFC

After hounding UFC Pres. Dana White for months he finally agreed to sign Tony to a match against Randy "the natural" Couture one of mixed martial artist top fighters in the world and on August 28, 2010 the controversial James "lights out" Tony stepped into the octagon in attempt to prove that boxing or boxers are better athletes than mixed martial artist. This is a subject that fans have argued over since the emergence of the UFC back in 1993. How would a boxer do against somebody who knows wrestling, jujitsu, and kickboxing on paper it seems pretty simple. More skills and technique would equal the winner but it seems most felt this match between Tony and Couture would definitively answer the question.

The match only lasted 3:19 seconds. Couture shot in on Tony from way out for a single leg or ankle pick and instantly took Tony to the ground where he cautiously worked his way to a dominating position. Couture then threw some insignificant strikes and locked in a head and arm triangle to which at one point Couture verbally tells the referee that Tony said he quit and he loosened up on the submission. Referee asked Tony if he wanted to quit and he said no so Couture applied the submission again and put Tony to sleep.

So what does this mean for boxing and mixed martial arts. Many will say it's a definitive answer that mixed martial arts is better than boxing. I on the other hand am more confused than ever as a fan of both sports I'm not sure why one has to be better than the other. As for James Tony let's face it he is not exactly in his prime. Sure he's had 82 fights and that's a lot of experience but mixed martial arts is a totally different game. It would be like baseball star Mark McGwire deciding one day that he wants to be the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Sure if you gave him time to learn and practice he might be able to complete a few passes but he is never going to take his team to the Super Bowl.

I guess it was inevitable that one day the question would be asked of which is better but of late I think it's been fueled mostly by boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Junior and Bernard Hopkins claiming that mixed martial artists are not real athletes. I guess they feel the UFC and mixed martial arts in general are stealing some of there thunder or cutting in on their territory. However I think their anger is misguided. They're not losing boxing fans because of mixed martial arts, as a fan of both I can honestly say the reason I haven't been watching boxing of late is there are no real stars left. I doubt James Tony would have ever beaten the likes of Mohammed Ali, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, or Mike Tyson in their prime. Also with the outcome being so one-sided I doubt any boxers are going to be signing up to be the next to enter the octagon. I mean let's face it even in their own sport it can take years for boxers to agree to fight one another. That is the problem with boxing, every boxer wants a big payday but rarely do the best boxers get matched up against each other. Whether it's corrupt promoters or fighters afraid to lose because of no more big paydays it gets old not to mention there's 1 million world titles out there in boxing and rarely can boxing decide on one unified champion. It's the total opposite with the UFC. Every card the best fight the best and if a rematch is warranted it usually happens immediately.

All that being said I do believe if a boxer incorporated the sprawl and was able to use it effectively to keep the fight standing up then a boxer would have a much better chance but if a boxer learns different techniques then would that not technically be considered mixed martial arts. As for James Tony my personal feelings are that he did not come to the UFC to defend boxings honor but yet to spark his own career which has gone stale due to lack of willing opponents to face him. I'm sure boxing analyst will have tons of excuses why Tony lost and why the loss doesn't mean anything. I'm sure they'll say if it was a better boxer in his prime the outcome would be different and who knows it might be but in closing I will say this if Randy Couture laced up some boxing gloves and stepped into a boxing ring I doubt he would fare much better than Tony did in the octagon.