Old Boxers Bad, Counterprogramming Good

This week saw some interesting developments in the world of MMA. The UFC dropped some big news with the signing of 41 year old James “Lights Out” Toney. After speaking out like the brash champ he ONCE was, Dana White and Zuffa ponied up a 4 fight deal to Toney. Why I ask? This a lose/lose proposition for the UFC and for the overall health of Mixed Martial Arts.

So Toney is training with Juanito Ibarra, Rampage’s former trainer, and could possibly face a real mixed martial artist in his frist fight and not the bearded one. He goes in, gets taken down and either gets pounded out or or more likely submitted, which I want to see and so should you for the benefit of our sport. The much worse outcome is that Joe Silva matches Toney up with a fighter dumb enough to stand up with a boxer who has over 70wins and Toney gets the KO. This makes MMA look bad, something everyone involved in MMA has been trying to fix since the 1990’s. So why did the UFC do this especially after Dana ripped Strikeforce for bringing in Herschel Walker. Your guess is as good as mine, but I could surely do without it.

The other big development I need to speak on is the fact that it looks like the UFC will counter-program the April 17th Strikeforce card with a show of their own and the fact that people are actually complaining about this. Maybe it’s just me but I have been a MMA fan long enough to remember longing for the days when MMA would be on free TV, and now we have more than once a month. I know it’s not always great to watch taped shows, but c’mon people this is great for fans, more free MMA. Invest in a DVR and some caffeine and enjoy back to back shows. That’s what I say. So when the UFC announces a card for April 17th be thankful for some free MMA and get your DVR ready.

Competition is good.