People are underestimating the size/strength difference between Couture & Toney

:good

Good post, well researched and well argued.

 

good post. I've been saying from day one that this is not a good mma matchup. now apparently toney appears to be taking training seriously (and may even be sounding less punch drunk) and i am a little surprised by that. if toney had legit HW ko power, i'd be worried for couture. but since toney doesn't, this is a bad matchup even if toney has put in some good preparation work. i'm sure toney's strong for his size, but as you point out Peter was manhandling him a bit in the 2nd matchup let alone a guy like Couture who has battled monsters like Lesner. hope we're wrong and this is a decent scrap, just don't see it

 

Great post. Very valid points made.

 

I think Couture could finish Toney via dirty boxing. Toney has never had to deal with that before.

 

I hope Couture beats the **** out of him. That being said I can picture Toney sleeping Randy

 

randy is a beast and people are overestimating toney's power at the higher weights, and this point of his career


for once, i agree with popkinsn(actually i think a lot of your mma points are spot on)

 

This fight is obviously a mismatch.

People are being deceived, but its their own fault.

Couture probably walks around at 225. He cuts down to make lightheavy. when he gets in the clinch he wont need a strength advantage but he will definitely have it, james toney with his couple months training will be pressed up against the cage, then put on his back, and helplessly pounded into submission. thats the whole fight folks.

Remember to make your checks out to Zuffa.

 

Its as simple as this if a 4 time Olympic Alternate Wrestler whos been doing it for 30 years attempts a takedown on a guy with a few months training hes going to get the takedown. Couture only loses this if he doesnt shoot ASAP or throws some shots and risk being countered.

 

Toney is a fat bum. It's so frustrating when you are spending time and money to watch someone who hasn't trained as hard as possible. Toney probably hasn't seen his toes in a good few years. I wonder how he finds his nuts.

 

WTF is Toney thinking? This is going to be horrible.

 

You are way off base regarding JT's weight and conditioning. Regarding your statmente that Toney was flabby at 190 is completely false. When Toney went up to cruiserweight he won 8 straight fights and then he fought Vassily Jirov. Up to the Jirov fights he fought many times on ESPN as a cruiserw. He looked in absolute great condition in those fights. He in no way looked flabby. That is just flat wrong. Just look at his cw fights and tell me he looks flabby, here is JT at cruiserweight:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgA0YVoZADw&feature=PlayList&p=E2D146965BA6724E&playnext=1&index=12[/ame]

You are also dead wrong about the shape JT came in vs Holyfiield. He came in at a perfect 217. He was not flabby at all. And of course compared to Evander, who has probably the best physique ever in the hw division, he will not look as good. Who does compared to Evander? You are underestimating Toney' strenght after all in high school he was a 205lb quarter back. When he got into boxing he slimmed down to middleweight.
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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S15YostTM6E[/ame]

Here he is at heavy vs Booker. He is in great shape, this fight was right after the Holyfield fight. For you to criticize Toney for being flabby at cw and against Holyfield is ridiculous. Especially if you look at most UFC heavyweights who are flabby, fat, and just plain out of shape. Just look at Carwin vs Lesnar. Carwin a big muscular hw, but he was completey gassed out after the 1rd.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd9s-bpmObo[/ame]

What most people don't realize about Toney is his great ability to relax and stay calm during the fight, Most people in UFC especially in any weights above lightweight and especially in HW, the fighters are too tense and not relaxed. Thats why they get tired so easy. Toney has the ability to fight on instinct when he is tired, he will not tense up like most fighters do. His ability to stay so relaxed is why he won't tire and it is probably his best weapon. One more thing if Couture gets Toney against the cage Toney will definitely be at an advantage and he will use the defense to lean back on the cage, like Ali vs. Foreman. This is how JT will win. He will get a hand loose and he will find the smallest mistake that Randy will make, he will find the smallest bit of room Randy gives away and he will KO Randy with short, tight punches inside. He will land uppercuts and short right hands and that will be it for Randy. Randy's head will be down and his body bent over trying to get Toney down. This is when Toney will take him out. He will step away or find an opening and that will be it for Couture.

Yes , Randy is bigger that JT, but Randy is a small heavyweight and JT will be able to handle Coutures size advantage. You mentioned Peter and Rahman, yes Toney had trouble, but thes etwo guys were much bigger than Toney and Couture. Sam Peter weights about 260 lbs. Rahman weights about 250. Toney used his quick skills and ability to lay back on the ropes and find small openings for counter punches. Plus he got robbed in the Rahman fight and 1st Peter fight. By the way Couture is nowhere near the size of Peter or Rahman. Peter and Rahman are almost the same size as Lesnar, Peter especially he walks around about 280. Rahman went into matches as high as 255.

He did legitamtly beat Guinn, but he also easily defeated Ridell Booker (another guy bigger that JT), he beat him even though he tore his bicep early in the fight. He easily defeated Ruiz. He is the only guy to beat Holyfield in such a brutal way. Even though Holy was 41, JT was also past his prime. You have to recall Evander was still fighting top heavyweights around the time he fought JT and none of them beat him like JT did. I also thought he beat Rahman convincingly, even though Rahman fouled him often in the fight with numerous kidney punches. JT spent some time in the hospital due to inflamed and bruised kidneys sustained during the Rahman fight.

So you are completely wrong about JT at cruiserweight, he was in great shape and not flabby at all. He looked great at 190. Regarding him at hw, it was a mixed bag. In his 1st fights he looked excellent at 217 against Evander and even better in his next fight against Booker. So if he is in shape he looks great at any weight he fights at. What went wrong and the period when he started to get out of shape was after his bicep injury and he also had a knee injury. after that is when he went downhill. I recalled him say during an interview that he blamed the weight training for his injuries, so that is when he stopped weight training because he was afraid of injuries. Against Ruiz, he only had 5 weeks to get ready and the reason he tested positive for steroid use is because he had been given it for his injuries. If you look at the Ruiz fight, he did not seem as if he was on steroids. Not to mention he easily handled Ruiz who was about 230lbs.

 

randy's background on greco-roman wrestling and dirty boxing will play a big factor in this match IMO. i won't be surprised if he makes toney huff an puff like he already fought boxing for 15 rds... randy is one deceptively strong ****er.

 

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