Well, they done did it.
After a long period of negotiating and a very public campaign by the man himself, heavyweight boxing champion James Toney agreed to terms on a contract with the UFC this week.
What once seemed impossible to MMA fans – the notion of the 41-year-old Toney actually setting foot in the Octagon – is now a reality. And yeah, the whole fighting world just about lost its mind.
News and fallout from Toney's signing has been coming fast and furious since the initial word of the leaked. First came reports that he'd retained the services of noted (and kind of infamous) MMA trainer Juanito Ibarra to prep him for his debut in the cage. Then, former heavyweight and light heavyweight UFC champ Randy Couture took to his personal Twitter account to say he wanted to be first in line to get a piece of Toney in the cage.
Then came Toney's first official interview since inking the deal, during which he told Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole that he expects to make an immediate splash in MMA. He said it, naturally, in classic James Toney style.
“I’m a main event fighter and I’ve been a main event fighter since before a lot of these punk-(expletive) fighters were out of the crib," Toney said. "Don’t give me that (expletive) about fighting on the undercard. People want to see James Toney and I’m going to give them what they want."
Though much of the particulars about Toney's UFC deal are still unknown, it has been confirmed that the contract will allow him to also box, if and when the right fight for him comes along.
"If we promote him," UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports, "and he does well and that raises his profile and he gets a (Vitali) Klitschko fight and makes a lot of money for himself ... I’d be cool with that."
The obvious question that's nagged UFC fans over the past couple of days – aside from where, when and against whom Toney will debut – is why on earth the UFC would "be cool" with signing the current NABO heavyweight champ in the first place.
On the surface, Toney is a two-time steroid loser whose best boxing days are obviously behind him and whose drawing power in his chosen sports has obviously declined to the point that he thinks he can make more money in MMA. The video of his initial job interview with White and the subsequent, half-coherent video blogs he used to crowbar his way into the UFC also didn't do anything to make anyone believe he's going to take a budding MMA career all that seriously.
But let me say for the record, I don't believe the UFC signed Toney as a sacrificial lamb to the MMA gods, nor do I think they White signed him simply because he's enamored with the potential drawing power of a well-known boxing crossover. I think White actually respects Toney and wants to see what he can do in MMA.
Here's why: Remember, White himself comes from a boxing background. He was an amateur fighter in his youth and owned at least one boxing gym in Boston before eventually making his way west to strike MMA gold. In the boxing world, Toney is something of a throwback. He may indeed be the last of a dying breed – high-profile fighters who will take on all-comers, without hiding behind management groups or contract arrangements. Toney, for example, never pulled the kind of shenanigans that derailed the recent Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao superfight. He just fought.
It's that kind of die-by-the-sword attitude that I think makes Toney attractive to the UFC. It also makes me halfway interested to see what he can do in the cage.
Granted, I have no reason to believe that Toney will take the proper steps to get himself prepared for any kind of real career in MMA. But, in a world where the UFC will actually sign Toney, maybe anything is possible.
Chad Dundas is the Lead MMA Editor for the Sporting News and writes a weekly column for Crave Online. He lives in Missoula, MT.
