James Toney Vs. Kimbo Slice: Would It Qualify As A "Freakshow?"

When the news of the James Toney signing was first breaking, Dana White came out via Yahoo Sports! and said, "We wont make a freakshow out of it" and followed up by saying this is nothing like Herschel Walker or Jose Canseco. "James Toney is a fighter."

So would the "Kimbo Slice vs. James Toney" fight the MMA community is currently speculating/buzzing about qualify as the freakshow Dana White said they would not turn this into? What about James Toney vs. the Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz winner?

That would depend on who your asking. One man's trash is another man's treasure and that expression can easily apply to matchmaking within mixed martial arts.

What is good for the bottom line, is not always seen as good for credibility, in any aspect of business. 

Sure, increasing the PPV buy rate is always good, but when does short term gain start to erode what it good for the long term growth and credibility of the sport? And who exactly decides what is credible to begin with?

Perhaps, for many purists of the sport, the James Toney signing is approaching the final nail in the coffin for the sanctity of the sport. But is Kimbo Slice vs. James Toney really that much different then Tank Abbot vs. John Matua which took place back at UFC 6?

In the good ole days of the sport, you saw two beer bellies without much technical prowess, or discipline in the martial arts, brawl like the octagon was a bar without empty beer bottles.

Those same fights were seen alongside matches like the thirty-six minute grappling draw featuring Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie—fighters who were credited with pioneering the sport.

Sure, the sport is supposed to progress—and it has. Athletes with talent fully committed to the sport like B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, and Anderson Silva are testament to that.

But history also repeats itself, in terms of freak shows, and can run parallel with progress without compromising the sport.

If James Toney vs. Kimbo Slice is today's version of freakshow, at least it has evolved from the days of Keith Hackney vs. Emmanuel Yarborough back at UFC 3.

As this article is being written, Randy Couture is tweeting that he would be love it if the UFC chose him as the first fighter to face off against Toney. If the fight actually happened, and Toney knocked out the UFC hall of famer, would the MMA world implode?

We live in a strange new technology driven, hyper capitalistic, information overloaded sensationalized world where the Internet rules and rues the day. The sport of MMA, more so then any other sport it seems, is entangled to this brave new world, for better or for worse.