Five Advantages James Toney Loses Inside the Cage at UFC 118

It's the fight that most in the MMA world have been waiting to see.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney

The Natural Vs. Lights Out

The Epitome of MMA vs. The Living Legend of Heavyweight Boxing.

Really, that's what it is: MMA vs. Boxing.

Does Toney have any advantages in this fight? Beyond the boxing, I don't see too many things that Toney has on Couture. As a matter of fact, I'd say Couture probably has quite a few advantages on Toney.

What do I mean by that?

There's only three ways the ref can save him, and neither involve ropes

James Toney is stepping into a cage in two weeks, and the last time I checked, the cage had no ropes running in the middle of it.

This means a variety of things for Toney, namely that Toney can't move outside the confines of The Octagon in order to defend himself.

If he's going to shoulder roll or anything to defend himself, he better be moving pretty quickly.

He's not going to be able to move his body in between any ropes on that night, nor is he going to be able to use those ropes to wear down Couture like he was George Foreman.

No, he's going to have to move —probably as if he were a lightweight— in order to get a win over Couture, because quick movements around the cage will force Randy to move equally quick and fast movements burn up a lot of energy.

Makes the KO punch easier...that is, if Toney can get the shot.

Thing is, he's going to have to wear Couture down using his own hands and feet to do it, and even at Couture's age, that ain't easy.

No ten-count. No breaks. No mercy

This can be an advantage Toney gains if he's the first to land a shot on Couture, but look at it from the other side.

If Couture gets Toney down, he can rain down on him like there's no tomorrow with a mess of punches.

If the ref steps in, then that means he is more than likely ending the fight. The ref will never break up the fight in MMA when one guy is clearly dominating his opponent by punishing him with shots unless he feels that neither man is doing damage with them.

Tough to think that that would happen in a fight like this, but then again, nothing is ever impossible in MMA.

In the case of a referee asking an opponent to step back for a ten-count is where an exception lies.

It's a whole new ball game, and it's for more than just kicks

Granted, you still can't tap a guy in the balls, but the whole game changes when you go from Boxing to MMA.

In Boxing, you never see anyone twist an arm or push on a toe.

You never see anyone kick in Boxing.

You never see anyone shoot for a double leg takedown on the canvas.

All you see is movement around the ring and two men engaging in fisticuffs.

Toney can do all that in the cage to some extent, I'm sure, but trying to make Couture fight his fight and stand with him for fifteen minutes?

That's about as likely as a WEC Bantamweight winning the UFC Heavyweight Title after the winner of the UFC 121 title fight and Junior Dos Santos fight.

No offense, Bantamweights. Y'all are pretty damn explosive.

Couture's going to be the man who tries to push Toney against the cage and if he does have to box, then Couture will dirty box with him.

Otherwise, Toney's getting taken down and beaten down.

I'd also watch the verbage on the kicks, good sir.

If kicking makes you a girl, then maybe beat up on Randy and challenge Cro Cop.

If kicking is for girls, then Cro Cop is one girly little Croatian girl.

At least, a girl that could scramble my brains with one badass kick.

Another way to go to the ground

Plain and simple, the word is "takedown".

Randy Couture knows that word all too well.

He's done it before, he's had it done to him before, he's seen it done by his Xtreme Couture boys before, and he's seen it done to his Xtreme Couture boys.

Toney's picking it up, and I don't doubt him being a quick learner, but how he aims to take down Couture without relying on a well-timed shot is beyond me, though Lights Out will have a shot to prove me wrong next Saturday.

The fun you can have with body parts

Frank Mir snapped Tim Sylvia's arm, which was a predecessor to how Steve Cantwell broke Razak Al-Hassan's arm.

Matter of fact, Rousimar Palhares has a reputation of locking in excruciating submissions as well—he held in his heel hook on Tomasz Drwal to where the foot could have been broken if it had stayed on longer.

Couture has put some people away with some sick submissions himself, including that rear naked choke on Mark Coleman in his UFC 109 encounter.

The nastiest thing that could occur in Boxing is a cut opening up to where a man has to bow out due to inability to continue.

Toney may not be able to do that with Couture, especially if the fight hits the ground.

The ground is never the right place to go with a wrestler unless you have the grappling and submission skills to thwart those dominant behaviors of the wrestler, especially if that wrestler is Randy Couture.

James Toney says that grappling is his favorite part of MMA so far?

Good.

He'll need to try to pull out those submission skills in order to beat Couture if the fight hits the ground.

Sorry Toney fans, but I honestly don't see how the Boxing legend makes that happen in this fight.

Prediction: Randy Couture wins either by Submission in R2 or by Unanimous Decision

A Win For Captain America...

... is a win for Mixed Martial Arts.

Thanks for watching, Bleacherholics!