Toney Wanted Lesnar, Turned Down Kimbo, Settled on Couture

Filed under: UFCWhen boxing champion James Toney first signed with the UFC, he didn’t see any reason he shouldn’t get a heavyweight title shot. And so, Toney says, he asked for Brock Lesnar as his first opponent inside the Octagon.

But the UFC had oth…

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When boxing champion James Toney first signed with the UFC, he didn’t see any reason he shouldn’t get a heavyweight title shot. And so, Toney says, he asked for Brock Lesnar as his first opponent inside the Octagon.

But the UFC had other ideas.

According to Toney, when the UFC told him he wasn’t just going to waltz right in and fight the heavyweight champ, that set off an interesting negotiation with the promotion, which floated the idea of having him fight Kimbo Slice before settling on Randy Couture as his first UFC opponent.