Speculation about a money-spinning mega fight between MMA superstar Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. has only been intensifying in early 2017, but it remains to be seen whether the sides will ever be able to jump over all the hurdles necessary to make this dream match-up a reality. Even if a deal
Speculation about a money-spinning mega fight between MMA superstar Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. has only been intensifying in early 2017, but it remains to be seen whether the sides will ever be able to jump over all the hurdles necessary to make this dream match-up a reality.
Even if a deal could be reached, it’s already clear there’s no chance Mayweather would risk his undefeated 49-0 boxing record by agreeing to fight ‘The Notorious’ under MMA rules, but there are examples of other boxing champions in the past who threw caution to the wind and put their reputations on the line by testing themselves in the cage.
Of course, that’s led to some well known boxing stars being handed humbling defeats over the years, and that’s no great surprise given that MMA is such a multi-faceted sport with kicks, knees, and elbows bringing a completely different dynamic to striking, while grappling disciplines like wrestling and jiu-jitsu are the stuff of nightmares for the untrained.
That being said, as you’ll read in the pages to follow, there are also a few boxing champions who have successfully managed to compete in the sport of MMA, whether it’s due to having had previous martial arts experience in the past, having benefited from favorable match-ups, or simply being in the right place at the right time to land a fight-ending punch!
James Toney
A three-division champion who held IBF titles at middleweight, super-middleweight and cruiserweight, James Toney is considered to be one of the best boxers of his generation.
In fact, famed boxing coach Freddie Roach once stated that Toney had the most natural ability of anybody he’d ever trained, and with more discipline could have been the best of all-time.
Toney has always been known for being outspoken and supremely confident, two attributes which led to him talking Dana White into giving him a fight in the UFC back in 2010 despite him being 42 years old and having no prior MMA experience at the time.
White paired Toney up against 47 year-old UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, who was only too eager to disprove ‘Lights Out’s’ pre-fight boasts that MMA fighters were “inferior” and that he’d become a UFC world champion.
Within seconds of the fight commencing at UFC 118, Couture had effortlessly managed to take the boxer down and from there, he toyed with him for several minutes like he was a small child before forcing him to tap out due to an arm triangle choke.
Toney earned $500,000 for what would prove to be his only MMA fight, though the IRS confiscated his fight purse that same night due to the fact he was under investigation by them at the time.
This weekend, almost 23 years after the birth of the UFC, the promotion will host UFC 200 live on pay-per-view from the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Milestone events like this bring about a sense of nostalgia for other historic moments in the history of the sport, and of course the one that stands
This weekend, almost 23 years after the birth of the UFC, the promotion will host UFC 200 live on pay-per-view from the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Milestone events like this bring about a sense of nostalgia for other historic moments in the history of the sport, and of course the one that stands out above all others is a show on Friday, November 12th, 1993 in Denver, Colorado that made all the others possible – UFC 1.
These days the UFC is a well-oiled machine, but back then in the very darkest ages of the sport, it was anything but, making it a white-knuckled rollercoaster ride from start to finish for everyone involved.
As such, UFC 1 has become an endlessly fascinating breeding ground for behind-the-scenes stories regarding the crazy things happened that night, and in the days leading up to the show, both inside and outside of the cage, and in this article we’ll delve into ten of the best.
Last week at UFC on FOX 15, we watched in awe/horror as Chris Camozzi was mercilessly sacrificed the Brazilian alligator god they call Jacare in the name of “our entertainment.” The fight was like watching a car wreck play out in slow motion — if one of the vehicles involved was a Smart Fortwo and the other a Caterpillar 79 — but hey, Some Fight is Better Than No Fight, Amiright? (copyright UFC 2016)
But Camozzi was not the first man to ever be brought into a no-win situation for one reason or another. Throughout MMA History, there have been fighters who served little other purpose than to make their opponents look all the more impressive. They’re called sacrificial lambs, and with an ever-expanding schedule constantly being undermined by ever-increasing injuries, even the UFC has been forced to call on them from time to time. So with all that in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the more notable fall men in MMA history.
Last week at UFC on FOX 15, we watched in awe/horror as Chris Camozzi was mercilessly sacrificed to the Brazilian alligator god they call Jacare, all in the name of “our entertainment.” The fight was like watching a car wreck play out in slow motion — if one of the vehicles involved was a Smart Fortwo and the other a Caterpillar 79 – but hey, Some Fight is Better Than No Fight, Amiright? (copyright UFC 2016)
But Camozzi was not the first man to ever be brought into a no-win situation for one reason or another. Throughout MMA History, there have been fighters who served little other purpose than to make their opponents look all the more impressive. They’re called sacrificial lambs, and with an ever-expanding schedule constantly being undermined by ever-increasing injuries, even the UFC has been forced to call on them from time to time. So with all that in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the more notable fall men in MMA history.
Jake O’Brien occupies a unique space in the world of sacrificial lambs, in that he was obliterated by a former heavyweight champion, a future heavyweight champion, *and* a future light heavyweight champion (Arlovski, Velasquez, Jones) in the span of just over a year. So perhaps “unique” isn’t the most accurate way of describing it. Brutal, perhaps. Soul-crushingly depressing, even. But it wasn’t just the UFC that used O’Brien as cannon fodder, no. Two years after his departure from the promotion, O’Brien was similarly sacrificed to Gegard Mousasi in his DREAM debut, lasting just 31 seconds before being choked damn near to death.
“The King of Rock and Rumble” fought an astounding 7 times in the UFC, with his only victory in that time coming via the aforementioned sub of Jeremy Horn in his promotional debut at UFC 30. Sinosic’s upset victory that night was impressive enough to earn him a completely undeserved title shot against Tito Ortiz next, and if you’re wondering how that fight ended, just utter the phrase “Elvis Sinosic vs. Tito Ortiz” and choose the first image that pops in your head. That image is correct.
The loss to Ortiz marked the last time that Sinosic could claim to be a .500 fighter, yet he kept getting asked back to the UFC, for some reason. His successive UFC bouts would see him trounced by Evan Tanner, battered by Babalu Sobral, and trampled by a pair of TUF winners in Forrest Griffin and Michael Bisping. Yet he kept being asked back. In 2010, Sinosic was expected to rematch Chris Haseman (aka the dude who chinned him in the eye) at UFC 110 until he was forced out of the bout due to a last-minute shoulder injury. We fully expect to see his name pop up on the UFC’s next Australia card.
You see that absolute nonsense up there? That’s what happens when a 30-fight veteran realizes that he is so outclassed by his opponent that begging for mercy is his best route to victory. Takenori Sato, apparently under the impression that he had entered a bull-riding contest mid-fight at Fight Night 36, grabbed onto Erick Silva’s leg for dear life and waited for the 8-second bell to sound. Even as Silva began raining down punches on his skull — as if to say, “Hey man, you know we’re fighting right now, right?” — Sato refused to abandon his patented Thigh Choke of Ultimate Victory until he was separated from consciousness some 15 seconds later.
Likely because he had single-handedly cheapened the UFC brand with his performance that night, Sato was fed to an even more dangerous opponent in Korean badass Hyun Gyu Lim next. His strategy for that fight? THE EXACT SAME THING.
#5:TIE: Josh Hendricks, Dan Evenson, Sean Salmon, etc. Fed to:Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo, and Rashad Evans, among others Resulted in: Lots of lost memories
The term “can-crusher” is an oft-used one in the MMA, but how often do we focus on the cans in that scenario, and not the men/women doing the crushing?
I’m talking about guys like “Heavy” Hendricks, Dan Evenson, Sean Salmon, Mustapha Al Turk, and so on — guys who share a common trait in that they were all locally-sourced unknowns who were brought into the UFC with the obvious endgame of being beaten by one of the promotion’s go-tos. If any of these guys got a good shot in or two, good for them. Hell, they might even be invited back for a second beating. But none of them were called up to the big leagues because they were believed to be the next Jon Jones or even a potential journeyman. They were called up to forever be immortalized in the highlight reel of their opponents, and on this day, we give thanks.
On the “next page”: A one-gloved boxer, a stonery TUF alum, and the entire nation of Japan…
Art Jimmerson is arguably the most derided fighter in the history of MMA. This is understandable. The dude went into UFC 1 thinking he was going to collect some easy money by knocking out strip mall McDojo masters.
As we know, the reality was that Jimmerson was out of his depth in a no holds barred competition. And, of course, he fought Royce Gracie wearing only one glove, instantly guaranteeing himself a place in MMA’s hall of shame.
UFC co-creator Campbell McClaren recently dished on the one-glove issue on Darce Side Radio. It turns out “Big” John McCarthy had an exchange with Jimmerson before the fight. He explained what Royce Gracie would do to Jimmerson, as well as the horrifying fact that the referee wouldn’t separate the fighters in the case of a clinch. This was a fight, not a boxing match.
Art Jimmerson is arguably the most derided fighter in the history of MMA. This is understandable. The dude went into UFC 1 thinking he was going to collect some easy money by knocking out strip mall McDojo masters.
As we know, the reality was that Jimmerson was out of his depth in a no holds barred competition. And, of course, he fought Royce Gracie wearing only one glove, instantly guaranteeing himself a place in MMA’s hall of shame.
UFC co-creator Campbell McClaren recently dished on the one-glove issue on Darce Side Radio. It turns out “Big” John McCarthy had an exchange with Jimmerson before the fight. He explained what Royce Gracie would do to Jimmerson, as well as the horrifying fact that the referee wouldn’t separate the fighters in the case of a clinch. This was a fight, not a boxing match.
“Big John said, ‘you know what he’s going to do to you right?’” McLaren said, re-telling the story he only recently became privy to. “Jimmerson said, ‘what’s he going to do?’ and he was dancing around and doing boxing moves. Big John said, ‘You ever get in a clinch in a boxing match?’ Jimmerson said, ‘yeah, the ref breaks it up.’ Big John goes,” In this they’re not going to break it up when he grabs you. He’s going to have his arms on you. They’re not going to break that up. The ref doesn’t break that up in this fight.’ Jimmerson goes, ‘what?’ Big John said, “He’s going to shoot in. He’s going to grab you. You are going to get one chance to hit him, and if you miss, he’s going to be all over you.’ Jimmerson said, ‘He’s going to break my arm isn’t he?’ Big John said, ‘Yeah, he’s going to break your arm.’
“That’s when he decided to wear the one glove,” McLaren revealed. “To make sure we could see him tapping with the other hand. Walking with him to the Octagon, he said, ‘If I tap with my glove hand, is it a still a tap?’ That’s when I knew it wasn’t going to work out.”
This story, in conjunction with Art Davie revealing Jimmerson neglected to bring his shorts, gloves, and boxing shoes to the fight, make Jimmerson out to be a comic relief jobber. And to an extent, he was–at least in the UFC. He was a punching bag (or grappling dummy, in this case) for Royce Gracie. However, Jimmerson was also a professional fighter. We’ve been re-watching a lot of the old classics on UFC Fight Pass. As a result, we’ve developed a sense of protective nostalgia toward some fighters. We’re not going into full “LEAVE JIMMERSON ALONE” mode or anything like that. We’re just saying that Jimmerson wasn’t an entire sport’s joke once. Let’s just remember that.
Kimbo, I dare you. Right now, I want you and if you give me a chance to redeem myself as far as boxing… You can’t beat a real boxer. You can’t. I mean, right now, I respect you as an MMA fighter before but boxing… night and day. I’ve been there, I’ve done that and I’ve tried MMA, I failed. So now you’re in my ring. In my ring, I can’t be beat. I don’t care if it’s Royce Gracie or Kimbo Slice. It’s been a few years (since my last boxing match) but you gotta understand, I’m in the gym every day. … I don’t see him lasting three rounds with me. I want it to happen right now, me and Kimbo Slice. I’m calling him out.
So, on an anticipation scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton 2, and 10 being Zimmer vs. Martinez 2, how stoked are you for this fight? Take the weekend to think this one over, Potato Nation.
ROSEMEAD, Calif. — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC 1 star Art Jimmerson on Thursday about working at the UFC Gym, how he ended up fighting on the UFC 1 card, why he chose to only wear one glove, his memories of the event, the rise of the UFC, his failed attempt at a rematch against Royce Gracie and why he wants to fight Kimbo Slice in boxing.
ROSEMEAD, Calif. — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC 1 star Art Jimmerson on Thursday about working at the UFC Gym, how he ended up fighting on the UFC 1 card, why he chose to only wear one glove, his memories of the event, the rise of the UFC, his failed attempt at a rematch against Royce Gracie and why he wants to fight Kimbo Slice in boxing.
