Tag: Randy Couture

UFC 118 Salaries: James ‘Half-a-Milly’ Toney Gets the Last Laugh

(That’s actually ketchup on James’s head. Randy tackled him so quickly that he didn’t even have time to put down the hot dog he was eating. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
The UFC paid out $1,608,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the figh…

James Toney Randy Couture UFC 118
(That’s actually ketchup on James’s head. Randy tackled him so quickly that he didn’t even have time to put down the hot dog he was eating. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

The UFC paid out $1,608,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters who competed at UFC 118, according to figures released by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission. James Toney‘s whopping $500,000 salary led the payroll, putting him well ahead of fellow headliners Randy Couture ($250,000) and BJ Penn ($150,000). For you math aficionados out there, Toney earned over $2,500 per second in his UFC debut, which ended due to submission at the 3:19 mark of round 1. (Now calculate how much money you make per second at your job. Isn’t that hilarious?)

Keep in mind that the figures below don’t include additional compensation from sponsorships, undisclosed "locker room" bonuses, or cuts of the pay-per-view revenue that some UFC stars have in their contracts, which means that Randy Couture could have theoretically ended up with a bigger paycheck than James Toney. You know, if that helps you sleep at night.

Frankie Edgar: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus)
def. B.J. Penn: $150,000

Randy Couture: $250,000
def. James Toney: $500,000

Demian Maia: $68,000
def. Mario Miranda: $8,000

Gray Maynard: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. Kenny Florian: $65,000

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Trevor Sherman Hopes to Keep Training James Toney in MMA

Filed under: UFCAfter a two-decade career as a professional boxer, James Toney looked like a fish out of water in his mixed martial arts debut on Saturday night, and UFC President Dana White said after Randy Couture overwhelmed Toney that the UFC was d…

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After a two-decade career as a professional boxer, James Toney looked like a fish out of water in his mixed martial arts debut on Saturday night, and UFC President Dana White said after Randy Couture overwhelmed Toney that the UFC was done experimenting with professional boxers.

But Trevor Sherman, the man who trained Toney for MMA, said he doesn’t want Toney to quit the sport, even if he has to fight in a second-tier MMA promotion.

“I still love James,” Sherman said. “I hope he doesn’t stop doing MMA, and if the UFC does release him … trust me — there’s plenty of interest.”

Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 118 Edition

(There he goes again, trying to steal the victory. Photo courtesy of CageWriter)
Here’s what we know: Frank Edgar will make his next title defense against Gray Maynard, who routed Kenny Florian on Saturday night. Dana White is done with James Toney, …

Frank Edgar BJ Penn UFC 118 photos MMA
(There he goes again, trying to steal the victory. Photo courtesy of CageWriter)

Here’s what we know: Frank Edgar will make his next title defense against Gray Maynard, who routed Kenny Florian on Saturday night. Dana White is done with James Toney, even though James Toney might not be done with MMA. Nick Osipczak, John Salter, and Gabe Ruediger could very well be receiving "Dear John" letters from the UFC as we speak. As for UFC 118‘s other winners and losers, their fates are yet to be decided. But as usual, we have a few opinions on the subject…

BJ Penn: The Prodigy spent 2007-2009 destroying all the top talent in the UFC’s lightweight division, then looked completely uninspired in two consecutive fights against Frankie Edgar. Either Penn has fallen off his game dramatically or Edgar is just a terrible style matchup for him — and we won’t really know the answer until Penn’s next fight. What’s obvious is that lightweight has been Penn’s most effective weight class in general, and going back up to 170 would be a terrible idea, especially while Georges St. Pierre still rules the roost. The UFC should give Penn a rebound fight against a name opponent who’s a little further down the ladder, but will test BJ’s desire to fight. That’s right, folks, it’s time for BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi II. Gomi is born-again after starching Tyson Griffin; add in Gomi’s history with Penn, and you have a co-headliner that any pay-per-view card would be lucky to have.

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Oh, Good: James Toney Says We Haven’t Seen the Last of His ‘Gorilla Nuts’ in MMA

(VidProps: YouTube/Goossen Tutor Boxing)
Honestly, most of this video with James Toney from Saturday night is totally unintelligible. Unfortunately, it’s also reportedly the only post-fight interview with “Lights Out” since, like the…

(VidProps: YouTube/Goossen Tutor Boxing)

Honestly, most of this video with James Toney from Saturday night is totally unintelligible. Unfortunately, it’s also reportedly the only post-fight interview with “Lights Out” since, like the true sportsman we all know him to be, he no-showed the official UFC 118 press conference after his embarrassing loss to Randy Couture. Toney may not have been man enough to face the MMA media after throwing zero standing punches en route to tapping out to Couture’s side check choke – pretty sure that’s what it was – three minutes, 19 seconds into the first round, but he did make time to sit down with Rodney Hunt from Goossen Tutor Promotions, a company that represents Toney in boxing. So, yeah, an in-house interview with a paid yes man. You probably know where this is going …

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 118

Filed under: UFCThe UFC’s grand James Toney experiment is over, according to Dana White. Whether it was a success or not depends on the hypothesis you started with, but unless you happen to be Toney or one of his hype men, chances are you saw this comi…

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The UFC’s grand James Toney experiment is over, according to Dana White. Whether it was a success or not depends on the hypothesis you started with, but unless you happen to be Toney or one of his hype men, chances are you saw this coming.

But while this fight was undoubtedly a sideshow attraction from the very beginning, it did have some benefits. For one, it got some attention from the types of fans and media who might not otherwise have cared about this card. It seems a little doubtful that they all became instant converts upon seeing Gray Maynard lay on top of Kenny Florian, but who knows.

The important thing is that the opportunity to have a famous boxer compete on MMA’s biggest stage finally presented itself, then refused to stop presenting itself, then mumbled some absurd, semi-coherent threats at everyone within earshot, and then the UFC finally made it happen. Now that we’ve done it, let’s not do it again until we find someone willing to put in the work and take it seriously.

Now on to the big winners, losers, and everything in between from UFC 118.

UFC 118: Randy Couture Submits James Toney

Filed under: UFCThe 41-year-old former boxing world champion James Toney made his mixed martial arts debut Saturday night at UFC 118. It did not go well.

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture easily beat Toney by first-round submission, confirming what ever…

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The 41-year-old former boxing world champion James Toney made his mixed martial arts debut Saturday night at UFC 118. It did not go well.

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture easily beat Toney by first-round submission, confirming what everyone suspected: In a mixed martial arts match, a good mixed martial artist will beat a past-his-prime boxer.

“This was exactly what I trained to do,” Couture said.