Tag: UFC 118

UFC 118: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCUFC 118 in Boston is just a few hours away, so in order to get a perspective on the action from the people who are paid to know winners from losers, let’s examine tonight’s main card betting odds.

With one new champ defending his tit…

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UFC 118 in Boston is just a few hours away, so in order to get a perspective on the action from the people who are paid to know winners from losers, let’s examine tonight’s main card betting odds.

With one new champ defending his title against the man he took it from, and one boxing great crossing over into a brand new sport that he seems to only barely understand, you’d think there would be a vast difference in the odds on the two co-main event bouts. In reality, the two lines are more similar than you might think, and they favor neither the champ nor the big-mouthed boxer.

Let’s break it down below and see who the smart choices are at UFC 118.

Will Tonight’s Co-Main Event Determine Which Old Guy Jon Jones Gets to Beat Up Next?

(“Yeah, I get it, ‘UFC 124: ‘Expendable,’ that’s really funny … no, seriously, I’m laughing on the inside.” PicProps: Sherdog)
Look, I didn’t mean to get you all in a tizzy with that crazy stuff I …


(“Yeah, I get it, ‘UFC 124: ‘Expendable,’ that’s really funny … no, seriously, I’m laughing on the inside.” PicProps: Sherdog)

Look, I didn’t mean to get you all in a tizzy with that crazy stuff I said earlier. Rest assured, gentle reader, odds are very good that Randy Couture applies one of his world-renowned Brazilian Joint Locks to James Toney tonight and takes home an easy victory, probably sometime in the first round. After that, we’ll all have our fun with Toney, figuratively poking him in his airbrushed belly as we ship him off to wherever it is old boxers go to die. We’ll all probably act very smug and superior on our Twitter accounts for a few days, too.

Deep down, though, Couture’s victory will not cure my unease. For some while now, I’ve been wondering if the worst thing that could happen to Randy Couture at this stage in his career would be for him to beat James Toney at UFC 118. This is all just conjecture mind you, but I can’t escape the notion that whoever wins tonight might ride a groundswell of mainstream publicity right into a fight with Jon Jones, probably at the UFC’s end-of-the-year (or maybe Super Bowl weekend) pay-per-view.

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Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide: What to Do If Randy Loses to James Toney

(Keep laughing, KenFlo. It won’t be so funny when “Lights Out” brings the side check kick down to 155. PicProps: Heavy.com)
Sunday morning, you wake up. Splitting hangover headache. You roll over and nausea sweeps through your body. Y…


(Keep laughing, KenFlo. It won’t be so funny when “Lights Out” brings the side check kick down to 155. PicProps: Heavy.com)

Sunday morning, you wake up. Splitting hangover headache. You roll over and nausea sweeps through your body. You will yourself not to puke. “Where am I,” you think, “and who is this fat chick?” The night before is a total blur. There are significant gaps. You remember being at the bar, yelling unintelligible shit at a TV. Some guy you don’t know kept buying you shots. You might’ve left a bunch of voicemails for that girl you like. After that you must – wait — then it hits you. Holy fucking shit. Randy Couture fucking LOST to James Toney last night.

Scary though huh, PotatoNation? Consider the above paragraph a kind of public service announcement. Some don’t-let-this-happen-to-you type shit. Here at The Potato we are nothing if not realists. We believe wholeheartedly in expecting the best while preparing for the worst, or whatever the terrible cliché says we ought to do. For that reason, it’s probably a good idea that we all spend a few minutes considering the possibility that Toney might actually beat Couture at tonight’s UFC 118. You know, just in case. It won’t be easy, but we can get through this together.

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James Toney Says He’s Seen Fear in Couture’s Eyes, Calls Lesnar ‘Chicken’

Filed under: UFC, NewsBOSTON — James Toney’s greatest hits so far during UFC 118 fight week have come of the verbal variety.

But you have to hand it to Toney; while some fighters begin toning down the fireworks in the last days before the fight, he’…

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BOSTON — James Toney‘s greatest hits so far during UFC 118 fight week have come of the verbal variety.

But you have to hand it to Toney; while some fighters begin toning down the fireworks in the last days before the fight, he’s still churning out the chatter

In the last 24 hours, Toney has taken shots at two of the UFC’s most celebrated and popular stars, starting with his Saturday opponent, Randy Couture. When asked about his first staredown with Couture, which occurred during a photo opportunity on Wednesday, Toney fired away.

Fighter vs. Writer: UFC 118 Predictions With Pat Miletich

Filed under: UFCIf you’ve heard MMA legend and former UFC champ Pat Miletich’s contributions to the Strikeforce: Challengers broadcasts or his analysis on ESPN’s “MMA Live,” then it won’t surprise you to know that Miletich had a lot of really insightfu…

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If you’ve heard MMA legend and former UFC champ Pat Miletich‘s contributions to the Strikeforce: Challengers broadcasts or his analysis on ESPN’s “MMA Live,” then it won’t surprise you to know that Miletich had a lot of really insightful things to say when I called him to play Fighter vs. Writer for UFC 118.

So insightful, in fact, that it immediately made me wonder why I was dumb enough to choose Miletich to go up against, when I’m a dismal 1-4 in this series so far.

So the bad news is that I’m up against a superior MMA mind this week. The good news is that I got to hear Miletich break down the upcoming card, which includes one fight where “The Croatian Sensation” says there’s an epic beating in store for one of the interested parties. Can you guess who?

Yeah, you probably can. But you should still read all about how both Miletich and I see the main card playing out on Saturday night.

UFC 118 Weigh-In Video

Filed under: UFCThe UFC 118 weigh-ins take place Friday at the TD Garden in Boston, and if you can’t be there in person, you can watch the video live right here at MMAFighting.com.

The most intriguing issue will be the weight of James Toney, who has b…

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The UFC 118 weigh-ins take place Friday at the TD Garden in Boston, and if you can’t be there in person, you can watch the video live right here at MMAFighting.com.

The most intriguing issue will be the weight of James Toney, who has been as light as 157 pounds and as heavy as 237 pounds in his boxing career. Toney says he’s working hard and in great shape, but at times Toney has become grotesquely overweight. We’ll find out on Friday afternoon whether he got himself into decent shape for his UFC debut against Randy Couture.

In the main event, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger B.J. Penn will both have to make the limit of 155 pounds.

The weigh-in starts at 4 PM ET (replay will be available in the evening) and the video is below.