Clark Kent
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02-24-2010 05:20 PM:
Everyone wants in the UFC. From former baseball sluggers with little fight experience to boxers to will 81 pro fights under their chubby belts. Dana White has to manage the fine line between promoting a legitimate sport and ticket/pay-per-view sales. Sure heavyweight boxer James Toney would sell PPV's but would an appearance in the Octagon turn into a complete circus?
Cagewriter caught up with the season 10 "Ultimate Fighter" champ, Roy Nelson, who is all about promotion and star-power.
"He's definitely worth watching the fight once or twice," said Nelson. "But I think it's how Dana says, he doesn't want a freak show [but] I think a lot of people would pay to see [Toney fight]."
Nelson fights at 264 pounds while Toney's last fight was around 217. He would be a tiny heavyweight by MMA standards. For the last six years, the IBA heavyweight champ has averaged around 230 on fight night. That said, he probably needs to be down at light heavyweight in MMA.
"205 would be a better spot for him for the pure fact that they like to bang. Heavyweight fighters, they like to wrestle. It's a double-edge sword versus a one-edge sword."
Off camera, Nelson mentioned the real reason he thinks Toney would never be in the UFC and that's the issue of managing the fighters from a public relations standpoint. We just saw the PR nightmare that the UFC and Frank Mir put themselves through yesterday. The organization also likes to keep its money and other dealings under wraps. Do you think for one second that Toney is going to listen to anyone or play by the rules? It's a risk versus reward scenario. How much is Toney worth in long term promotion and PPV sales if he only fights once or twice?
Toney first popped onto the MMA scene when he crashed the postfight press conference after UFC 108. He's had at least one sit down with White after which he said the offer made by the UFC was "chump change."
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
Everyone wants in the UFC. From former baseball sluggers with little fight experience to boxers to will 81 pro fights under their chubby belts. Dana White has to manage the fine line between promoting a legitimate sport and ticket/pay-per-view sales. Sure heavyweight boxer James Toney would sell PPV's but would an appearance in the Octagon turn into a complete circus?
Cagewriter caught up with the season 10 "Ultimate Fighter" champ, Roy Nelson, who is all about promotion and star-power.
"He's definitely worth watching the fight once or twice," said Nelson. "But I think it's how Dana says, he doesn't want a freak show [but] I think a lot of people would pay to see [Toney fight]."
Nelson fights at 264 pounds while Toney's last fight was around 217. He would be a tiny heavyweight by MMA standards. For the last six years, the IBA heavyweight champ has averaged around 230 on fight night. That said, he probably needs to be down at light heavyweight in MMA.
"205 would be a better spot for him for the pure fact that they like to bang. Heavyweight fighters, they like to wrestle. It's a double-edge sword versus a one-edge sword."
Off camera, Nelson mentioned the real reason he thinks Toney would never be in the UFC and that's the issue of managing the fighters from a public relations standpoint. We just saw the PR nightmare that the UFC and Frank Mir put themselves through yesterday. The organization also likes to keep its money and other dealings under wraps. Do you think for one second that Toney is going to listen to anyone or play by the rules? It's a risk versus reward scenario. How much is Toney worth in long term promotion and PPV sales if he only fights once or twice?
Toney first popped onto the MMA scene when he crashed the postfight press conference after UFC 108. He's had at least one sit down with White after which he said the offer made by the UFC was "chump change."
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
