Checking From Behind Pulling No Punches

Tonight, UFC 118 comes at us from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, with a great fight card and a few question marks around BJ Penn, most notably if he can rebound from his loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112: Invincible. Also, while the main event will be the rematch for the lightweight championship, it seems fans are more interested in seeing James Toney fight Randy Couture.

James Toney (No MMA Record)  vs. Randy Couture (18-10-0)

The James Toney/Randy Couture fight is a rare opportunity to matchup MMA vs. Boxing. Of course, the fight will be held in the octagon, but it challenges the theory of MMA incorporating more tactical measures of combat sport rather than boxing's strategic striking game.

While the talk up to the fight has been fun, it's time for this to settle the score, and I believe we all know how this will conclude. “Whatever Randy tries to do, it ain’t going to be enough,” said Toney. Really Toney? Really? Because I believe in boxing, your opponent must stand back when you are rocked while a ref counts to ten. In MMA, when you get rocked and fall down, the ref tends to count in his head... while you continue to take a beating.

Here's my prediction for this fight. Toney will hop around looking for the haymaker, and we all know he hits like a bus. Meanwhile, Randy will hold back, understanding Toney's punching power, then go for a jab, push him to the cage, followed by take-down, ground and pound, and likely a submission. Fight over. Thanks for coming.

Prediction: Couture, Round 1, Submission

Frankie Edgar (12-1-0) vs. BJ Penn (15-6-1)

A rematch for the lightweight championship, Frankie Edgar proved to be faster than BJ Penn at UFC 112, and was elusive enough to avoid Penn's takedown abilities. If Penn does not step it up from his last fight, this should be another five round decision going to Edgar. Still, the speculation around this fight is Edgar in a loss while Penn regains his title glory with dominating power. I just don't see that happening and can't understand why so many people have considered Edgar as a rental to the belt.

BJ Penn has claimed he will be the best fighter the sport has seen, but he tends to lack the force necessary in the octagon to prove his dominance in the division. Edgar hardly cuts to get into the fight and ultimately has the better cardio to last the duration fight at full speed. If Penn doesn't come in swinging for the fences immediately, consider this to be a masterful tactics fight in which Edgar's technique and patience will earn him the victory, and earn Penn complaints.

Prediction: Edgar, Decision

Kenny Florian (14-4-0) vs. Gray Maynard (9-0-0)

This is perhaps the most interesting fight on the card. Kenny Florian has an opportunity to secure a victory and earn another shot at the lightweight title, but Gray's take down advantage and strength in the cage could prove costly in this matchup for Florian.

Expect Kenny to be throwing around a ton of leg kicks to prevent Maynard from shooting in for the takedown. With a height and reach advantage, Floridan could certainly keep the pace of this fight under his control, but should the gap be closed, Maynard could easily sway bout in his direction.

Prediction: Florian, Submission, Round 3

Nate Diaz (12-5-0) vs. Marcus Davis (17-6-0)

Marcus Davis is a former professional boxer. Marcus Davis has two losses in his last three fights. Marcus Davis is about to die in the octagon. Nate Diaz is not only bigger, but he has a better reach, better striking, better octagon control and excellent ground work. Unless Marcus can find a way to tag Diaz and finish the fight early, expect this to be the Nate Diaz show.

Prediction: Diaz, TKO, Round 1

Demian Maia (12-2-0) vs. Mario Miranda (12-1-0)

Maia is a fighter who prefers to stand back, picks his spots and work the ground game. Miranda is a fighter who, to put it nicely, recently annihilated David Loisau. With similar records, these two share very little in terms of fighting styles. Maia will be looking for a takedown and hope for a submission, but Miranda will stand in front of him and look to pick him apart with bombs.

Prediction: Miranda, TKO, Round 1

Dana White has recently discussed this Saturday's intriguing event of boxing champion James Toney taking on UFC veteran Randy Couture in the long, and heated, debate betwee Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing. When it all comes down to it, Dana White hopes Randy Couture proves to the world that MMA is a combat sport of a higher skill level.

"Well, Toney has gotten in the best shape he's ever been in in about I don't know how many years. He's taken this a lot more seriously than he has his boxing career. One of the things with these boxers they have been doing it since they were little kids and how much can they learn? They start to get bored or lazy or whatever you wanna call it. So they don't train as hard. Toney has taken this serious. He's gotten in the best shape he's been in in years and this is going to be a very interesting fight. Anything can happen when two good guys go in there and start throwing punches, scrapping, and fighting. Anything can happen, but James Toney has knockout power in both hands, he's been one of the best and he's fought the best forever. Randy Couture has great wrestling and if you break down stats, James Toney doesn't have as many tools as Randy Couture has so Couture should win the fight. James Toney has talked so much smack I want to see him get smashed in this fight."

It's obvious Dana White would like his sports' original fighter (Randy Couture) to prevail in the bout, but is it a smart decision on behalf of the UFC President to take a stance against one of his newest fighters? And how do you think the bout will go down? Will MMA come out on top with Randy Couture securing the victory, or will James Toney's knockout power prove boxing's strength in the fight community?

Micheal A. Aldred

It is official. Dana White confirmed on ESPN that the next Middleweight title fight would be Anderson Silva defending his title against Chael Sonnen in a re-match that has left some fans excited, and others disappointed that Vitor Belfort would have to wait a little longer.

"It's definitely a rematch I think people are going to want to see," White said following Sonnen's loss. "Looking at Twitter, everybody is saying, 'Rematch. Rematch.' We'll see what happens. Vitor is waiting to fight right now, too. We could do the rematch with Chael, but we'll see what happens. We'll see how it goes."

A few weeks later, and White announces that he will give the fans what they want.

Chael Sonnen spend the majority of the fight on top of Silva in what seemed to be a training session. Sonnen worked his way to the fifth round utilizing his wrestling and ground and pound, but got caught in a triangle that ultimately had Silva stealing the win out from under him - literally.

No matter who White would have lined up against Silva, it is certainly difficult to argue the logic that the most dangerous opponent for "The Spider" to face would, in fact, be Sonnen.

Immediately following the win, Silva claimed he suffered a rib injury prior to the fight. This injury, according to Silva, cost him strength on his feet and allowed Sonnen to capitalize on his takedown skills.

It will be interesting for fans to see what would happen between a "healthy" Silva when these two step back into the Octagon. Will Sonnen learn from his mistakes, or will Silva's skills prevail in the end in consecutive fights?

Fans will have to wait a while, as the fight is not expected to take place until 2011 with Silva recovering from injuries.

Micheal A. Aldred