It’s official, the UFC has managed to sign current NABO and IBA heavyweight boxing champion James “Lights Out” Toney (72-6, 0-0MMA) to a multi-fight deal. Toney has been forcing himself on to the UFC roster since stalking Dana White at UFC 108. Dana White, who is a hardcore boxing fan, has decided to sign the 41 year old boxer and heres what he had to say to Yahoo!sports.com:
“We threw the kitchen sink at Brock when he came in. Are we going to do that same thing with James? I don’t know.Tobe 100 percent honest with you, all [expletive] aside, I haven’t thought it out. I like James Toney. He’s one of the greatest boxers ever. I have tremendous respect for him. He said he wanted to fight in the UFC and I was interested. Now he’s here and I have to figure out what to do with him. What we won’t do is make a freak show out of it. I’d be the first to scream if someone else did that, so I’m not going to do it.”
“Hey, I don’t want this to be seen as a joke, and it’s not like Herschel Walker or Canseco or any of those guys. James Toney is a fighter. The worst thing anyone can ever say to me is that they were watching one of my fights and they changed the channel. That’s why I’ll never put [expletive] fights on. James is an interesting case. We know how much talent he has as a boxer and he insists he’ll surprise people by how much MMA he knows. I’ve still got some thinking to do … James came to me and he literally chased me around the country to do it, so I’m giving him the chance. We’ll get it figured out one way or another.”
