James “Lights Out” Toney continues his verbal assault against UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture as he hypes their upcoming bout at UFC 118 in Boston. Toney pretends to call 911 siting that Couture has been murdered, and of course, he’s the one that did it. All the talk on Toney’s end should make for an interesting bout, and UFC 118 is certainly a stacked card with Edgar vs. Penn as the co-main event, and KenFlo taking on Gray Maynard. Also official for the card is the return of Nate Marquardt as he takes on jiu-jitsu ace Rousimar Palharas. Wow talk about a name card.
As a reminder, tickets for the highly anticipated "UFC 118: Edgar vs.
Penn II" event go on sale to the general public beginning June 25, but
the UFC's traditional pre-sales begin June today.
Tickets for the event range from $75 to $600.
The pay-per-view show takes place Aug. 28 at TD Garden in Boston and
marks the UFC's Massachusetts debut.
Boxing legend and soon-to-be UFC fighter James “Lights Out” Toney took a little time out of his busy training schedule to speak about his upcoming MMA debut against Randy “The Natural” Couture.
Toney and Couture are set to square off in the Octagon during UFC 118 in Boston on August 28.
UFC 118 is still almost two months away but the card is set to be a completely stacked affair, with two main event bouts and several other solid fights. UFC will be in Boston, Mass. for the first time, and it seems like the UFC wants to set the bar extremely high. The main event will feature the first title defense of Frankie Edgar as he rematches BJ Penn while the co-main event will feature UFC Hall of famer Randy Couture returning to the Octagon to take on boxing star James Toney. The card doesn’t get any weaker as Nate Marquardt looks to rebound from his loss to Chael Sonnen as he takes on BJJ wizard Rousimar Palhares while boston’s own Kenny Florian will fight game Gray Maynard. There’s even unconfirmed rumors that Nate Diaz will be fighting on the card possibly against Marcus Davis. Wow this is a must by pay per view.
Main card
Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn
Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. James Toney
Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Middleweight bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Terry Etim
Preliminary card
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz
Middleweight bout: Phil Baroni vs. John Salter
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto
Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves
Edgar will look to make his first title defense against BJ Penn at UFC 118. It’s going to be interesting to see what how the odds-makers perceive the bout, with many MMA insiders expecting Penn to regain his title. UFC 118 is set for Aug. 28 at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass and the card will feature a much anticipated co-main event between UFC hall of famer Randy “The Natural” Couture and former champion boxer James Toney.
Highly ranked UFC lightweight Kenny Florian will face Gray Maynard in front of his hometown crowd on Aug. 28 at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. Florian also talks about providing the color commentary for the TUF 11 Finale and Sunday’s WEC 49 event.
The name “Jose Aldo” warrants both fear and respect among featherweight fighters these days, but how much praise does a champion’s training partner deserve before he’s even made his WEC debut?
At “WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus“, fight fans will get an opportunity to draw their own conclusions about Renan Barao — training partner of the current WEC champ and a 20-1 Brazilian fighter whose current 20-fight win streak dates all the way back to his pro debut — but while all the hype seems to surround Barao for his upcoming WEC bantamweight debut, people shouldn’t be too quick to count out the challenger, Anthony Leone.
One of several undefeated fighters from Team Bombsquad, Leone himself is no stranger to trading punches with champions. At 21, he left Long Island, NY and headed to Hilo, HI to study MMA under former UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn. Since then he’s compiled an undefeated record of 8-0 and is just as eager as Barao to get his name out there this Sunday at WEC49.
“My opponent is pretty good. He’s 20-1, with a 20-fight win streak, I know that, but he’s never really faced a wrestler or somebody who will switch it up on him like I can,” Leone said. “All the guys he’s fought are mostly Muay Thai fighters… I don’t know, I think he’s got a lot of hype behind him.”
Leone on the other hand has been winning quietly the last two years, jumping back and forth between the 145 and 155 lb. divisions, but always in the mix with the best around and consistently coming out on top by submission or decision.
Before coming back from Hawaii in 2008, Leone turned to the popular MMA forum The Underground in search of a quality camp to join when he got home to New York. Right away, all signs pointed to Cortland based Bombsquad.
“That was all Zack,” said Leone. “We met on The Underground and he asked me, ‘What type of opponents are you looking for?’ Then he gave me three options; an easy opponent, a hard opponent or whoever we put in front of you. I said, ‘I don’t really care.’ I was 1-0 at the time and feeling pretty good. The rest is history.”
Leone has kept busy since he got back to the mainland and has been in and out of the cage just about every three months for his entire career, but it wasn’t until he took a single fight at 135 that he got noticed by the likes of the WEC.
He and his manager had decided a few months back that the WEC was just too stacked at 145 to make a run at a featherweight contract, so when a new promotion called the XCFL offered Leone a title shot and a chance to drop to 135 for a fight with undefeated Boston Sityodtong prodigy in Teteki Matsui, he jumped at the chance.
The result was a bantamweight debut that contained more memorable moments than most’s career highlight video.
Leone revealed new found speed and the same kind of power against Matsui. He took him down with slams from the front as well as behind, unloaded straight left and right punches at an incredible pace and ate more than one headkick as well as an illegal knee to the head while he was down.
“I had to cut 30 pounds to make 135,” said Leone. “I think i got a lot faster but those guys [in the WEC] are so much faster too. It’s got its ups and downs.”
The real difference in the wrestler’s game came when he moved Upstate so he could train with the Bombsquad full time. He explained there were people to roll with in Long Island but nothing could match the sparring he received day in and day out with his brothers at arms in Cortland.
“Moving up to Cortland has been great for me,” he said. “Back when I used to train in Long Island we’d mostly work on my wrestling or jiu-jitsu, but not spar. Then, I come up to Cortland and we’re forced to spar atleast three or four times a week. I never used to like to get hit, but now I’m used to it. I’m never scared to get in cage and take a shot. I know it’s going to happen — I know I’m going to get punched — it’s just a matter of doing it back to him.”
As World Extreme Cagefighting continues to gather up the most talented fighters under 155 pounds, more and more exciting fights have found their way onto the undercard. This weekend’s event will feature Wagney Fabiano along with Raphael Assuncao and Diego Nunes competing in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, and fight fans can’t afford to miss Barao and Leone.
After Thursday's official announcement of UFC 118, a 10th fight has been added to the lineup and is now part of the night's preliminary card.
As expected, after a brief stop in the welterweight division, veteran fighter Phil Baroni returns to middleweight to fight fellow 185-pounder John Salter.
UFC 118 takes place Aug. 28 at TD Garden in Boston.
On Thursday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made it’s official announcement for the promotions first trip to Boston with “UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2.” The even will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. on Aug. 28.
The event features a UFC lightweight title rematch between current champ Frankie Edgar and former champ BJ Penn, who lost to Edgar in April at UFC 112 via unanimous decision. Co-headlining the Boston show will be a heavyweight matchup featuring UFC legend Randy Couture, who steps into the octagon against boxing champion James “Lights Out” Toney who will make his mixed martial arts debut at the August event.
In a press release from the UFC, it’s president, Dana White, praised the city of Boston and explained how excited he was about a couple of the fighters on the card.
“Without a doubt, August 28th will be one of the highlights of my career, I’m thrilled to bring the UFC to Boston for the first time in our history,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Boston is one of the world’s greatest fight towns, fans only expect the best, and we are bringing it with the rematch between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar, and the Octagon-debut of boxing legend James Toney vs. one of the greatest UFC heavyweights of all-time, Randy Couture.”
“Frankie pulled off the upset of the year when he beat BJ in April, and I know that both of these guys are coming to Boston with something to prove – Frankie wants to cement his place at the top of the division, and BJ wants to show that his loss was just a fluke – so this is going to be one to remember,” said White.
“Toney is a real fighter, a future Hall of Famer, and the most accomplished boxer ever to fight in the UFC, and I think everyone’s curious to see what he can do against Couture’s wrestling and ground and pound attack. Toney promised me that he’s coming to win, and knowing him like I do, I would never count him out,” said White.
Coinciding with UFC 118 in Boston, will be the third ever UFC Fan Expo which will be held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. on Friday Aug. 27, and Saturday, Aug. 28.
As the world’s premier MMA event, the UFC Fan Expo provides millions of fans the opportunity to experience, celebrate, learn and rub shoulders with some of the most exciting athletes in sports today. Fans will take advantage of all the UFC has to offer through a jam-packed weekend of events including exhibitions, training & development sessions with elite fighters and iconic MMA coaches, fan-inspired special events and competitions, meet & greets with top fighters and demos of various fighting techniques.
The recently announced "UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II" event in Boston airs on pay-per-view, but the August event also will get a one-hour "UFC Prelims" special on Spike TV.
A source close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com that two preliminary-card fights will air prior to the night's PPV airing.
Officials, though, have not decided which fights will air as part of the Aug. 28 special.
As a reminder, tickets for the highly anticipated "UFC 118: Edgar vs.
After Thursday's official announcement of UFC 118, a 10th fight has been added to the lineup and is now part of the night's preliminary card.
The recently announced "UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II" event in Boston airs on pay-per-view, but the August event also will get a one-hour "UFC Prelims" special on Spike TV.