Kimbo vs. Mitrione back on; UFC looks to hedge bet with James Toney
by Jason Benfari on March 09, 2010

A highly rumored potential match up between street-fighting legend Kimbo Slice and boxing legend James Toney has been scrapped for now.

After serious consideration, according to a source close to the UFC, the organization has decided that the ramifications of a Toney win against a name as big as Kimbo (dispite his relative modest MMA abilities) could serve as a big blow to the sport as a whole. 

Instead, it appears that the company will look to pit Toney against either a bonafide star, Randy Couture's name has been thrown out as a possibility, or a no-namer where the risk vs. reward would be more in the organizations favor.

The thought is that if Toney beats a no-name MMA fighter, with little experience, the organization, and the sport, can save face in the ongoing Boxing vs. MMA battle by simply writing the loss off as a warm up fight for Toney.

If Toney losses, however, then one of boxing's elite has lost to a no-namer, further enhancing MMA's viability in the eye's of mainstream boxing fans.

Slice (4-1), meanwhile, is definitively out of the running to face Toney, and will instead square off against Matt Mitrione in a heavyweight battle at UFC 113 on May 8. Slice is coming off of a win over Houston Alexander in his last outing in December at the TUF 10 Finale.

Mitrione (1-0) also last fought at TUF 10 Finale, earning a victory over fellow former NFL football player, Marcus Jones, in the second-round of their scheduled three-round grudge-match.

UFC 113 takes place in Montreal at the Bell Centre on May 8, and will be headlined by a highly anticipated rematch of Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

 |  (16) Comments Mtx: I really think Toney should fight a no name first. Just imagine what would happen if a legend like Couture where to loose to Toney, the repercussions would be disastrous for MMA. Give him a no name with great wrestling skills to see Toney panicking on the ground or give him a good K-1 fighter like Cro Cop and let us see how he handles getting kicked. mike5k: If Toney was to beat Couture it would just be "yeah but Couture's a 47 year old wrestler" and not so catastrophic. Cro Cop or anybody that's going to stand with this guy will be in grave danger at any given moment. I don't like that idea at all. My preference would be to go with an up-and-comer for now. GO HARD: i understand what your saying mtx. and i agree that Toney KOing CroCop would not impact the sport as much as if he KO'd Couture... even with Coutures age. when i go to the bar and watch UFC... if CroCop headlined a fight, it would not be packed.. when Couture fights... its always packed. he is one of the faces of the UFC. personally i think they should have Toney fight Anderson Silva... wouldnt it be beautiful to see Toney not be able to land a punch... to see Silva mentally destroy Toney like he did to Forrest... wouldnt that be great?!?! q; D xdusty: i just wanna see toney fight someone who can kick really hard. i just wanna see his face the first time he gets a nice solid crack on the ribs or thigh.
WHO WINS THE MAIN EVENT AT UFC 162 BETWEEN ANDERSON SILVA AND CHRIS WEIDMAN?
Silva via Decision
Silva via TKO/KO
Silva via Submission
Weidman via Decision
Weidman via TKO/KO
Weidman via Submission
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!