UFC 118 will always be remembered for one thing- James Toney and big time boxing's introduction to MMA. However, along the way we also got to watch an excellent fight between Nate Diaz-Marcus Davis and Frankie Edgar's domination of MMA legend BJ Penn.
After the fight, UFC President Dana White spoke of how he thought we had all learned lessons regarding grappling, MMA, and stand up fighters back in 1993 when the initial UFC tournament went down. Of course, some fans had not; they needed reinforcement. And that's what they got from Randy Couture's first round victory over James Toney.
It's not that boxing isn't very viable- as a stand up art, it's great. But it's incomplete, and mixed martial arts is all about the complete fighting game. Which is why it only took Randy Couture about 15 seconds to hit that single leg takedown. After some ground and pound, he sunk in the arm-triangle and it was all over.
"You kind of want James to have the complete mixed martial arts experience, don't you?" Couture asked, when prompted to talk about ending the fight via submission vs. ground and pound.
The Frank Edgar-BJ Penn fight was best summarized by White afterwards. "Frankie (Edgar) looked like an absolute mixed martial artist tonight," he said.
Yep. Edgar outwrestled his opponent; he beat him up on his feet with his hands and legs. He even did a good job on the ground against "The Prodigy." Unlike the last time they hooked them up, it was a clear decision victory for the fighter from New Jersey.
Check out the story on the rest of UFC 118 by clicking the link to the fight of your choice below.
Randy Couture defeats James Toney by arm triangle choke at 3:19 of round one.
Frank Edgar defeats BJ Penn by unanimous decision.
Nate Diaz defeats Marcus Davis by choke at 4:02 of round three.
Gray Maynard defeats Kenny Florian by unanimous decision.
Nik Lentz defeats Andre Winner by unanimous decision.
Joe Lauzon defeats Gabe Ruediger by armbar at 2:01 of round one.
Dan Miller defeats John Salter by anaconda choke at 1:53 of round two.
Demian Maia defeats Mario Miranda by unanimous decision.
More Articles
Comments