Day 5 – 12/5/10
Day 4 – 12/4/10
Day 3 – 12/3/10
Day 2 – 12/2/10
Day 1 – 12/1/10
20. James Tony vs. Randy Couture
When it happened – UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II (August 28, 2010))
Admittedly, this fight doesn’t have the flash and pizzazz of the last five fights that have appeared on this list. Remember that when I first started typing out this list I said that some fights will have a spot on this list just because I feel that they are a highlight in the year of 2010 for MMA. James Toney vs. Randy Couture would be one of those fights.
Ok, I’m not going to spout out hype that any hardcore fight fan knows is bs. No, this fight wasn’t an encounter between boxing and MMA for the ages nor did it prove MMAs dominance over boxing or vice versa. In all honesty, it was a fight between two Hall of Famers of their respective sports who are certainly past their physical primes. Hell, I even said before the fight that all a win for Randy Couture would do was underline the importance of cross-training in MMA and all a win for James Toney would do was show that MMA stand-up is years behind boxing stand-up; essentially two things that most MMA fans already knew.
So why is this fight on the list? Because no matter how much older he gets, Randy Couture can still get out there and put on a show. Don’t mistake what I say, I mean a win over James Toney in an MMA match is certainly no big feat. It’s just that Randy Couture, at age 47, can continue to get in the Octagon and still perform as if he was a fighter in his prime. And the crowd…they never get any louder than when Couture is in the cage. This is Couture in his finest form.
