Super boxing coach Freddie Roach has worked with some of the finest fighters in the UFC, and still works with some of the greatest fighters in boxing but his coaching relationship with Toney ended years ago. However, he’s still concerned about Toney and how many more shots he can take while keeping himself healthy, and he seems genuinely interested in protecting the 42 year olds mental and physical state. Roach talked recently to The Examiner and addressed the situation:

I told James to quit after the second Sam Peter fight. He got hit big shots he never used to get hit with before and it was big heavyweights landing the shots. It’s not just the slurring of his speech. James got pissed off at me, told me to go buck myself but I still consider him my friend. Those shots have taken a toll and I know from experience.

Whether Toney will enter the mixed martial arts arena remains to be seen, although he seems to think that he will continue his new foray into the sport. There’s still talk of a return to boxing as well, with a side show fight against Kimbo Slice a far possibility. Time will tell whether Toney will heed Roach’s words and even more importantly time will tell if Roach had the right of it.

Undefeated UFC heavyweight fighter Cain Velasquez will get his chance at the gold when he takes on champion Brock Lesnar, but every fighter has to find a way to get to the big show. Many would think that Velasquez would be a natural for the UFC with his training team and wrestling pedigree and they would be right. Velasquez only had two fights before UFC president Dana White decided to offer him a contract, as he told GracieMag:

I had two fights on my CV and wanted to fight in other shows before going to the UFC, to get some experience. But It was really hard to get fights with other organizations, so my manager said: ‘We haven’t fought in a long time, we can’t wait any longer. It’s time to call up the UFC.’ He made the call, made Dana White an offer and we went to Vegas. We took two fighters with us and Dana watched me standing with those two fighters and doing Jiu-Jitsu with another two heavyweight athletes. He liked what he saw and told me I was in the UFC

Velasquez will lock up with Lesnar as the main event for UFC 121, which is set for October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Many MMA insiders believe that Velasquez is the next big thing and that he will defeat Lesnar but we’ll have to wait and see. Lesnar’s size could be an issue, but Velasquez has shown some great boxing as well as being a non-stop fighter. Can’t wait for this one.

Wow word gets around fast. Kimbo Slice, who by the way performed much better than James Toney in the UFC, has quickly responded to James Toney via MMAFighting:

“I never heard anything about me fighting James Toney, but you know, like I said, again, I’ll fight anybody, man. C’mon, everybody knows that about me from my street-fighting days. Put anybody in front of me, train me to be the best, I’ll fight the best. That’s one thing about Kimbo Slice that everybody knows.”

A fight between the two would be a huge draw, and you could bank that the pay per view numbers would be amazing to say the least. Despite the fact that Toney’s way past his prime and that Slice isn’t even close to his boxing level the two would generate enough interest from both die hard boxing fans and mainstream America to make it bankable. With Gary Shaw promoting you could certainly see Slice going for the one and done route, and he would more than likely make a ton of money in the process. So far this is nothing but some back and forth but we’ll keep you in the loop.

It didn’t take long at all for outmatched boxing champ turned recent MMA fighter James Toney to start the bad mouthing again, and this time he’s sending out word to the hype machine which is Kimbo Slice. Slice’s manager/promoter Gary Shaw recently had some less than flattering comments to make about Toney’s debut with UFC, and he certainly got Toney’s attention as we found out via FightHype:

“Tell Gary Shaw I’m down to fight Danny Green or welcome Kimbo to boxing…It would have been like taking candy from a baby for me to fight him [Kimbo Slice] with 4 ounce gloves on. But now, since his promoter wants to talk shit about me, I will gladly welcome him into boxing. I fought a MMA legend in my first MMA bout, so now he can fight a legend in his first pro boxing bout.”

Toney still insists he’s going to fight again in mixed martial arts, but hopefully he’ll actually dedicate himself to some cross training and learn how to become a more effective fighter. Doubtful that he’ll ever amount to anything inside the cage but he sure would destroy Kimbo Slice in the boxing ring. Will the side show match occur..also very doubtful.

(photo via Strikeforce.com)
Newly declared Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (13-2) wants to face all comers at 185 pounds. He is hoping to fight soon and is looking forward to meeting the winner of Strikeforce’s upcoming middleweight tournament.

Souza defeated Tim Kennedy this month at “Strikeforce: Houston” in a five round battle that saw the Brazilian quiet his critics by showing he had the cardio to fight for five rounds. “Jacare” earned a unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) over the former Green Beret.

Kennedy has said he’d like a rematch with Souza, but the middleweight champ wants to face a new opponent before fighting Kennedy again.

“Jacare” was recently interviewed by Strikeforce.com and talked about the title, as well as what’s next.

Now that you have the belt, what’s next for you?
Jacare: Well, I am ready to start defending my belt, and it is up to STRIKEFORCE, [CEO] Scott Coker, and the scale to decide who I will be fighting next. If you make 185 lbs., it’s on (laughs)! All I know is, I will keep training hard and keep evolving in all elements of fighting in MMA.

There are rumors that there will be a middleweight tournament to determine a number-one contender for your belt. What are your thoughts on that?
Jacare: Definitely someone very good will come out on top of this tournament, and it will make a great show [if it happens]. STRIKEFORCE has a lot of great fighters in my division, so I know they will keep me very busy.

(photo via UFC.com)
UFC president Dana White recently said that Kenny Florian “chokes in the big fights” following the lightweights recent loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118. Florian and Maynard faced off in a #1 contender bout last Saturday. “The Bully” dominated “Ken-Flo” with his wrestling to take the fight via unanimous decision.

Florian responded to White’s comments recently, noting that his defeat wasn’t because he faltered under the pressure, but because he was out-wrestled.

“I take what Dana said as a compliment because I think he really believes in my skills as a fighter. I was capable of winning the fight but I would have to have fought a very boring fight. I felt great mentally & physically. I have more work to do on my wrestling & have already made the arrangements to become much better in that area of my game.”

“Gray out wrestled me. I didn’t crumble. I have won many main events & important fights. I blame my weakness in wrestling on the loss, not my mental game.”

You can read more of Florian’s quotes at MMAFighting.com.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was a guest of The MMA Hour, along with Nate Marquardt, Matt Mitrione, and UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar on Monday.

MMAFighting.com talked to “Slice” about fighting with the UFC and his plans for the future now that the former street fighter has announced his plans to box professionally.

“I’ve always been the same person, UFC ain’t done [expletive] to me except put more money in my pocket,” Slice said. “Bring me down or tear me up, the UFC was what it was; the opportunity to make some money and feed my family. That’s what it was. I’ve always been humble and I’ll still be that way. They [didn't] make or break me.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m done with [MMA], you know what I’m saying?” Slice said. “But my door is always open.”

“Kimbo’s” last professional fight was an mma bout against Matt Mitrione at UFC 113. The former EliteXC fighter was defeated by his fellow “TUF 10″ cast member in the second round via TKO (punches).

After losing his mixed-martial-arts debut against Randy Couture on Saturday night at UFC 118, boxing champion James Toney (0-1) say’s he plans to continue competing in the sport as well as boxing.

Toney spoke to FightHype.com saying he’d welcome any mma fighters into the ring for a boxing match with him, how great the fans were, and who he’ll box next.

Here’s a quote from that interview.

Man, that’s the main reason I came to MMA. At least MMA guys got guts and they will get in a cage with me. The boxing guys are all talk and no walk. My thing is, all of these bums, David Gaye and Bucktooth Bernard Hopkins, talk all that shit; come and see me! They were quiet as mice until they saw I was signed to fight in the UFC and then they all had an opinion. I’m doing both and I ain’t going nowhere. I’m in it for the long run baby. I’m the only two sport athlete out there and I’m doing the 2 most dangerous sports in the world. No other man will try to do that.

Man, the fans in MMA are great. These motherfucking fans are…they fanatics man. It’s great. I love the atmosphere that they bring. It reminded me of the old days of boxing; the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Boxin gfans used to be like that and we need to bring that back. The MMA scene is so crazy and it’s great.

UFC president Dana White had some harsh comments concerning lightweight fighter Kenny Florian, saying the fighter crumbles under the pressure when faced with big fights.

Florian lost a three round unanimous decision to Gray Maynard Saturday night on the main card of UFC 118. Maynard dominated his opponent throughout the fight, putting Florian on his back several times without fear of Florian’s Jiu-Jitsu.

MMAFighting.com transcribed White’s comments concerning Florian after Saturday’s event.

“I hate to say this because I don’t want to take anything away from Gray Maynard, but I think Kenny is just one of those guys who chokes in big fights. I’m not bad-mouthing him or trying to disrespect him; I’m just being honest. Every time it’s a big fight and there’s a lot of things on the line, Kenny just … Kenny’s hands are unbelievable. Kenny’s ground is unbelievable. Kenny usually kicks guys to the body and legs so hard that he busts guys up. You didn’t see any of that tonight. He stood there and stared at Gray Maynard for three rounds.”

“You’d think his corner would say, ‘Dude, you just lost the first two rounds.’ No sense of urgency in the third round,” White said. “Not saying, ‘I need a knockout or submission in this round.’ None of it. Nothing. And I guarantee you if Kenny comes back and fights one of the mid-level guys, he’ll probably run through them like a f—ing freight train. But the big fights? He crumbles, man.”

If it didn’t come from UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s own mouth, most MMA fans wouldn’t believe that the takedown king doesn’t do any strength and conditioning but its true. Fighters Only recently talked to the champ:

I don’t do strength and conditioning. The reason I lift weights is to make me more marketable, to make my shape more symmetric. I don’t life weights to have an effect on my performance, I don’t believe in it.

I believe sometimes you can do some exercises that help the nervous system. Like Olympic lifting, it makes you more explosive. Olympic lifters are the most explosive athletes in the world. Also gymnastics, I like gymnastics, I think it makes me more athletic.

GSP is certainly going against the mold with his training, but you can’t deny the results as his 21-2 record clearly shows. St. Pierre is currently riding a seven fight win streak which he’ll look to improve on when he rematches Josh Koscheck at the end of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem didn’t take long to reply to the recent request by M-1 and Fedor Emelianenko for a matchup between the two. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon, as Overeem is leaning towards a K-1 fight in October, and even after that doesn’t seem to have any interest in Fedor until he faces Fabricio Werdum. MMAFighting had the quotes:

No, unfortunately not. The reason is because if I enter the Final 16 and win, I will fight the K-1 Final in December. My decision was made because nothing was certain and Strikeforce and M-1 didn’t act fast enough when I made my decision to start K-1 training. Now I read on the internet that Fedor and his management want to fight me all of sudden. Do they really need two months of thinking and negotiating? I think it’s a little strange to be honest. If Fedor challenged me right after the fight it would have been something to take in consideration, but the M-1 management started to say that all the polls on several websites stated that people rather have a Fedor vs. Werdum rematch then a fight against me. There we have another lie by M-1 because every poll I have read stated the opposite and showed that everybody want to see Fedor versus me. Check their current poll at their own Web site (laughs).

Fans have been waiting for this matchup for some time, and it looks like were going to be waiting for a while still. Overeem vs. Fedor is certainly the most compelling heavyweight matchup outside of the UFC, and Strikeforce has got to be wanting this one as well as it would be great for ratings. Looks like it’ll be 2011 before the two lock horns, which seems like a long time away but there’s not much that can be done about it.

Marcus Davis “The Irish Hand Gernade” is set to take on long limbed Gracie fighter Nate Diaz as part of the upcoming UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn II card, and the 36 year old fighter will look to continue to deliver fan friendly fights. While his overall record in the UFC is 8-3 his age, mixed with a 1-2 recent record(although he’s coming off a victory over Jonathan Goulet via TKO at UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2) makes each fight that much more important to his career. He broke down his view of fighting wrestlers, and his thoughts on his upcoming fight with Nick Diaz when he spoke to Heavy.com:

“That’s what I hunt for, fights that make sense. It doesn’t make sense for me to fight wrestlers that are going to try to take me down and lay on top of me and try to grind out a decision just by being safe. It makes more sense for me to be fighting the guys that are going to fight a little bit on the ground, but are also going to fight standing up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s MMA and I do enjoy the whole aspect of it, but I don’t like the laying and praying stuff. Yeah, we are supposed to win fights, but our job is to entertain. That’s what we are. We’re entertainers. I think that we can entertain a lot of people that night.”

“He’s similar to me as far as what he uses in his arsenal. I think that what Diaz does for his boxing, being long, throwing out his lead left hand a lot, he has some good things that he does. But I have more tools. I have better footwork. He moves forwards and backwards. I move side to side. I’m good at closing the gap quickly and getting my shots off and getting back out. I think that I’m the more powerful puncher. I don’t think there is any question about that. I hit guys with one shot and they go out. As far as boxing skill goes, I think I have the advantage there.”

Davis may not be championship material, but his “Fight of the Night” or “KO of the Night” mentality has made him a fan favorite, and you can bet that droves of those same fans will be rooting for him at UFC 118. UFC 118: Edgar Vs. Penn II takes place on August 28, 2010 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and the event will also host the 3rd UFC Fan Expo.