Toney put through the wringer by Couture. Photo: Josh Hedges
At UFC 118, which took place last Saturday in Boston, the main event was between Frank Edgar and BJ Penn, in a lightweight title dispute. Nevertheless, the biggest payout didn’t go to the participants in that bout.
Nor did the heftiest paycheck go to Randy Couture, a hall-of-famer and one of the biggest idol of the sport in the USA. The fattest check was James Toney’s, the boxing champion who made his first appearance in MMA. Just three minutes and nineteen seconds in the octagon, during which time the fighter succumbed to a snug arm-triangle choke by Couture – read, not much work –, was enough for the pugilist to pocket five hundred thousand dollars.
Check out the payouts for the last UFC event:
Frankie Edgar: US$96,000
B.J. Penn: US$150,000
Randy Couture: US$250,000
def. James Toney: US$500,000
Demian Maia: US$68,000
Mario Miranda: US$8,000
Gray Maynard: US$46,000
Kenny Florian: US$65,000
Nate Diaz: US$60,000 + US$60, 00 (best fight)
Marcus Davis: US$31,000 + US$60, 00 (best fight)
Joe Lauzon: US$24,000 + US$60, 00 (best submission)
Gabe Ruediger: US$8,000
Nik Lentz: US$22,000
Andre Winner: US $10,000
Dan Miller: US$30,000
John Salter: US $8,000
Greg Soto: US$12,000
Nick Osipczak: US$10,000
Mike Pierce: US$24,000
Amilcar Alves: US$6,000
There was no best knockout prize, as there were no knockouts at the event.
Paying Toney that much more is a slap in the face to the other true MMA fighters that fought that night!!!!!!BS..
Rick, this is professional PRIZE fighting. UFC 118 was somewhat a disappointment; but, the mystique Toney brought to UFC 118 and the trash talking – be it good or bad – IS WHAT SOLD UFC 118.
True, it was a proverbial slap in the face of “true MMA fighters”; but, like it or not, that night was all about the intrigue of Couture-Toney bought rather than Frankie Edgar “proving y’all wrong again”. Gray Maynard, although a great fighter, is NOT an entertaining personality nor interview.
To me, the best thing about UFC 118 was the fight between Nate Diaz and Marcus Davis. That fight was everything I thought it would be and Nate, AGAIN, demonstrated beautiful submission skills.
The moral of the story is, you put B-U-TTs in seats, you get paid the most money. Fight Economics, partner … nothing more than Supply (What you have in skills and marketablity) and Demand.