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Nope, James Toney isn’t stopping with the YouTube videos just because he finally got the UFC deal he was looking for. Funny thing is with each passing one it’s getting harder and harder to understand what the hell he is saying, but I’m pretty sure the whole point of this one is to call out Kimbo Slice. Dude’s been hit in the head one too many times.

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“If they think I’m going to go in there and get choked out or lay down and get my armbarred and all that, they got another thing coming to ‘em, you know what I’m saying? Like I said, yeah, you’re right, MMA is not like boxing because boxing is tougher, you know what I’m saying? I look at it like this, if a guy get in there and try to take me to the ground, he might see his head go into orbit. The head is going into orbit, for real. These guys in MMA, they good wrestlers and good grapplers and good kickers, like girls, but, you know, when it comes to throwing them blows, they ain’t got a chance in hell, you know what I’m saying? Then they say I don’t got a chance if I go to the floor. Hey, the only way you gonna know is if you tune in and watch. And that’s what I want you to do. Pay your $54.95, come see James Toney. If you hate me, come see me try to get beat, if you love me, you enjoy the ride, have a good time and eat your popcorn…Randy Couture, he respects my game like I respect his game. He’s the best at what he do in his sport; I’m the best at what I do in my sport. We gonna see who has the better style and everybody know it’s James Toney. If he tries to throw blow for blow with me, he definitely gonna get knocked out. That’s a given, you know what I’m saying? If he tries to take me to the ground, it ain’t going to be easy, you know what I’m saying? He’s still gonna get knocked out. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation for him.”

—James Toney telling Fight Hype he’ll knock out Randy Couture wherever the fight goes

I’m not gonna lie, I couldn’t care less about James Toney fighting in the UFC (a boxer in their prime like Pacquiao, yes, Toney, no) and damn sure wouldn’t pay $55 just to see him, but if he fights Couture, it will be kind of entertaining to see what happens if Couture manages to put him in his clinch and dump him on the mat. Something tells me if that happens, it won’t be Couture who gets knocked out.

What do you think? Is Couture the right opponent for Toney? Would Toney knock him out?

The main event for the not-yet-official-but-totally-happening-to-screw-with-Strikeforce  UFC Fight Night 22 card still hasn’t leaked, but all the speculation is still centering around Kimbo Slice. To add more fuel to that fire, Matt Mitrione was set to fight Kimbo Slice on May 8 at UFC 113, but now he’s not sure what the hell is going on.

“I have no clue what’s going on; the last 15 hours have been pretty crazy,” Mitrione said. “To be truly honest, I haven’t heard a thing from the UFC, and it’s frustrating me. It’s my understanding that it took awhile to get his paperwork signed, but I’m sure it’s signed.

“Then again, that doesn’t mean (expletive). When I was in the NFL I signed a contract, they signed a contract, and they can cut you whenever they want. I know that from first-hand experience.”

“I texted Joe Silva (Thursday) night and asked what was happening, if there was any danger of this being cancelled,” Mitrione said. “His response was basically that nothing was official and that I should keep preparing — that I’m still fighting in Montreal.”

If the UFC does put Kimbo Slice at the forefront of this card, the other question will be who is his opponent? Well, it doesn’t sound like it will be Matt Mitrione unless they’re just keeping him in the dark until they get a green light from Kimbo. The big rumor out there is James Toney, but after he was done telling MDS he isn’t worried about takedowns he said he’s positive he’ll fight this summer on a pay-per-view.

So for now it remains a mystery, but with only five or so weeks left to promote the event we should find out soon enough.

Update: Turns out Kimbo Slice won’t be a part of the UFC Fight Night 22 card after all. The UFC has officially announced Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione for UFC 113. Dave Meltzer says Kimbo was under serious consider for April 17, but apparently the UFC has decided to go in a different direction. What that direction is is anyone’s guess at this point.

If you thought live counter-programming was the only trick the UFC has up their sleeve for Strikeforce on April 17, you might be sorely mistaken. They may be going after Strikeforce’s ticket sales too.

The venue for the proposed UFC event has not been settled upon, though speculation centers on Vanderbilt University’s Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. Tennessee Athletic Commission Executive Director Jeff Mullen told Sherdog.com the UFC had not yet applied for a permit.

For those that aren’t familiar with Nashville, the Bridgestone Arena and Vanderbilt University are literally only two miles apart. If Tennessee mixed martial arts fans have the choice between attending a UFC event live or a Strikeforce event, you know a lot are going to hit up the UFC show even if their card is weaker, and I wouldn’t put it past the UFC to give away boatloads of tickets if they have to just to screw Strikeforce. All is fair in love and war I suppose, but damn, that would just be downright mean.

By the way, Mike Swick will not fight Matt Serra on the card. He has a pretty serious arm injury that will likely need surgery. The other big rumor out there is that James Toney would make his debut against Kimbo Slice, but all actual reports on Kimbo and Toney suggest otherwise. The rumor is coming from Carmichael Dave who’s close with Dana White though, so you never know.

One other tidbit, and it probably goes without saying, but word is Strikeforce’s future with CBS may be heavily dependent upon the ratings of the Nashville show.

Update: More from Dave Meltzer:

On Thursday, UFC president Dana White confirmed a live show on the same date, “Ultimate Fight Night 22,” on Spike TV. While UFC countered an Affliction pay-per-view show in 2008 with a live event featuring Anderson Silva, if things don’t change this time, it will be the first time the two top promotions run major nationally televised events simultaneously.

No matches are confirmed for the UFC show, however. Thursday, White attempted to make Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick, but that will be impossible since Swick just suffered an arm injury and will likely need surgery. UFC sources indicated Kimbo Slice vs. James Toney was under consideration, but the talks hit snags.

No site has been confirmed for the UFC show, although it is known at least two locations are under consideration in the state of Tennessee, including Nashville’s Vanderbilt University.

So it’s definitely happening, the questions are with who and where?

Here’s Jim Rome’s take on the UFC-James Toney signing. While nothing is official or even been hinted at by the UFC, James Toney says in this interview they’re planning on him making his UFC debut in June or July which would be UFC 115 in Vancouver or UFC 116 in Las Vegas, same card Brock Lesnar is expected to return on.

“We threw the kitchen sink at Brock when he came in. Are we going to do that same thing with James? I don’t know. To be 100 percent honest with you, all [expletive] aside, I haven’t thought it out…I like James Toney. He’s one of the greatest boxers ever. I have tremendous respect for him. He said he wanted to fight in the UFC and I was interested. Now he’s here and I have to figure out what to do with him. What we won’t do is make a freak show out of it. I’d be the first to scream if someone else did that, so I’m not going to do it…Hey, I don’t want this to be seen as a joke, and it’s not like Herschel Walker or Canseco or any of those guys. James Toney is a fighter. The worst thing anyone can ever say to me is that they were watching one of my fights and they changed the channel. That’s why I’ll never put [expletive] fights on…James is an interesting case. We know how much talent he has as a boxer and he insists he’ll surprise people by how much MMA he knows. I’ve still got some thinking to do. But if we promote him and he does well and that raises his profile and he gets a Klitschko fight and makes a lot of money for himself and Goossen, I’d be cool with that. But James came to me and he literally chased me around the country to do it, so I’m giving him the chance. We’ll get it figured out one way or another.”

—Dana White telling Yahoo! Sports he’s still figuring out what to do with James Toney, but it won’t be a “freak show”

The report also reveals that Toney will compete as a light heavyweight and will be allowed to box, which is a first for the UFC. According to Dana, Strikeforce was also talking to Toney about fighting Herschel Walker. Toney had this to say about the signing.

“Don’t make wise cracks about my weight, because I’ve been working hard and the next time you see me, you’ll be shocked,” said Toney, who said he would probably box sometime in the next six weeks to get the rust off. “Dana put his foot in his mouth and said UFC guys are better fighters than boxers. We’ll see. Everyone who knows anything about fighting knows I’m the purest fighter in the game. There ain’t no secrets.

“I’ve been fighting a long time. I was born fighting. I know what I’m doing. Boxing is still my main focus, but them guys are a bunch of (expletives) and they don’t want to fight. So I called Dana after he put his foot in his mouth and I’m going to prove he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

His first opponent is still a mystery, but Randy Couture is already asking for the fight.

Update: Dave Meltzer seems to think the Toney signing, or at least the willingness on the UFC’s part to allow him to box, had a lot to do with Strikeforce trying to sign him to fight Herschel Walker.Via Fight Opinion:

“Strikeforce was negotiating or at least Dana (White) was under the impression that Strikeforce was negotiating a Herschel Walker/James Toney fight for CBS most likely, perhaps for PPV. And so he decided that I will outbid them and ruin that fight. So I think that’s what that’s all about because the key to me is that they’re letting [Toney] box. I mean, like if [UFC] had any you know thoughts that this guy was really valuable to them, they weren’t going to sign him to a non-exclusive contract. They’ve never signed anyone to a non-exclusive contract and they signed him to a non-exclusive contract.”

On a semi-related note, there are rumblings that the UFC may counter-program Strikeforce’s April 17 CBS event with a live event of their own. However, since Herschel Walker is no longer associated with that card, will the UFC still see it as a big of enough threat to justify putting together a whole new event for? Doesn’t seem like it to me, but who knows. I wouldn’t put it past the UFC to do anything to crush the competition. Apparently, Strikeforce is prepared for it though. Josh Gross is hearing SF has the flexibility to switch their event to April 24 and counter WEC 48 if the UFC tries to counter them on April 17. Promotion chess match.

Oh, and by the way, Pat Barry wants to fight James Toney…tonight!

“It’s awesome, man,” he said. “It just widens the pool of fighters. If it was up to me, I’d rather see someone get stung and knocked out versus submitted any day. If he hits you, you’re going to get hurt. I’m looking forward to seeing him do damage if he can make the adjustment.”

“It’s dope, man,” Barry said. “I want to fight him. Tonight.”

Love that guy.

So it looks like James Toney and the UFC reached a deal after all.

According to Five Oz., Toney has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC.

FiveOuncesofPain.com has been informed through sources close to the situation that James Toney has recently been signed to a multi-fight contract with the UFC.

Mike Chiappetta has since confirmed the news with Dana White, so this one is about as official as it gets without a press release.

I guess the question now is who, when and where will Toney fight? Maybe a fellow striker like Cheick Kongo or Kimbo Slice (or Simba Spice as Toney likes to call him)? Or maybe a legend like Randy Couture or Minotauro Nogueira who can show him the finer points of mixed martial arts? Who knows, Dana didn’t say, but the bigger question I find myself still asking is why?

Update: Rampage Jackson’s former trainer, Juanito Ibarra, has been tasked with helping Toney make the transition from boxing to MMA.

“We have been working on stretching, sprawling and movement, all the things he will need to get a handle on,” Ibarra said.

Ibarra said he wasn’t sure about an opponent or a date for Toney’s first bout. The trainer said he hopes Toney would be matched up with Kimbo Slice, noting that Toney should be given an opportunity to “get his feet under him” in the UFC.

Here’s James Toney trying once again to talk his way into the UFC. The guy’s persistent if nothing else.

Gee, what will we ever do without this guy?