Bad James Toney Argument #2: The Olympic delusion

The argument: People wouldn't be getting upset if the UFC signed an Olympic wrestler or a judoka.

You know what, MMA fans would be excited to see how an Olympic caliber wrestler or judoka would develop.

Wait, what was the key word there? Here, WKR will help you out.

DEVELOP

Like any bad argument there is an element of truth to it but it quickly crumbles under scrutiny.

Even if we say that James Toney is a great boxer he still isn't the equivalent of Satoshi Ishii, Chad Mendes or Ben Askren, all of which represent young, highly skilled athletes that are currently in the process of making the transition to MMA. Something that required proper training and serious dedication. Even these young, highly skilled fighters haven't made the transition seamlessly. Satoshi Ishii was soundly beaten by journeyman Hidehiko Yoshida (9-7-1) while Askren is still an unknown and based on the booing at WEC 47 a lot of fans didn't appreciate Chad Mendes constantly diving for a single leg. These prospects that generate a lot of hopeful excitement ultimately need time to develop and James Toney doesn't have any time to add an effective sprawl to his game.

Unfortunately the above rebuke is rendered pointless because James Toney isn't good anymore. Thus by comparing him other accomplished athletes in their prime is a fallacy to begin with. In reality Toney is a washed up, out of shape, old boxer, who is nowhere near the top of his game. A better comparison for Toney is not some top-level wrestler or jiu-jitsu practitioner. Rather it would be Kurt Angle, a forty-one year old wrestler whose glory days were in the mid-nineties and is probably in search of one last pay day. If the UFC signed Angle wouldn't it be widely viewed as a freak show stunt?

Hell and yes.