Why don't top UFC guys step into the boxing ring?

First and foremost, I'm a fan of both sports. Obviously, Boxing is numero uno, but I still watch and enjoy UFC/MMA on a regular basis. Regarding the Boxing vs MMA argument, you have Joe Rogan, Dana White, and other UFC personalities criticising boxing at every opportunity, declaring that boxing is a dying sport, mixed martial artists are more skillful, and if a boxer stepped into the octagon they would get destroyed. That may well be the case, and I don't give anybody south of Mayweather and Pacquaio a chance in the octogon against a top UFC competitor. However at least boxers are willing to step up to the plate and defend the sport. James Toney is fighting a 'legend' of the UFC in his first ever matchup. No tune ups, no easy ride to the top. He is old school and taking on the best. Now a top boxer is stepping into the realm of UFC, when is a top mixed martial artist going to step in the ring and take on a legend of our sport? If Toney loses against Couture, it's all well and good for Dana White to declare that mixed martial artists are superior to boxers when the boxer is the fish out of water, ignoring the fact that there are no UFC competitors willing to step into the boxing ring to settle the real truth. How about a boxing match involving the UFC's best and boxing's best? BJ Penn vs Sergio Martinez Anderson Silva vs Andre Ward GSP vs Pacquaio Lesnar vs Haye It's time for the UFC's best to step into the boxing ring. Toney and Mercer have done it on the other foot, now its their turn. These guys can't boxe, i like George St-Pierre in his sport, but he wouldn't last a round in a boxing ring with a top Boxer. A Top boxer wouldn't be able to wrestle with him either and it's ok like that. These are different sports that needs years of training to master. A good exemple would be trying to play hockey when your skating is weak. I play hockey and that European guy who play Pro Soccer and knew how to skate wanted to try it so he came in a game but he stopped playing after only 30 seconds... he was impressed by the speed... it was dangerous for him but he didn't know before trying the real thing...

This has to be the dumbest thing that I have ever heard in the history of the fuking internet! How the fuk would you know and how are you even qualified to make that observation. Have you ever wrestled? How many times did you see Brock wrestle when he was in collage? Have you ever Boxed or wrestled in your life? Do you even know how to box? Are you an actual athlete yourself? how long have you been a boxing trainer for? How long have you been a boys wrestling coach? These are the things that you should ask yourself before you make completely outlandish comments that make you look like an ignorent fool! Seriously you guys will just make shit up in your tiny mosquito brains just to shit on MMA a sport that has nothing to fuking do with Boxing whatsoever. I repeat, if you read my first post, you'd have seen that I won the state twice here in Pennsylvania and have rolled around with some very established athletes. Currently I am pursuing boxing, training out of upper darby with Nard, Garcia, and Jones. Watch any collegiate footage of lesnar. A complete powerhouse shy of technique. No one is putting down MMA, I train out of an MMA facility and LOVE the sport. I was just stating the obvious, wrestling is very "natural". We roll around with our brothers and things as kids.. many of the things we learn on the mat are things we knew already, just didn't perfect through repetition or have a name for. I was applying rare naked chokes to people when I was 7 years old, for example. It was the "sleeper hold" to me. This is all natural stuff, man. Get real, and stop being so testy. I'm not being ignorant or speaking on anything I know nothing about. Wrestling is a very natural sport.. the majority of the things that go on in the mat are pretty self explanatory.

Please roll around with a Minnesota or a Michigan St. wrestler and say this again. I've rolled around with many. I went all state twice and pursued the individuals (couldn't do college after being locked up) before taking a stab at boxing, which is what I currently am doing. I wouldn't speak on something I know nothing about. Josh Churella came to the MMA facility at Cancico arena in King Of Prussia and I managed to pin him twice.

roy jones jr ducked anderson silva in a boxing match multiple times there's your answer

This is true, but you can get by with just natural gifts alone half the time. I.E brock lesnar never had technique or any real "skill" in college, but he took over division 1 just with size and power a lone. This has to be the dumbest thing that I have ever heard in the history of the fuking internet! How the fuk would you know and how are you even qualified to make that observation. Have you ever wrestled? How many times did you see Brock wrestle when he was in collage? Have you ever Boxed or wrestled in your life? Do you even know how to box? Are you an actual athlete yourself? how long have you been a boxing trainer for? How long have you been a boys wrestling coach? These are the things that you should ask yourself before you make completely outlandish comments that make you look like an ignorent fool! Seriously you guys will just make shit up in your tiny mosquito brains just to shit on MMA a sport that has nothing to fuking do with Boxing whatsoever.

all i will say on this is if 2 top fighters are available they will fight each other. none of the shit we have seen in boxing lately

BJ Penn vs Sergio Martinez Anderson Silva vs Andre Ward GSP vs Pacquaio Lesnar vs Haye It's time for the UFC's best to step into the boxing ring. Toney and Mercer have done it on the other foot, now its their turn. LOL who gives a shiiit. boxing vs. mma is so stupid. i love boxing but Toney's old/fat ass is gonna get raped. It all depends where a fight takes place. If an ELITE mma fighter fights an ELITE boxer with mma rules, mma wins. if it's in a boxing ring, boxer wins. simple as that. and when i say elite, i mean CURRENTLY. not past their prime Toney etc. so enough with all of these what if scenarios. but here's what i think of the matchups you posted BJ Penn vs Sergio Martinez (pretty close in weight. SERGIO. Anderson Silva vs Andre Ward (Silva has a 2-1 record in boxing. silva can fight at 205 in mma and way too big for ward. SILVA ) GSP vs Pacquaio (gsp fights at 170 and can probably move up to 185. GSP) Lesnar vs Haye (lesnar is 260+ but he's got no stand up. HAYE)

This is true, but you can get by with just natural gifts alone half the time. I.E brock lesnar never had technique or any real "skill" in college, but he took over division 1 just with size and power a lone. Now, in mma, you're seeing how sloppy his "wrestling" really is. I've yet to see him take a SHOT.. it literally runs and tackles for a double lol. Please roll around with a Minnesota or a Michigan St. wrestler and say this again.

because they would look like they never threw a punch in their life and get knocked out cold

Because UFC guys are not delusional enough to think they can hang in there with REAL boxers. Guys like Din Thomas, Ryan Shultz, Tim Sylvia are the only idiots who thought they could beat boxers at their own game. The 2 first ones never had the balls to do it. Sylvia got KTFO in 9 seconds tryin to stand and bang with an old Ray Mercer. BJ.Penn, Frankie Edgar and Anderson Silva wouldn't be ridiculous in a boxing ring but that's it. Overeem have great success in both K1 and MMA.

^ wrestling at an elite level is pretty hard actually. Not harder than boxing, but there is alot of techinque and skill required. This is true, but you can get by with just natural gifts alone half the time. I.E brock lesnar never had technique or any real "skill" in college, but he took over division 1 just with size and power a lone. Now, in mma, you're seeing how sloppy his "wrestling" really is. I've yet to see him take a SHOT.. it literally runs and tackles for a double lol. It's just very natural. the elite level of any sport obviously requires the entire arsenal to be great, but the requirements to reach the top vary in each sport as well. Wrestling alone, and bjj alone, ary very natural things. We roll around as kids.. i was rare naked choking people before i knew what a rare naked choke was.. I'd put my legs around someones neck to before I knew it was a triangle, you know? It's just stuff we do, out of fun, knowing it's effective.. it's natural, it's instinct. UFC has had many champions that looks like they came straight from the bar. Who lacked heavily in many areas but excelled in 1, and usually didn't even train in that area. A lot of top fighters in MMA are just strong willed people with a desire to win.. heart, and strength, but no real skill or technique.. and it gets them by. It's hard to find that in boxing, you need it all.

That's where spars come in, and a lot of top fighters spar with mma guys. going by boxing records alone KJ noons is the best "boxer" in mma (or second best ) and he was beaten on pretty bad sparring Omar Henry. The MMA lovers were making KJ noons out to be some amazing boxer. I looked up his record and it was full of bums with losing records. There was a guy that was like 4-13-0

as far as UFC goes, Dana "monopoly" White wont allow it, as for boxers, no prime fighter has gone into the octagon, however a few years back Kermit Cintron did say he would go and fight, but he has some wrestling background too tho and UFC/Dana White ignored the offer. Toney started as a boxing middleweight, as he moved up, he didn’t carry much power to compete vs the HW in boxing but did ok with his skills, however if he has any chance at his old age and in that sport, it is a punchers chance, which he has never been. Look at sylvia vs mercer, Ray Mercer had a good punch and nice power, he went to kick boxing after he could no longer box and then agreed to a fight in mma, he went 0-2 in kick boxing and 1-0 in MMA There have been claims that some MMA fighters want to box with a top professional boxer and see what the outcome is, but I guess we will have to wait and see That's where spars come in, and a lot of top fighters spar with mma guys. going by boxing records alone KJ noons is the best "boxer" in mma (or second best ) and he was beaten on pretty bad sparring Omar Henry.

^ wrestling at an elite level is pretty hard actually. Not harder than boxing, but there is alot of techinque and skill required.

The only MMA fighters I think could do well are Fedor, GSP, and Silva... thats it in my mind. Mainly Fedor personally... He trains with boxers from time to time. All of them have a snow balls chance in hell against the elite boxers, but it is vice versa for boxers. Wresting is a hard thing to acquire... and this is a guy that has done it for a good majority of his life... Wrestling isn't hard at all.. it comes natural. Most people instinctively do many of the things that are given actual names in wrestling. Wrestling is very natural whereas boxing is something you have to completely train yourself to do. I've always said if you take someone off the street and put them on the mat wit ha wrestler, you will see some pretty nice rolling around.. or put some random guy from the street in the cage and he would have mild of not tremendous success because of all the tools at his disposal that may or may cater to his strengths. You put a guy from the street in the ring, though.. he's going to get very hurt. You have to relearn everything. How to stand, move, punch, when to do what and how.. it's not natural at all. Most of us in here can wrestle today or tomorrow and pull of some pretty neat stuff. I've gone state twice doing things that just came natural to me.

There isn't a MMA fighter on the planet that could even beat a joruney man in their weight class. On the other hand, a boxer always has a punchers chance in an MMA fight. But most likely he will get taken to the ground and laid on like a homosexual for 3 rounds. Anderson silva, the best striker MMA has ever seen, is 1-1-0. He beat some bum then got knocked the **** out by another bum in the 1st round.

Anderson Silva eventually.

Cos they'll get murked

If Tony had conquered the boxing world and defeated all comers and felt there was no one left for him to beat in the ring and then decided to fight in the UFC then your point would have merit. This however is not the case and I do not agree with the assertions you make to pose your question. If one of the Klitchko's was planning to enter the octagon then your point would have absolute credibility and the question you raise would be in firm context. Tony has talked about his frustrations with boxing at the momment. He feels that he is the best and most legitimate HV contender right now but is angry that he can not secure a title shot. Therefore the UFC is his next best avenue to persue both financially and to generate public interest/awareness and hopefully bring his real ambitions closer to becoming a reality. I do not agree that it is correct to assert that Tony is fighting to prove some kind of boxing v MMA point. Tony is a brave fighter through and through who cannot get where he wants to go right now in boxing so he has chosen what he feels is the next best alternative. I think that the UFC are doing a first class job with their fighters and the stars that they made of them and the audience that they have developed. Their fighters are contractually very well looked after both financially and in the opportunities they are given to have competative and meaningful contests. The UFC should be praised for offering such an opportunity to a boxer, on the other hand I do not believe boxing could or would offer any opportunity that is worthwhile for a UFC fighter to consider. Boxing, with the way its run, has a terrible enough record of not giving the right opportunities to actual boxers let alone anyone else. This is not something anyone could say about the UFC, quite the opposite infact. Sorry I do go on a bit. Great post....

First and foremost, I'm a fan of both sports. Obviously, Boxing is numero uno, but I still watch and enjoy UFC/MMA on a regular basis. Regarding the Boxing vs MMA argument, you have Joe Rogan, Dana White, and other UFC personalities criticising boxing at every opportunity, declaring that boxing is a dying sport, mixed martial artists are more skillful, and if a boxer stepped into the octagon they would get destroyed. That may well be the case, and I don't give anybody south of Mayweather and Pacquaio a chance in the octogon against a top UFC competitor. However at least boxers are willing to step up to the plate and defend the sport. James Toney is fighting a 'legend' of the UFC in his first ever matchup. No tune ups, no easy ride to the top. He is old school and taking on the best. Now a top boxer is stepping into the realm of UFC, when is a top mixed martial artist going to step in the ring and take on a legend of our sport? If Toney loses against Couture, it's all well and good for Dana White to declare that mixed martial artists are superior to boxers when the boxer is the fish out of water, ignoring the fact that there are no UFC competitors willing to step into the boxing ring to settle the real truth. How about a boxing match involving the UFC's best and boxing's best? BJ Penn vs Sergio Martinez Anderson Silva vs Andre Ward GSP vs Pacquaio Lesnar vs Haye It's time for the UFC's best to step into the boxing ring. Toney and Mercer have done it on the other foot, now its their turn. If Tony had conquered the boxing world and defeated all comers and felt there was no one left for him to beat in the ring and then decided to fight in the UFC then your point would have merit. This however is not the case and I do not agree with the assertions you make to pose your question. If one of the Klitchko's was planning to enter the octagon then your point would have absolute credibility and the question you raise would be in firm context. Tony has talked about his frustrations with boxing at the momment. He feels that he is the best and most legitimate HW contender right now but is angry that he can not secure a title shot. Therefore the UFC is his next best avenue to persue both financially and to generate public interest/awareness and hopefully bring his real ambitions closer to becoming a reality. I do not agree that it is correct to assert that Tony is fighting to prove some kind of boxing v MMA point. Tony is a brave fighter through and through who cannot get where he wants to go right now in boxing so he has chosen what he feels is the next best alternative. I think that the UFC are doing a first class job with their fighters and the stars that they made of them and the audience that they have developed. Their fighters are contractually very well looked after both financially and in the opportunities they are given to have competative and meaningful contests. The UFC should be praised for offering such an opportunity to a boxer, on the other hand I do not believe boxing could or would offer any opportunity that is worthwhile for a UFC fighter to consider. Boxing, with the way its run, has a terrible enough record of not giving the right opportunities to actual boxers let alone anyone else. This is not something anyone could say about the UFC, quite the opposite infact. Sorry I do go on a bit.