Alright James Toney. Your father was an original death fighter. There’s no way we would ever doubt that. We all assume that he used to collect the spleens of fighters he defeated in an empty mayonnaise jar to put them on display atop his fireplace. Whatever James Toney has in store for his first opponent in the UFC, dude she really take a lesson from Art ‘One Glove’ Jimmerson. At UFC 1, Royce Gracie’s first bout was against a professional boxer that was riding a pretty comfortable 15 win streak. Art Jimmerson’s managers thought that fighting in a cage that initially was supposed to be surrounded by a moat filled with alligators would hurt his career, but a $20,000 payday was just entirely too tempting. Dude got in the ring with one boxing glove on and danced around Royce Gracie before he eventually became the first offering to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. In this interview with Sherdog, Art talks about just exactly what happened inside the cage that night in November.
“Going into the tournament, I was told he was an easy fighter and he doesn’t really punch that hard, but they never really told me he was a world champion of his art. I had no ground training, I just went in as a fighter, thinking I would knock this guy out with one punch. If I went in there with someone like [fellow striker] Pat Smith I think it would’ve turned out different on my turf. With Royce, I was fighting a new champion.”
“He was really cautious, but when he started kicking the leg, that’s what fried me. I forgot where I was at. I was trying to use a lot of lateral movement, then he tricked me by faking up and shot at my legs. Once he got at my legs, I was trying to figure out how to get out of this hold. I couldn’t believe how he was holding me down. I tried to move, but I couldn’t.”
If you were to steal James Toney’s UFC playbook and the title of his gameplan says ‘Knock this guy out with one punch’, grab the nearest eraser and change it to ‘Put on a gi and take some classes, please’. At the end of the page, put a little note telling him that future James Toney went back in time to give present day James Toney some tips. Oh, and while you’re inside James Toney’s house…see what’s in his fridge. If he has taquitos, I get first dibs. [Source]
