UFC 118 Fight Week Hype - B.J. Penn v. Frankie Edgar and Randy Couture v. James Toney

It’s fight week for UFC 118 and that, of course, means a huge ramping up in the amount of media appearances by all the involved fighters. SB Nation will do our best to keep you up to date with the most interesting nuggets from all of the fight week hype.

We start today with B.J. Penn talking to MMA Fighting about multi-time boxing world champion James Toney’s first trip inside the cage:

“I really would like to see James Toney do good out there,” Penn said. “You know what? If Randy goes in there and runs over James Toney in five seconds, I don’t think that does anything. I look for ways to try to build the sport, ways to put more fans in the seats and more money in our pockets. I want to see James Toney go in there and do good.”

Toney is, of course, fighting MMA legend Randy Couture. Couture spoke to the Las Vegas Sun about the fight:

“I don’t think it’s a freak show,” said Couture, who is a 7-to-1 favorite over Toney. “I give him credit for the things he’s accomplished in boxing. I certainly accomplished a lot of things in wresting that nobody gave me credit for when I made my way in to MMA.

“Those combative sports count for something. James is going to be dangerous.”

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“I would love to choke the hell out of him,” Couture said. “I think that’s a big piece of MMA and certainly a big piece I’ve been working on.”

Finally in an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, Marcus Davis spoke about his UFC 118 bout with Nate Diaz:

”He’s a tough guy, he’s very crafty. Guys think they’ve got the best of him and he ends up catching them in submissions. He poses a lot of difficulty. He’s good at being tall, using his reach. He’s got a good lead right hand he paws out to measure distance and keep the guy there. He’s got a good right shovel hook over the top that he works really well to set up his left hand when he needs to. He’s got wrestling, he outwrestled Josh Neer, and he’s a very good wrestler. Then he’s sick on his back, his jiu-jitsu is great.
With such a tough opponent, is Davis confident of a victory?
”I’m just as confident as every time. It’s just another fight, not going to give him abilities he doesn’t have. Just going to go in there, do my job and try to win. And entertain. I want it to be an entertaining, bloody brawl.

We will be constantly updating this stream throughout the week as we continue the march to fight day.