"I respect Randy Couture because he is a legend in his sport. The difference is I am the ultimate fighter. I'm not worried about nothing he can do; he better worry about what I can do. Everybody asking, 'James, what you gonna do when he gets you on the ground? You better work on your ground game.' Work on my ground game for what? I ain't going to sleep...I respect the sport of MMA because they train hard. The training is hard as hell. Whatever I do, I'm going to get the best trainers out there. I got Juanito, Trevor, Tony, my conditioning coach, and King Mo helping out. We coming in hard. Like I said, I didn't want to fight no C-level fighter. You ran your mouth Dana White, now put your best man in there. I wanted Brock Lesnar, but he was sick with his stomach problems and I hope he's better now, but hey, it's time to put up or shut up and come August 28th, we going to war. I'm going to let everybody know that boxing still reigns supreme," stated future boxing Hall of Famer James "Lights Out" as he talked about his training for his upcoming August 28th MMA debut against UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. You don't want to miss what he had to say. Check it out!
PC: James Toney, back on FightHype.com. I hear you are putting in some work.
JT: Like a Vietnam vet. I'm putting in that work. I'm tired of everybody talking about this and that. I'm just going to show them. Pay your money come August 28th and see what I'm going to do for yourself bitches.
PC: A lot of people are doubting you..."James better learn how to sprawl." You're just going to show them, huh?
JT: Percy, you know every big fight I do, I work hard for and this is a big fight. I respect Randy Couture because he is a legend in his sport. The difference is I am the ultimate fighter. I'm not worried about nothing he can do; he better worry about what I can do. Everybody asking, "James, what you gonna do when he gets you on the ground? You better work on your ground game." Work on my ground game for what? I ain't going to sleep. Ya'll know the nickname "Lights Out"! That's what I do, put people to sleep and dress them up. You know what I'm saying? Especially since I'm fighting with 4 ounce gloves on. It's crazy; it's ridiculous. It's like going to the gym for murder.
PC: You have to enjoy swinging with them things on.
JT: It feels so lovely; lovely man. Come August 28th, lovely is going to turn into ugly very quickly. If he come in aggressive, he's gonna make it easy for me. I know he's been running his mouth and talking about this and that. He's out of character because I'm in his head. He don't know where I'm coming from. The whole world gonna know where I'm coming from in August. The ball is in my court.
PC: I know you don't watch film in boxing. Has that changed any in MMA?
JT: Why should I watch film? If I watch film on him fighting Brock Lesnar or Brandon Vera or Nogueira, he's not going to fight me the same way because I'm way more dangerous than they are. Everybody has a plan until they get hit. As far as him being stronger than me, I don't think so. I'm a grown man and I'm a big man. I'm enjoying it. The work is hard. I respect the sport of MMA because they train hard. The training is hard as hell. Whatever I do, I'm going to get the best trainers out there. I got Juanito, Trevor, Tony, my conditioning coach, and King Mo helping out. We coming in hard. Like I said, I didn't want to fight no C-level fighter. You ran your mouth Dana White, now put your best man in there. I wanted Brock Lesnar, but he was sick with his stomach problems and I hope he's better now, but hey, it's time to put up or shut up and come August 28th, we going to war. I'm going to let everybody know that boxing still reigns supreme!
PC: You are training with King Mo. I heard you were able to do some things against him?
JT: Oh yeah. Mo giving me good work, but I keep telling people, I am a lot stronger than they think and I know some shit.
PC: Did you land a submission on Mo?
JT: Man...I got him in a....let him tell you. I don't want to say too much, but I will say we put in some good work.
PC: I'm sure you are not expecting to be cheered in Boston, but you are not new to not being a fan favorite. You fought Michael Nunn and Iran Barkley in their backyards.
JT: I love it. I love to be the bad guy. I get off on that. And then Boston is like a second home to me because I beat Ramon Garbey there and earned my #1 spot. It's a beautiful city. And come August 28th, like Terrell Owens said, get your popcorn ready because I'm coming and don't go to the bathroom. If Randy Couture think he gonna hold me against the cage for 5 minutes to keep from getting knocked the fuck out and getting his face busted up, he got another thing coming. I'm bringing the heat to his ass. I'm bringing the streets. I got about 3 to 4,000 goons coming with me. As a matter of fact, August 28th, it's gonna be goon city in Boston. It's no longer gonna be called Boston. It's gonna be Goon City. It's nothing but goons come from Detroit and we're gonna invade the city and have a good time. If they want to get hostile...because I know it's a bunch of rednecks and all that in the UFC...but it's cool. When they see them goons, they gonna shut the fuck up quick.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]