Ibarra believes James Toney is someone who could make it in MMA

Juanito Ibarra, the former coach of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has once again given his thoughts on his current protégé, James Toney, saying the man dubbed “Light’s Out” is definitely the type of person who can make it in the world of mixed martial arts.

Speaking via Sherdog.com, Ibarra said:

“He's going to learn them and he has to apply them. That's it. So if he makes a bad habit, which are good habits in boxing, but he makes them in MMA then we're going to have some troubles. It's all about teaching. It's all about second nature, listening too. I have a very very good feeling and confidence that James Toney is going to be something to reckon with in MMA.”

“I'd like to see him start off at heavyweight and move to 205. Some people may laugh but James can do it. He's the guy that can do it. His age or not. He's a guy that can do it. Ain't no Burger King here,” continued Ibarra. “He loves Burger King. I hope he gets a Burger King commercial out of it. But what I'm trying to say is this guy, since we've started training seriously in the last couple of weeks, his bad habits have gone away like magic. I know people doubt it. I'm telling you it's like giving candy to a baby. This guy is a sponge.”

“I'd like to see James fight hopefully June, July the latest. That's when his coach would like to see that happen. I'm his advisor and he has a manager I work well with, but that's what we'd like to see because you have to put in the work. But we'll fight Kimbo after his fight. And then we'd like to move on and there's guys like Chuck (Liddell), who's been learning jiu-jitsu and I respect Chuck ultimately. I love that guy and I like the way he fights. You've got him and Tito (Ortiz) fighting and who knows maybe down the road at the end of the year we'll fight the winner of that fight and keep moving up.”

“It's about chemistry with me. I'll give you my heart. I'll give you everything I got. If we have chemistry then I know I can deal with their personalities, good, bad or indifferent. And nobody's perfect. I'm not. They're not. You're not. It's about chemistry. I could put up with James' personalities and I know when to let go and to give them space and we have that established. That took some time to establish that. Once we establish that then we move on. He's my student. I'm the teacher and hopefully we could make a great team in MMA and you'll see some great stuff out of James Toney.”

“It's been interesting. James is a phenomenal person. He really is. And he's very intelligent. The guy's a historian about the fight game itself. Why I'm excited to work with James is because he's a born fighter. He's one of these raw guys that this guy is like a sponge. He wants to learn everything. He wants to learn everything in one day. He can't. Rome wasn't built in one day.”

Toney was thought to be making his UFC debut against “Hall of Famer” Randy Couture until news broke tonight direct from the month of UFC President, Dana White that “The Natural” would be taking on Rich Franklin next time out. Stay tuned to MMABay in the coming weeks for more on who “Light’s Out” will be taking on in his octagon debut.

By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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