UFC 118: Couture crushes Toney

BOSTON -- Five-time Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Randy Couture defeated former boxing champion James Toney by submission in the first round of a heavyweight bout at UFC 118 Saturday at the TD Garden.

With Couture holding Toney in a head triangle, Toney tapped out at 3:19 of the first round.

Couture is now 19-10. This was Toney's first MMA bout. He had began training for MMA nine months ago.

Couture, 47, is a former three-time UFC heavyweight champion and a two-time light heavyweight champion. Toney, 42, has held world championships in boxing at middleweight, super middleweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight. His boxing record is 72-6-3.

oney weighed 237 pounds while Couture weighed 220.

This was the first time UFC held an event in Boston since the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission began sanctioning MMA at the beginning of this year.

Within the first 30 seconds of the bout, Couture brought Toney to the mat with a single-leg takedown. He never let Toney off the mat, landing punches to the head, then getting Toney into the head triangle, which he held until Toney signaled to the referee that he had enough.

In other bouts on the main card, lightweight Gray Maynard won a three-round unanimous decision against Kenny Florian. The scores were 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.

Maynard (11-0) owns a victory over Frankie Edgar, who defended his UFC lightweight title in the main event against former champion B.J. Penn. Florian, who lives in Brookline, Mass., dropped to 15-5.

Demian Maia won a unanimous decision against Mario Miranda at middleweight. All three judges scored the bout 30-27. Maia is 13-2 and Miranda is 12-2.

Nate Diaz won by submission against Marcus Davis in the third round of a welterweight bout. The time of the stoppage was 4:02.

Davis, a resident of Bangor, Maine, is a former boxer who fought in the final boxing card at the old Boston Garden. Diaz is 13-5. Davis is 21-5.