Not wanting to stage what he termed “a freak show,’’ White resisted Toney’s repeated attempts to cajole, call out, and shame White into giving him an opportunity to make his mixed martial arts debut.

“He picked a fight,’’ said White, who finally relented when he got Toney to understand what he was asking for. “And he got one.’’

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 118 at TD Garden, mixed martial arts icon Randy “The Natural’’ Couture was only too happy to oblige.

In a heavyweight bout, Couture upheld the honor of his sport after Toney maligned it and treated some of its stars such as Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell as being unworthy of holding their own in the ring with him.

Problem was, Toney was stepping way outside of his comfort zone. Some might even suggest he overstepped his boundaries.

Much to the delight of Liddell and Ortiz, both of whom were on hand to watch this Boston beatdown, it was Toney who proved unworthy of standing in against Couture in the UFC Octagon. It took the UFC Hall of Famer just 18 seconds to score a takedown of Toney and three more minutes after that to get him to submit to an arm triangle chokehold.

In a ballyhooed battle that was supposed to resolve which was better — boxing or mixed martial arts — it was no contest.

“First of all, Boston, you’re awesome!’’ said Couture to the roar of the sold-out TD Garden crowd that clearly was in alignment with the UFC star.

Couture, who refused to get caught up in a war of rhetoric with the bombastic Toney, said it was his plan not to engage the hard-hitting Toney in toe-to-toe stand-up game. He knew Toney, with limited time to prepare, would not have the requisite tools to engage in a ground game.

“Nine months is a short time to try and pick up everything you need to know about mixed martial arts,’’ Couture said, acknowledging Toney’s lack of experience in the Octagon.

Mindful of the fact Toney had more knockouts (44) than he had UFC fights (28), Couture was quick to neutralize Toney with a takedown.

With that maneuver, Couture took away whatever slim chance — puncher’s or otherwise — Toney had of pulling out an upset win.

Toney was unable to muster any kind of offense from his back as Couture straddled him and proceeded to pummel him about the head with his 4-ounce gloves. The Garden crowd began chanting “U-F-C! U-F-C! U-F-C!’’ when Couture continued his attack, going for a submission with 2:37 remaining.

With 1:42 left in the first, it was all over when Couture put an arm triangle choke on Toney and squeezed until the boxer tapped out.

“I’m a big fan of boxing,’’ Couture said. “We all love boxing in mixed martial arts. Hopefully now, there’ll be a whole lot more boxers who will love MMA.’’