MMA vs. Boxing

I wouldn't call MMA a new type of "brawling". I'd call it skilled combat that is very complex and draws together a wide variety of martial disciplines. An issue has been: who would win a fight between a good MMA fighter and a good boxer. I guess the unanswered part of the issue is: under what set of rules? A good boxer will outbox a good MMA fighter. A good MMA fighter will beat a good boxer in an MMA contest. So now that I think about it, I'm thinking the issue contains its own non sequitur. I think what Toney and Couture settled is that MMA is a real disciplined mode of fighting and that others, schooled in their own arts, but unschooled in its arts, can't just step into the octagon and gainsay MMA through victory. The others will never win, except aberrantly.