411 MMA Fact or Fiction 01.20.10: Penn/Edgar, WEC on PPV, Kimbo/Mitrione & MORE!

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 01.20.2010

Will Frankie Edgar make it past three rounds against BJ Penn? Should the loser of Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione be released? Is Junior dos Santos deserving of a Heavyweight title shot with a win over Gabriel Gonzaga? 411 MMA writers Todd Bergman and Daniel Bonnizzio debate these topics and more in this week's edition of 411 MMA Fact or Fiction.

It's a slow period in MMA but there's always plenty of news to talk about.

To debate the most newsworthy topics of week we have a man who is back for the second week in a row because we can't get enough of him, he is Todd Bergman. His opponent is the man with the best Takedown MMA News Report, please welcome Daniel Bonnizzio.

In the words of John McCarthy…LET'S GET IT ON!

1. Frankie Edgar won't make it past round three against BJ Penn.

Todd Bergman: FICTION Frankie Edgar is quickly becoming one of the best 155-pound fighters in the world. Edgar has come a long way since the boring and one-sided defeat to Gray Maynard back at UFN 13. Since then, Edgar has transformed his fighting style from just out wrestling an opponent to now out striking and just plain beating down an opponent. None of this was more evident than in the Sean Sherk fight. Sherk, once the king of the Lightweights, was out-boxed and simply out-classed in that fight. This is something that simply doesn't happen to Sherk on a regular basis. Edgar's boxing is rated as some of the best in the UFC's 155-pound division, and his recent work at Ricardo Almeida's BJJ school has strengthened that aspect of his game. The question asks if Edgar can get past the 3rd round, and I think that he has the tools to do so based on the things that I mentioned above.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FICTION If Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez could make it into the fourth round, then so can Frankie. Frankie isn't going to have nearly the technical experience KenFlo brings to the cage and he is rather undersized as a Lightweight event, but he more than makes up for that with his high-level wrestling and boxing. While I'm not going to predict he ends up GSP-ing his way to victory, I think he won't be as lost as most people are going to think he is and takes him all the way to a decision. Now, whether he wins or not is another story.

SCORE: 1 for 1.



2. Urijah Faber vs. Jose Aldo on PPV would do less than 250,000 buys.

Todd Bergman: FACT Supposedly UFC 108 struggled to make this number of buys, so I'm highly negative concerning this business move for the WEC. While they are a company that usually puts on exciting shows, they don't have the name brand recognition to elicit very many buys. Also add in the fact that the WEC doesn't have the most popular fighters on the planet either and it's a lose-lose situation. This card would need more than just Faber vs. Aldo, and, frankly, the WEC just doesn't possess it. Hell, I can't even watch the company on VS because I have DirecTV. They should work on getting on a better channel before making such a huge leap of faith. To me, the best business model would be to include this fight on a UFC Pay-Per view broadcast or even a UFN card. At least that way the more casual fan will become aware of the promotion and some of their fighters. Then again, some of the worst build WWE Pay-Per view's have drawn higher ratings with less to offer.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FICTION I'm not too sure on this one. As I recall, even Affliction: Day of Reckoning managed to do around 200,000 buy and I think that the WEC has better star power than Affliction managed at the time. Faber is a TREMENDOUS draw, and if they really stack the card like they did for UFC 100 then I think they could manage the quarter million mark. Faber/Aldo, Mike Brown, Jens Pulver, Ben Henderson, Cowboy Cerrone, Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, etc... Big names, big names; and especially if they priced it a bit lower than normal PPVs.

SCORE: 1 for 2.

3. Herschel Walker will be one and done in MMA.

Todd Bergman: FACT When it comes to Herschel Walker, I tend to think that he is going the way of Johnnie Morton in regards to his MMA career. Remember Johnnie Morton? He got KO'ed in about 40 seconds and then refused a drug test because he was juicing beyond belief. Well, Walker may not be juicing, but he definitely doesn't have a place in MMA. Strikeforce might be throwing Walker a bone here with his opponent, Greg Nagy, but I think this is more of a dream come true for Walker than a new potential career. It appears that mainstream sites have been picking up on Walker's fight, and that's a nice rub for the promotion. But at the end of the day Walker is going to find out that MMA isn't the sport for him. There are very few fighters that can fight at a high level, let alone at 47-years old.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FICTION Under other circumstances I would say FACT but the fact of the matter is that he is in Strikeforce right now... and Strikeforce has that oh-so-ideal partnership with DREAM going, and what does Japan love more than freakshow fights? Name one Japanese fan who wouldn't love to see Hershel Walker get it on with some random Heavyweight can over in the ring. If anything they will find a one-armed stump of a monkey for him to fight just for the entertainment of it all. If he was in any other organization or if Strikeforce didn't have this partnership with DREAM I would say FACT but I'm going FICTION on this one.

SCORE: 1 for 3.

Video Intermission



4. The loser of Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione should be released.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FICTION First off, I'm pretty sure that Kimbo is not going anywhere any time soon. That being said, both men are coming off of wins in their UFC debut. Having a 1-1 record isn't exactly grounds for releasing somebody (unless it's a totally piss poor performance). I can see the loser getting one more shot in the UFC's still-thin Heavyweight division (if this fight is going to be taking place at Heavyweight) before getting released.

Todd Bergman FICTION I agree with Daniel saying that Kimbo isn't going anywhere because of his ability to draw ratings. Mitrione, on the other hand, is a misunderstood brawler fighting out of the great state of Indiana. I can't see either guy getting the axe for losing this fight because both are tremendous talents to use on UFN cards. Kimbo, with his ability to draw a decent rating, and Mitrione, with his power-laced boxing that could end a fight at anytime are great qualities to have in fighters when constructing and promoting a show. It's important to note that at press time this fight isn't happening according to Mitrione, who stated that he's not going to Light Heavyweight and thought that Kimbo was trying to forge ahead his UFC career at 205, so he wasn't sure how it was going to happen. The UFC's Heavyweight division is talented and stacked but it does lack a presence on the smaller cards, which is a great way to build the future of the division.

SCORE: 2 for 4.



5. Strikeforce should pull Bobby Lashley from the January 30 show so Hieron vs. Riggs can be on the main card.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FACT As of right now it's the only fight on the card that's not complete. We know that getting ready for a fight just two weeks out is no fun on a fighter, and for one like Bobby Lashley who is trying to make a name for himself he needs to be able to have the time he needs to prepare. That being said, they should pull him from the Miami card so Riggs and Hieron get on the main card. What they should then do is headline the next ShoMMA card with a Lashley/ del Rosario fight as a fight promoting two top prospects in their Heavyweight division.

Todd Bergman FACT It's a shame that Strikeforce claims to want to be taken seriously but yet nearly every card that they produce runs down to the last minute in finding an opponent for one of their headliners. The answer to the question is fact because this does a huge disservice to Lashley and his MMA career. Strikeforce still hasn't gotten him an opponent, so it would be crazy for Lashley to jeopardize his prominent future in the sport by taking another opponent on such short notice. It didn't work for Kimbo, and we all saw how that played out for him. Since I'm saying that Lashley shouldn't take the fight then of course the next best fight would be Hieron vs. Riggs. This really wouldn't be a problem if Strikeforce wasn't in the Herschel Walker business. I've done enough Strikeforce hating here, but Jay Hieron is a tremendous talent and it appears that the 'Force is wasting it.

SCORE: 3 for 5.

6. Junior dos Santos should get a Heavyweight title shot if he defeats Gabriel Gonzaga.

Daniel Bonnizzio: FACT This one took me a long time but I think it's the right call. Should he win he would be 5-0 in the UFC which I feel is more than enough to prove he's got the skills. He's beaten tough grapplers, tough strikers, and well-known names. I think if he beats Gonzaga and does it impressively (say, a KO or a slick submission?) the UFC would have no choice but to give him a title shot. However, this one really depends on how the next few top-heavyweight fights pan out. If Mir and Nogueria are victorious in their upcoming fights, then I would prefer to see the rematch between the two of them over dos Santos against either one. If Mir loses and Velasquez wins then I would give him the shot. If Mir loses and Nogueria wins, we are in a boat-load of trouble because then dos Santos and Nogueria have both staked claims to a title shot and they won't fight each other. All in all, I would love to see dos Santos get a title shot but the fact is the top of the Heavyweight division makes it too tough to call for sure.

Todd Bergman FACT If you have read any of my past columns then you know that I'm a huge Junior dos Santos supporter. I honestly think that dos Santos should already be competing in a title match, but the Brock Lesnar situation has clearly screwed up the future outlook of the division. With that said, dos Santos won't be getting a title shot with a victory here because the winner of the Mir vs. Carwin fight is going to get Lesnar if he can fight again. If Lesnar can't fight again, then the winner of Mir vs. Carwin is going to get the winner of Big Nog vs. Velasquez. Then things can become a little more hairy if Big Nog is able to win both fights because dos Santos won't fight his mentor, Big Nog. Then it becomes a giant cluster-fuck that Dana White can't clear out. I'm going to take off my tin foil, Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory hat and just leave it at that. Junior should get a title shot, but for the reasons that I listed above, it simply won't happen.

SCORE: 4 for 6.

Todd and Daniel got off to a rough start but smoothed things over after intermission.

Come back next week as two more MMA writers debate the latest from around the MMA world in 411 MMA Fact or Fiction.

TWITTER

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma