411 MMA Fact or Fiction 03.17.10: UFC on Versus, Toney vs. Kimbo, UFC Primetime & MORE!

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 03.17.2010

Should Clay Guida be on the main card this weekend? Will UFC 111 do more PPV buys than Pacquiao vs. Clottey? Should James Toney's first opponent be Kimbo Slice? 411's Jeffrey Harris and Dan Plunkett along with MMA fighter Mike Ciesnolevicz debate these topics and more in this week's edition of 411 MMA Fact or Fiction!

Things are about to pick up in the MMA world with UFC running three big events starting this Sunday with UFC on Versus 1.

To debate those topics and more this week we have an all-around personality here at 411Mania, the man who brings the MMA section excellent interviews, The Vile One, Jeffrey Harris. His opponent writes the Greatest MMA News Column in the world, he is Dan Plunkett.

We also have a special guest this week. Everyone please welcome Miletich product and IFL and UFC veteran, Mike Ciesnolevicz.



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

1. If they were to go head to head on April 24, you would choose WEC over Strikeforce.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. I like Strikeforce, and Strikeforce has put together a really strong card for April. But WEC shows are more often than not my favorite MMA shows when ever they happen. Even a card like WEC 45 last December, not a lot of big names on it, but almost all the fights were great and fun to watch. WEC has 2 of my most anticipated title bouts of the year as well. I've been looking forward to a Jose Aldo/Urijah Faber title bout for like 2 years.

Dan Plunkett: FACT. If I was forced to choose, though I would probably watch them both at the same time, I would pick WEC 48. Aldo vs. Faber is a far better match-up than anything on the Strikeforce card. Jose Aldo could very well be unstoppable at this point and if he beats Urijah Faber it would only lend more evidence to that. Both Faber and Aldo fight at such a frantic pace that there's no possible way I could envision this fight being the least bit boring. Plus, the match-up is also far more relevant to both the division than any of Strikeforce's three title fights. Not to mention Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone was the Fight of the Year in 2009 and I expect another great fight in 2010.

Strikeforce's best fight to me is Melendez vs. Aoki. Aoki is ranked as the #2 welterweight in the world and Melendez is in the top 10. This is the first elite fighter Melendez has faced and he seems to have a good style to defeat Aoki. Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo is also an interesting fight between two fast rising stars. Henderson vs. Shields is a good fight but not one I'm clamoring to see. Ultimately, I choose WEC because I'm guaranteed that the top two fights will be great and the main event is far more relevant than Strikeforce's.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FICTION. I think the WEC is exciting and I love watching it but as a bigger guy myself there are a lot more matches in Strikeforce that intrigue me.

SCORE: 0 for 1.

2. You were not impressed with episode 1 of UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Hardy.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Odd way to phrase the question. I thought it was really well done. I thought it was very well done and a good way to build up Dan Hardy. Also, the cliffhanger bit with Matt Serra was great. Also, I like that Primetime is generally reserved for like fight a year. That makes the series more special and significant.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. I enjoyed it. St. Pierre's training was the most interesting part for me. It's amazing how he's finding so many way to get even better in all areas despite the fact that he's the most well rounded fighter in MMA. Dan Hardy isn't going to pose much of a threat to GSP in the cage, but he was at least entertaining during the show.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FACT. I think HBO Boxing has the right blue print with 24/7. Also why is Dan Hardy featured on such a big show? GSP should be but Hardy is not close to the same level.

SCORE: 0 for 2.



3. Clay Guida should be on the main card for UFC on VS.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. I say FACT, but I understand why he's not. This is probably one of the coolest looking and loadest Fight Night cards ever, so it's a tough call really. Should Clay Guida get on the main card over the likes of middling performers in the UFC like Alessio Sakara and James Irvin? In my not so humble opinion, yes, Guida should. However, Guida's been on the losing end of his last 2 fights. He definitely can't afford another loss, so I can sort of see why he's being put on the undercard. Also, there's a good chance his fight will end up on TV anyway, so agonizing over this is like crying over spilt milk.

Dan Plunkett: FACT. The only reason he's not on the main card is because Sakara vs. Irvin will be a slug-fest. But Guida's earned a spot on the main card by this point. He had one of the best fights of 2009 against Diego Sanchez, one of Dana White's top 5 favorite fights against Roger Huerta, and he's only coming off of losses to Sanchez and Florian. While his opponent Shannon Gugerty doesn't pose much of a threat to Clay, I'd rather see that fight than Sakara-Irvin.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FACT. Clay Guida should be on every main card for obvious reasons. He is a relentless and always comes to fight.

SCORE: 1 for 3.

Video Intermission



4. Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera will be the most exciting fight of the week.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. I'm really excited for it and it's an important fight, but I think there are fights that could end up better than it. Dos Santos vs. Gonzaga will be a fun fight that will test "Cigano," Kongo vs. Buentello should be a war for as long as it lasts, and later in the week there are even more awesome fights. Ellenberger vs. Saunders could turn out to be a great battle, Miller vs. Bocek could be a ground war, and Mir and Carwin haven't disappointed in a long time.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. Now I say this looking at this card, UFC 111, and the Challengers card. I feel this fight has potential to have a lot of great action in it. Now, not to say other fights on the other cards don't have potential to be more exciting because I think a few of them could. Anything can happen in MMA. But going by the fights on paper, some of them come off like they would be one-sided or NOT quite as exciting as Jones/Vera. I'm rambling now, and I'm just going to say FACT for Jones/Vera.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FICTION. Vera will try to slow this fight down and make it a point fight. I think Mir vs Carwin is the most exciting for me 6 days after the UFC on Versus.

SCORE: 1 for 4.



5. UFC 111 will do more PPV buys than Pacquiao vs. Clottey.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. This is very tough. Pacquiao vs. Clottey was probably under-promoted and it didn't receive as much of a last second push as I thought it would. Even with that, I think it should have done at least 700,000 buys, probably more. Pacquiao vs. Hatton did about 850,000 buys last year. I think some people were turned off from this fight because they wanted Mayweather-Pacquiao and they didn't really know Clottey. However, it could have went the other way and the whole Mayweather fight falling through kept Pac-man's name out there which could have increased buys.

UFC 111 is the first big UFC event since 107. Unlike 107, this has two title fights and the biggest name card since UFC 100. Since March is so crowded on PPV with Pacquiao-Clottey and Wrestlemania the night after 111, I don't think this will hit a million. However, since this is the UFC's first big event in a while and buys have been down for 108, 109, and 110, I think this will do around 775,000. It will likely do somewhere in the 700,000-850,000 range, so I just picked the middle number.

Ultimately, I think Pacquiao's bout has a higher ceiling in terms of how many buys it will do, so I'm gonna go with that.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. Going by the tracking and the ratings for UFC Primetime which are currently running higher than the UFC Primetime ratings for the Penn/GSP II specials, yes I think it will. UFC 94 was one of the UFC's biggest buyrates last year as I think it did about 1 million buys. The Pacquiao/Clottey fight was a dud. Boxing failed as an institution in delivering the biggest fight of all time because of the mainstream media and one fighter's ego. Morons fabricated Pacquiao being on PED's when he's never failed a drug test and there's absolutely no evidence to support Pacquiao juicing besides speculation and hearsay. Mayweather and his ilk lied and made things up and so-called "journalists" and "reporters" of integrity ate it up. There is none of this BS surrounding GSP/Hardy. UFC knows how to sell a title fight. And Dan Hardy sees this is a big opportunity and is not wasting it to get his name out there like say Thales Leites when he fought Anderson Silva for the middleweight belt. Plus with another title fight happening in Mir/Carwin, UFC 111 will do more than 1 million buys.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FICTION. Probably not just because of Manny Pacquiao's star power.

SCORE: 1 for 5.

6. James Toney's first UFC opponent should be Kimbo Slice.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. It makes no sense for either fighter. It's too far into the freak show territory the UFC is trying to steer away from, despite the fact that they signed Toney. If you want to run with the boxing vs. MMA angle James is trying to play, put him against Couture or someone like that. Should they want to put him against someone that would make for more of a fair fight, someone like Luiz Cane would do. Kimbo vs. Toney is such a Jared Shaw match-up back when he was trying to say Kimbo is the best striker in the world. It's stupid. Let Kimbo fight his already scheduled opponent Matt Mitrione, a fight that makes a whole lot of sense, and find someone else for Toney.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. It definitely won't be Kimbo Slice, but if it was my choice it would Keith Jardine since I believe he wanted to answer Toney's challenge. And nothing would make me happier than seeing Jardine fight Toney. I think it will be more of a journeyman type like a Heath Herring, Paul Buentello, or Cheick Kongo. Not necessarily either of those guys, but types of fighters like that. I imagine it won't be a guy they fished out of nowhere to lose like Greg Nagy or Wes Sims.

Mike Ciesnolevicz: FICTION. It should be Randy Couture, Mir, Carwin, Lesnar, Velasquez or someone who will show him what real world class MMA is. Not a striker or brawler, we saw what happened when Tim Sylvia fought Ray Mercer. We don't need a similar incident in the UFC. James Toney would never shut up if something similar happened.

SCORE: 2 for 6.

Jeffrey, Dan, and Mike disagree more often than not, which one would expect in the rare triple threat MMA argument.

A big thanks to our special guest Mike Ciesnolevicz. Everyone make sure to check out his website mikec205.com and support Mike and his sponsors. Mike would also like to thank "Always Sandy Bowman and BowmansTaekwondo.com fight team in Ft.McMurray, Alberta, Canada, and my girlfriend Valerie who is very supportive of me and of course all my friends, family and fans in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Ft. McMurray."

Come back next week as two more MMA writers debate the fallout from UFC on Versus and preview UFC 111 right here in 411 MMA Fact or Fiction.

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